When nine-year-old Fatima Ali is restless, and she has trouble falling asleep, she lays down in bed and spells out words in her head to help her get to sleep. She often does it alongside her mother, who isn’t a native English speaker and uses this bedside exercise to practice her pronunciation too. Mom tucks Ali in and gives her a word to spell, Ali sometimes corrects her, then spells the word out loud. Psychiatrist? P-s-y-c-h-i-a… until she dozes off.
Ali, a fourth grader from P.S. 94 Kings College School, also used this nighttime activity to prepare for the district spelling