Mine is 8 and still can't. We've tried a few times. We've given him permission to use YouTube for tips.

He has low processing speed and poor fine motor skills. We just haven't prioritized it. He's bright; this just isn't a strength area.

If folks judge him for wearing shoes with a velcro strap at the top, so be it. It's totally annoying to have a pair of shoes that just won't stay tied. I rarely wear shoes with traditional laces any more.

Anonymous wrote:Taught my NT kids around the start of kindergarten. Knowing how to tie in K brings serious street cred — lots of interaction and friends made over offering to tie someone’s shoe.

Like when your kid was learning to put on their socks and shoes, budget more time to get ready for a week or two. Let them take their time and work through the frustration without swooping in to do it better and faster.

If your NT kid is age 7+ and still doing Velcro, I do judge. And so do your kid’s teachers and coaches.

So much of this. The reason most kids haven’t mastered this skill earlier is because of parents combined with shoe companies making so many velcro and no tie options. It’s not as though evolution stripped this generation of kids of the ability to conquer this skill between 4-7 for most.

Taught my NT kids around the start of kindergarten. Knowing how to tie in K brings serious street cred — lots of interaction and friends made over offering to tie someone’s shoe.

Like when your kid was learning to put on their socks and shoes, budget more time to get ready for a week or two. Let them take their time and work through the frustration without swooping in to do it better and faster.

If your NT kid is age 7+ and still doing Velcro, I do judge. And so do your kid’s teachers and coaches.

It's so weird that so many kids can't tie their shoes now. I learned by the time I was 6. I had my mom try to teach our DD since neither DH nor I seemed to be able to impart our shoe tying wisdom. I figured if my mom taught me she should be able to teach DD. But nope. She almost 9 and still can't and doesn't care.

I can't even remember but it was really difficult and took many years.

Just turned 9 and still trying...

My recently turned 7 year old can't and we've been meaning to teach him but I can tell it's going to be tough. Also, DH still ties his shoes like a kindergartener (double bunny ears) so I want to make sure it's me that teaches DS...

My oldest was 4. He had an old school pre-school teacher who taught them to read using phonics and made sure they knew how to tie their shoes.

My youngest…six, I guess? He still does bunny ears (at 10) and can’t tie them really snug.

7 and still can't tie his shoes. We've tried. No delays...just no interest in really figuring it out. Most kids wear velcro anyway.

Kid is 8 she can't tie her shoes and her friends can't either so she feels no sense of embarrassment. Gave up and got her no tie laces for all her shoes.

10 (almost 11) yo son is also an intelligent and curious kid and struggled with tying laces for a long time as well until he finally cracked it in 3rd grade. His grandparents (my side) made him a practice shoe out of cardboard and string which played a big part in helping him.

4/5- PreK. Started with the beginning rhyme from the boom Red Lace Yellow lace, and then modified ending for the loop and swoop. Then let them practice most times they put shors on unless we were really in a rush.

Helpful Tip. Sit behind kid when teaching/practicing so the movements aren’t reversed and they can mimic

4.5, get extra long laces for the shoes and disappear the non-tying ones for a while. We did make a bunny ear, around the tree, find the hole, poke it through, then grab it! Turned it into a game and it clicked with me talking it through for a while, then lots of practice.

Just before turning 5. I swear by the Nordstrom class if they still do it!

8 years old.