I teach cheerleading and all the girls wear tie shoes. It's amazing to me how many of them can't tie their own shoes! We're talking 10-12 year olds, not little kids.
I swear I was tying my own shoes perfectly at a much younger age. I remember tying my own shoes in first grade.
Is it because so many of them wear slip on shoes or velcro?
I had to go around and re-do 10 pairs of shoes at our competition yesterday. They were tied, but none of them were tied tightly, and they kept coming undone. The girls admitted they couldn't tie their own shoes well.
Is this normal for nowadays?
I learned how to tie my own shoes the day before I started kindergarten.
My son tied his own shoes by 1st grade - yeah, he still wears velcro shoes a lot.
Maybe shoe tying should become a regular part of cheer leading practice until they have mastered it.
It's fairly normal.
My mum calls laces "Old Technology"... And equates them with hook & eye laces (that needed boot hooks) that were being phased out when she was a kid.
My son's preschool required shoes the kids could put on/take off themselves, as did his elementary school. So most of the kids had either Velcro, "zip tie" / sport laces (laces but you just pull & slide), zipper, and slip ons. With so many easy (required for years) options... Using laces was looooooooooow on my son's wants. Add in his dad having a bad parenting moment (screaming at him while "teaching" him to tie his shoes until he wet his pants), and not only were oldschool laces totally unnecessary, but a trauma thing as well.
So we stuck with the somewhat more expensive sport laces.
I was tying my shoes at 5.
My son, not until 10.
We worked with our daughter for a while finally in kindergarten one of the little boys taught her.
We taught our daughter the summer before kindergarten =) The parent manual from our school had encouraged us to teach her that skill, along with a few other suggestions, before she started kindergarten! She was honestly one of the only kids that actually showed up knowing how to tie her shoes that first day ... she's now in 2nd grade and many of her friends still don't know how to tie their shoes!
Three years old for the Montessori preschoolers, although my husband taught the kids at home. All I remember is the kids really needed to be able to take care of this themselves in kindergarten - at least learn how during kindergarten, and definitely have it down pat before first grade.
I think it is somewhat normal today. I think many daycares/preschools want kids putting on their own shoes so there are now many choices with velcro and slip ons and they never get used to seeing them tied and these choices extend through adulthood, so you can easily never have to wear shoes with ties if you want. It's something that used to be taught in Kindergarten, but from what I've heard, it no longer is in many areas. So in many cases, if parents aren't teaching it at home, it doesn't get taught. And if the kids aren't consistently wearing shoes with ties - and many don't - they don't get the practice needed to do it well.
I'm not sure if it's normal or not.
My own kids were tying their shoes around age 6, which was about the age I did as a kid, and from what I remember that was "normal" then.
Maybe they've never been taught because they've always worn velcro, or slip on, buckle or snap type shoes.
Honestly the only reason I taught my kids to tie their shoes is because I thought it was a good skill for them to have, the fact is most of the shoes they have worn over the years didn't have laces.
I'm embarassed to admit this, but my 7 year old is just learning to tie his shoes... he's in 2nd grade. He's left handed and fine motor stuff for him has always been a struggle. Not to excuse it - but honestly, we had bigger fish to fry for a while with him, and now we are playing catch up. BUT his brother (who is in Kindergarten) can tie his shoes (whew!).
My boys always preferred velcro - and I admit I went with it because it was easy.
I'd be mortified if my son couldn't tie his shoes at 10 - 12!
I do think my kids (and many others) learn a little later than kids a generation or two ago. For my kids I blame the velcro and slip on shoes. For my son in kindergarten it can actually be difficult to find shoes that are not velcro. And when I finally taught my daughter in first grade it took awhile and a few refresher courses because she hardly ever wore shoes that needed to be tied. I remember having to go over it again with my oldest son at the end of summer since he had been wearing sandals and such all season (he had just learned the prior spring). And I often still check for tightness and throw in a double knot for my 8 and 10 year olds. They can do it, and it comes out fine, but not great.
I would always make sure my daughters cleats were secure and double knotted before practice or games, and my sons sport does not involve shoes at all, he swims. Maybe send home a note reminding parents that for safety reasons the girls need to have tightly secured shoes and to be sure they review that at home. Seems like they are a bit old to "need" this kind of reminder, but your observations say otherwise.
I remember the giant wood lacing board at my nursery school. It looked like a red boot, I thought it was awesome. Started at 3/4 y.o. Didn't really perfect the tying thing till some older cousins showed me the "rabbit ears" method at around 5 y.o.
Laces have gone the way of the dodo.
F. B.
We taught our oldest when he was 6 because I was pregnant and didn't want to have to tie his shoes when we had a newborn in the house.
We then taught our youngest when he was 6 just because he was interested in tying shoes about that time. Now he is 8, and sometimes his shoes come untied, but he re-ties them himself.
These kids have cell phones, play video games and use computers but can't tie their own shoes (that are required in your case)??? I don't get it, even with slip ons and velcro...they should know this basic skill.
My daughter is 12 and has never owned a pair of shoes with laces until this past fall. No one ever taught her to tie shoes and she finally just learned on her own. Granted, she has special needs, so tying shoes was low on my list of things for her to learn....
I think the zip/velcro/slip-on craze came about because it was easier/faster, and we (as a society) are all about speed mixed with less work.
When I was a kid, they taught us to tie our shoes at school in kindergarten. Now the school asks just that you send shoes the child can get on and off themselves. My son didn't learn to tie his shoes until half way through grade four at 9 1/2 years. Before that he wore slip ons or velcro, same with the other kids in his class. It's just like reading a clock. Kids aren't taught that at school anymore either, because of digital clocks.
I remember learning to tie my shoes and my phone # at the same time shortly before kindergarten when I was 5. All my kids have also learned by five. Having said that, they don't always (like, almost never) tie them tight. That way they can slip them off and on without having to retie, unless, of course, I'm standing right over them.
My kids I think were in 1st grade but they didn't stay tied. Shoot my oldest just finally started tying his tight I think last year. Even if they can tie them the strings are not made good enough to stay tied. It's really annoying!!!!!!!!
I remember my dad teaching me when I was 4 years old. My daughter learned when she was 5 and my son is still learning and he is 5
It took my son until the beginning of third grade to learn. He still won't tie them when he needs to and he's in third grade.
My daughter on the other hand is currently in kindergarten and she learned the summer before she started school.
