NCJessieRN Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 This is really embarrassing b/c my ds 8 1/2 and my dd 7 still do not know how to tie shoes. This winter my dc both have been playing basketball and for the first time I bought them shoes with ties. I think my ds would be pretty embarrassed if his shoe came untied and he had to run to me to fix it. So, I think it's beyond time for them to learn right? (In the summer they wear crocs or flip flops and in the winter dd has slip on boots and ds has slip on leather shoes.) Did you have a "trick" or "method" to teach dc to tie? How long did it take them to be able to tie? Thanks for any tips:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susankenny Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Youtube has a lot of tutorials: Susan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mothergooseof4 Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 None of mine could tie theirs until dh came into our lives. I tried teaching them the way that I do it, but they didn't get it. When I started seeing dh, he taught them a completely different method and they picked it right up. Of course, part of the fun was that they were enthralled with him after living most of their lives with no dad (late dh passed when they were still tiny). I will try to describe his method: Cross both strings and tuck one under then pull tight make a loop with each string in each of your two hands cross those loops, tuck one under and pull tight In my opinion this method comes untied easier than mine, but none of them can do mine. So, they usually double tie them....cross the loops over and tuck one under, pull tight again......and this keeps them tied. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCJessieRN Posted March 6, 2011 Author Share Posted March 6, 2011 Thanks! I NEVER even thought of YouTube! That's funny mothergoose, I must do it the way you do and I've tried the way you described and can NOT get it to tie tight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SusanK Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Isn't Velcro wonderful? LOL Tying shoes is *really hard* to teach. You sort of have to just do it. Mother Goose's method is fondly known as the "Bunny Ears" method, since the loops look like the ears of the rabbit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxbridgeacademy Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 None of mine could tie theirs until dh came into our lives. I tried teaching them the way that I do it, but they didn't get it. When I started seeing dh, he taught them a completely different method and they picked it right up. Of course, part of the fun was that they were enthralled with him after living most of their lives with no dad (late dh passed when they were still tiny). I will try to describe his method: Cross both strings and tuck one under then pull tight make a loop with each string in each of your two hands cross those loops, tuck one under and pull tight In my opinion this method comes untied easier than mine, but none of them can do mine. So, they usually double tie them....cross the loops over and tuck one under, pull tight again......and this keeps them tied. I tried teaching mine "rabbit around the tree" but they never could get it. My sister showed them the way described above and DD has been fine ever since. DS has a lot of trouble with multi-step anything so we just go with velcro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SewLittleTime Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 My ds just learned to tie his shoes by watching a Blue's Clues video. It has a cute little song sung by Randy Travis that he attached to and finally got it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EJCMom Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 My kids happened to watch an episode of Little Bill where Bill was learning to tie his shoes, and they just picked it right up. It was kind of funny because we hadn't even really been working on it. Then, a couple of days after watching the show my son just tied his shoes without really even thinking about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyhappyjoyjoy Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 (edited) My ds just learned to tie his shoes by watching a Blue's Clues video. It has a cute little song sung by Randy Travis that he attached to and finally got it! do you happen to know which season it was from? we have 1-5 on netflix ETA: i saw that it is episode 38 from season 5, but season 5 only goes to 30 on netflix! :( Edited March 6, 2011 by happyhappyjoyjoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuckabella Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 do you happen to know which season it was from? we have 1-5 on netflix ETA: i saw that it is episode 38 from season 5, but season 5 only goes to 30 on netflix! :( Check your library. The title of the episode is called "Morning Music". My library only carries so many, but actually has this one. I am getting it for DS and I will see if he will watch it with DD. There is a Golden Book out there that teaches how to tie shoes. DH learned from it and a "shoe" his parents made from a shoebox. I bought DS this book, but I don't think it is explained in a way *he* understands. I tie my shoes with 2 bunny ears, and I have tried to explain it, but it just does not come out understandable apparently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCJessieRN Posted March 6, 2011 Author Share Posted March 6, 2011 do you happen to know which season it was from? we have 1-5 on netflix ETA: i saw that it is episode 38 from season 5, but season 5 only goes to 30 on netflix! :( Boo. We have Netflix also so that would have been great. I looked at the youTube videos and will try that. They have one on there that is the fastest way I have ever seen! It was crazy and funny. Thanks to all of you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 This site has lots of tying methods and explains why some knots come undone easily. I almost posted this question last week. My 6.5 year old wants to learn, and I've tried to show him with no success. I printed these instructions out, and I'm going to see if he can just follow them. He's good at following written instructions. Worth a try, right? http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/tying.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 No ideas, but I will tell you that both of my kids were older than your oldest when they learned how to tie shoes. The 10-yr-old still gets us to tie them a lot, b/c she likes them tighter than she can manage. Oh well. :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 My dd started tying her shoes at age 10. Just so you know, it was a symptom of the dyslexia. http://www.dys-add.com/symptoms.