Given that my 4.5 year old is a very active boy, I often allow him to read books while standing. This may mean that the book is open on the floor and he stands up to read it - “dancing” around the text as he reads it…normally directly facing it or reading from either side. On a whim, I tested him with giving him the text upside down. He was able to read a new, unread book (written at his current level) with fluency - completely able to decode the full paragraph. This happened a full month ago. I did it again with him today and, while he could still do it with the same degree of accuracy, he became perturbed with me for asking him to do it.
So, my questions for you all are:
Do you think this is an abnormal skill for a child to have?
Do you think that I should encourage it, discourage it, or just let things fall where they may and not draw attention to it?
Hi Kizudo,
From what I understand this is quite a normal progression…there is even a very short reference to it in the YBCR handbook, that includes this as a step to see that your child ( as babies) learn how to orientate the words…Dr. Titzer does mention that you do not want to focus on this too much, as it is of ‘minimal benefit’…
That being said, his advice is definitely geared more toward babies just learning to read! Alex will be three in December, and she routinely does this…I think as long as they are reading well, you should run with it…better for them to be reading and enjoying it than disliking it because they are forced to sit still!
And fluent readers, adults included, all do this. It happens every day, and I think it is just a part of fluency…I don’t think I would encourage reading upside-down, but if it happens as he is bouncing about, go with it! If it looks like he is guessing at a word, slow it down and have him sound it out. He will probably need to look at it more analytically and in a regular fashion for this, and you can be reassured that you aren’t missing anything.
If he reads fluently upside-down, can sound out words/decode upside down (as well as right-side up lol ), I would just be thrilled that his fluency has reached that level. It may well be a fun game for him! Maybe he will be an inorganic chemist, where rotations, reflections, etc., are necessary for classifying molecules lol lol lol
Well I can read upside down so it stands to reason we learn this skill at some point in our lives, some obviously earlier than others :biggrin: I wouldn’t encourage it or discourage it. If you are planning to send your child to school then be sure that before you do your kiddo can tell the teacher which way up a book goes and to read from left to right.
I read upside to my children often as it means they can both see the book right way up - my DD(5) did ask how I was able to do it, but she has never tried - I have always assumed that everyone can do it - maybe I need to experiment on my daughter. I believe my sister could read upside down at age 2.5.
I do not think it is an abnormal skill to have, but then what do I know
I would probably just leave it - a child that can read usually knows that text flows from left to right and knows which way up a picture and also a book should go and one who is reading fluently almost certainly knows this. I might try mirror writing with him for fun just to see what else he can do and also just because it is fun.
