Velcro, elastic, zippers...all nice when you are trying to get your child to put their shoes on by themselves...but now we are realizing that our son who will be 8 in January has no idea how to TIE his own shoes. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to teach this ie rhyme, book, anything? I feel so bad realizing that we have neglected this important step! I would appreciate any suggestions you may have!

By Dawnk777 on Friday, December 7, 2007 - 06:37 pm:

6 tips for teaching shoe-tying

Shoe-tying tips

I would demonstrate, explain the various steps and have him practice practice practice!

By Rayelle on Friday, December 7, 2007 - 08:44 pm:

I am in the same boat as you. My 8 year old can't tie shoes, he's never had lace ups! On the to-do list for sure!

By Andi on Saturday, December 15, 2007 - 01:11 am:

I was so worried that would happen in the age of Slip Ons and Velcro that I made DS learn how before I bought him the shoes he REALLY wanted for Kindy last year.

We use the Bunny going around the tree, then jumping into the hole method and he got it in one day. Your 8 year old may be too old for that, he may thig it's to baby sounding.

I'm sure once you show him he will get it really fast, especially at his age.