Going the way of cursive, alas.

5 - double bunny ears

My 7yo can't and I haven't even tried teaching him because he has some fine motor delays and I don't want him to be super frustrated.

My now 10yo probably learned at around 7 and it was pretty challenging for her to learn. I wouldn't say she really mastered it in a way that doesn't require her retying her shoes constantly until she was 8 or so.

5.

10, maybe? My son has low processing speed, gross and fine motor disabilities.
We taught him the rabbit ears and he didn't get it until I practiced with him hand-over-hand, every day, for weeks. And then he did s-o s-l-o-w-l-y . He's 16 now and it's still a little slow.

My younger daughter, with no disabilities, tied her shoelaces with a double knot just once, a little loose, so she can slip in and out of her shoes. She does this for every new pair of sneakers. As a result, she hasn't practiced much at all and at 11 doesn't really do a better job of tying shoelaces than her 16 year old brother! But it's for different reasons...

One of my kids really struggled to learn and probably didn't get it until ten. He played soccer so he had to wear laces and would often ask teammates to tie his shoes on the field!

He finally learned when I discovered a method on youtube where you first tuck the ends of the shoe laces into the top eyelet so you have two stable bunny ears. Then you tie a first knot, and then a second. (I think that's right, something like that.)

It took five minutes to learn after years of not being able to do it. For kids with some motor skill or motor planning issues, I highly recommend!

My kids got it somewhere between five and 6.5, but I, someone with a fine motor skill learning disability didn't get it until I was almost seven. Velcro shoes were for losers when/where I grew up so I would never have used them. Worrying my parents would get tired of tying my shoes and force velcro on me is what got me to practice until I got it.

Mine was quite late - I remember being concerned. Now is 17 and still hates it. Wears shoes with loose laces so he can slip on.
Plays piano beautifully though so I’m not concerned.

Anonymous wrote:Kindergarten. Everyone in the class had to demonstrate the skill as a presentation lol.

Ha! My kid would’ve failed.

Kindergarten. Everyone in the class had to demonstrate the skill as a presentation lol.

10. still not great

At 6 but he’s a genius

Mine is recently 7 and can't do it. Honestly, I think he's had 1 pair of shoes with laces his entire life.

At 10 years old, it finally clicked.

So this is slightly embarrassing. But DS--otherwise a very bright, curious kid--still can't tie his shoes, and insists on others doing it for him, at almost 7 yrs old.

This is not from lack of trying, I promise we have! But oddly enough, DS just LOVES velcro strap shoes, and thinks that everyone is crazy for not using them! He brags about them to his friends that CAN tie their shoes. Lord.

At what age were your LO's successfully tying their shoes? Any tips for a LO that cant (or doesn't want to..) yet?