WACO, Texas — As school lets out for the summer and kids grab their bikes to play outside or video game controllers in their rooms, Vihaan Sibal is picking up books to read and spelling lists to study ahead of the semifinal round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on June 27.
"My first spelling bee was, probably, in first grade in front of the class at the end of the school year for fun and I got first," Vihaan Sibal said. "I really enjoyed it and so I did the school spelling bee in second grade."
Vihaan Sibal said he won his school spelling bee in third grade for the first time. He said one of his teachers from South Bosque Elementary, April McAdams, was instrumental because she believed in him.
"My teacher, Mrs. April McAdams, she really got me into it because she was telling me about how when she was young, she would compete in spelling bees and that got me hooked," he said.
Shruti Sibal, Vihaan's mom, said McAdams is wonderful and made an impact she's not sure McAdams is aware of.
"Vihaan was already an avid reader and good with math and English and so we had no problems with that, but then he started spelling and it just became a passion," she said.
She said her son is competitive by nature and he hates to lose so Vihaan Sibal took it upon himself to start studying as much as he could. She said they bought him online testing packets for the spelling bee and the rest is history.
"He started spelling and studying 30 minutes everyday very diligently and that was back in 2018 and he's been doing that ever since," she said. "If he would miss a weekend or something, he'd make it up. It's all of his efforts that has got him this far, we only just provided him with the tools."
Vihaan Sibal said there's a science to figuring out how a word is spelled -- even if he's never seen it or heard it before. He said there are roadmaps to figuring out the word and that answer is found in the questions spellers can ask.
"Even if a word does seem hard, in the 2019 Regionals, I got a hard word that wasn't easy for me to figure out and instead of thinking about it, I panicked," he explained. "So this year, you see, you just have to ask all of the questions necessary and not just freak out on the spot. So, that's what I try to do."
That was the case, Vihaan Sibal said, with the winning word he got in the sixth round on Tuesday, "neurasthenia."
"At first, I asked for all of the information, I asked him to repeat the word multiple times and then I broke the word down. The first part is "Neur", n-e-u-r, the second is "as," a-s, and then "thenia", "t-h-e-n-i-a," he said. "So like that I was able to get it quite easily."
Vihaan Sibal, who always has a book in his hands everywhere he goes, said in all the reading and studying he's done so far, he had never encountered "neurasthenia" in any pages or any spelling lists that he can recall.
Shruti Sibal said she's in awe of her son and while she knew he was smart, she had no idea this would be something in his wheelhouse.
"He's an academically advanced kid, he's already completed his high school English and Kumon, an after school math and reading program, and he's doing high school math. We knew he was a different kind of kid but the spelling aspect, we never knew this about him," she said.
The emotions are real for Shruti Sibal, admitting she gets nervous every time he spells in competition, but she is so proud of him as he competes for something foreign to her just a few years ago.
"I cry every time I see him spell and I have this nervous energy and I feel like I might transfer to him, so whenever he spells on-stage, I would never sit in the front so he could see me," Shruti Sibal admitted. "We are very proud of him."
Vihaan Sibal said over the next 11 days, he will study for the semifinals and he'll do so by studying root words in various languages for up to two and half hours a day.
"There are 2,500 roots that I need to study, there's no question, that has to be done. So, I did the math and it came out to 217 root words that I need to learn and test on every single day," Vihaan Sibal said.
He said he needs to study roots in Greek, Latin, two more sets of New Latin and French. He said learning the roots of words will help him build the words in his mind to be able to spell them.
"In the spelling bee, you're allowed to ask questions about whether if a certain root is present in the word you're given," Vihaan Sibal explained. "In the preliminaries, my third round word was 'amerciable' and so I was able to ask if the word 'mercy' was present there and they told me I was on the right track and then I heard the word came from French."
The secret, Vihaan Sibal told 6 News, is figuring out the base for words.
"Knowing your roots, knowing your base, the stems in the words, where the words come from, language of origin, etymology, knowing all that stuff, it really helps," he said.
As for Shruti Sibal, who watches in the background and roots on her son during a tough competition that culminates July 8 in Orlando, her advice to other parents who's child just might want to be a Spelling Bee champion someday: it's all about time management and allowing them time to also be a kid.
"Reading is a big advantage to spelling," she said. "Consistency always helps, and it's not all just spelling, he does so many other things, sports, all of that, but managing time is key and sometimes all it takes is 30 minutes everyday."
Vihaan will take part in the semifinals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Sunday, June 27 at 6 p.m. on ESPN 2.