How the heck do you teach your kiddo to tie their shoes? - Page 2

[tayndrewsmama]

Dd taught herself when she was four. Shocked the heck out of me. Ds is going to be five in a week and he isn't doing so well. Youtube seems to have a bunch of videos that are helpful to him. Maybe by his birthday he'll have it figured out.

[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

Because of the school uniform requirements we don't have the option of waiting. DD and I have been working at this 2-3 times a day for the last week and she is still having trouble. But tomorrow she needs to be able to tie her saddle shoes, so I hope tonight there is a breakthrough. With DS we could find velcro until last year (2nd grade) when he outgrew any uniform-complaint shoe with velcro. He still doesn't like to tie them, but he got there.

Since "just wait" or "buy non-lace shoes" isn't an option for all of us -- any other tips out there?

[LauraLoo]

Originally Posted by Evan&Anna's_Mom

Since "just wait" or "buy non-lace shoes" isn't an option for all of us -- any other tips out there?

I've seen some of those slider grips that you can purchase separately -- some shoes come with them and you've probably seen them on water shoes. I *think* I saw some at Stride Rite once upon a time. I have no idea how you'd put those on.

The other thing that I can think of is that dd's tap shoes had an elastic band with a button that you could thread through the top holes in lieu of laces. You could probably make these in any color that you would need.

Not sure if any of these options would make the shoes uniform compliant or not.

[One_Girl]

Originally Posted by Evan&Anna's_Mom

Because of the school uniform requirements we don't have the option of waiting. DD and I have been working at this 2-3 times a day for the last week and she is still having trouble. But tomorrow she needs to be able to tie her saddle shoes, so I hope tonight there is a breakthrough. With DS we could find velcro until last year (2nd grade) when he outgrew any uniform-complaint shoe with velcro. He still doesn't like to tie them, but he got there.

Since "just wait" or "buy non-lace shoes" isn't an option for all of us -- any other tips out there?

Is the teacher willing to help out if she knows that you are working on it at home? It seems like something that teachers would be willing to help out with as long as the child is showing some effort. I don't know if wait time is an issue, but how long are you giving her to try on her own before you step in? When dd was learning to do hers I would sometimes step in to quickly when she was having a hard time getting the rabbit ears a good size and then it would cause her to get frustrated and she would quit trying. It really did take ten minutes for one shoe but waiting patiently and letting her have that time to explore on her own made a big difference. If you are already giving her that time and standing back and she just isn't able to do it then I think you need to talk to her teacher and make sure to double knot her shoes before she leaves for school so they are less likely to slip out.