A 7-year-old’s homework assignment using the word “down” in a sentence is trending up after it was posted on social media.
Summer Toson, 25, was watching her younger sister, Malak, complete a worksheet when she noticed the second grader lost in thought, carefully pondering how to craft a line around “down.”
“I said, ‘Why don’t you write, ‘You can go up, or you can go down,’” Toson tells TODAY.com. Malak immediately raised her hand, as if to say, Nope, not doing it that way!
She then began quietly singing “Down,” the 2009 chart-topping hit by British R&B singer Jay Sean. Toson, a teacher in New York City, didn’t try to stop her because, honestly, Malak wasn’t wrong.
“I was like, ‘You know what? Go for it!’” Toson says, noting that she loved Malak’s cleverness.
Toson shared a clip of Malak reciting the lyrics while writing in her notebook, and it quickly went viral with viewers marveling at her surprisingly advanced penmanship. The video even reached Jay Sean himself, who wrote, “Better have got an A+ for that.”
“Her teacher loved it,” Toson says. “She said it was the best sentence she’d read in all of her years of teaching!”
Educators on TikTok felt the same way.
“As a teacher, i’d probably hang this on my wall,” one wrote.
Added another, “as a teacher, I approve of this. This would make my whole day haha.”
Toson describes Malak as a “real character” and mature for her age, a trait that comes with the territory when there are nearly two decades between you and your two siblings. You can thank them for Malak’s Jay Sean fandom.
“It’s funny, she’s super social at school but she doesn’t like to sit with her friends, she wants to socialize with the teachers,” Toson says. “She has a huge personality!”
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