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCJessieRN Posted March 6, 2011 Author Share Posted March 6, 2011 Thank you ladies! You really made me feel not so embarrassed anymore! I really thought most children knew how to tie before 1st grade. So, thanks for letting me know I'm not alone. I'm going to check out all of the other links today. Thanks again.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalphs Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 This is really embarrassing b/c my ds 8 1/2 and my dd 7 still do not know how to tie shoes. This winter my dc both have been playing basketball and for the first time I bought them shoes with ties. I think my ds would be pretty embarrassed if his shoe came untied and he had to run to me to fix it. So, I think it's beyond time for them to learn right? (In the summer they wear crocs or flip flops and in the winter dd has slip on boots and ds has slip on leather shoes.) Did you have a "trick" or "method" to teach dc to tie? How long did it take them to be able to tie? Thanks for any tips:001_smile: Here is what my mother did with me and I did with Dd... Using a pair of the child's own shoes you take one and give the other to the child. You show the child how to lace the shoes and how to tie step by step. They follow your lead in "monkey see, money do." When it came time to make the loop to tie the lace my mother would say "Here is the rabbit hole." While wrapping the lace around the loop she would say, "The rabbit runs around the tree." As she would put the lace through the hole she would finish with "And the rabbit jumps in the hole!" Another idea is to make a shoe by tracing a copy of the child's shoe on cardstock or construction paper. Punch holes and use yarn to lace/tie the shoe. My kindergarten teacher had us do this for the first couple of weeks back in 1970. By the end of two weeks everyone in the class could tie their shoes. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diana B Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Another idea is to make a shoe by tracing a copy of the child's shoe on cardstock or construction paper. Punch holes and use yarn to lace/tie the shoe. This is great for practice. My DS 7.5 is in the process of learning. He has a hard time getting his fingers to what he knows they should while dealing with the shoe and his knee and.... you get the point. Having something to practice on other than one's shoe on one's foot makes it much easier to figure out! I'm glad that my DS is not the only one unable to tie his shoes though! A friend's son was only 4 when he learned, and so I figured DS was way behind - mostly because I was lazy and just never taught him! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyD Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 i have teaching (well, trying to teach) my DS5 with a sort-of book thing that has laces and instructions in it. He gets very frustrated but is learning veerrrry slowly. What I really should do is just buy his next pair of shoes with laces instead of velcro and that will force all of us to get on the stick with this. But I mentioned this to DH before I bought DS's LAST pair of shoes, DH was all, "Oh, no, don't buy laces until he learns to tie them first!" I think we all need the motivation of actual shoes, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tylianna Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 I made dh teach our kids. I just buy them Velcro shoes because I am tired of telling them to tie their shoes every five minutes... :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3peasinapod Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 I'm glad we're not the only one with tying shoes inhibited children! :001_huh: My DD8 can do it, but they always come undone. I tried the rabbit around the bush thing and went into the hole, and she understood that, but not DD6. I think I'll try the 2 bunny ear thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Attila the Honey Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Thank you for asking! My 7yo is trying to learn but it's slow going. Check the library, there are books about tying shoes at ours and they seem to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuckabella Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Check your library. The title of the episode is called "Morning Music". My library only carries so many, but actually has this one. I am getting it for DS and I will see if he will watch it with DD. It is at the very end of Bluestock DVD. About an hour and 6 minutes in, in case anyone is going to try this route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetMissMagnolia Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 lol need to do that with my son too---velcro has made it way too easy to let that slide LOL...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennilv2003 Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 I have to admit I am relieved that I am not the only one struggling to teach my ds to tie his shoes. He is 9 and still struggling. My oldest child had no problems catching on, but my 2nd child has not been able to grasp it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joyfulhomeschooler Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Thanks for this post. I had the same problem, and since reading this post I showed my son the double loop method (two bunny ears) and he is now tying his shoes :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairytalemama Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 We let my five year old pick out any shoes she wanted with ties with the knowledge up front that to have those shoes she would have to learn how to tie them herself. She opted for Sketchers Twinkle Toes that were covered with silver sequins. I taught her using the make the ground/here's the tree/have the bunny run around the tree and into the hole method. For a couple months afterward, she would tie one shoe and I would tie the other. I would just sit there with her and walk her through it until she got it. Then I started having her tie both shoes. It works a lot better if you allow extra time before you're leaving to go anywhere so it's not stressful waiting for the kid to finish tying. She's been tying her own shoes now since the end of October. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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