5 year old can bathe himself and do snaps/buttons. Can't tie shoes. Older - 8 - just learned to tie about a year ago and still isn't great at it.

4.5 for all of these except probably earlier for the last one. I’m not sure of the buttons and whatnot because she didn’t wear a lot of clothes with buttons. I did encourage independence (although many would say I’m too “attachment parenty”) but I think a lot is just personality and naturally strong motor skills.

Her own buttons? 3
Bathe/shower- between 5 and 6. She doesn’t do a good job rinsing her hair though so I usually step in to check on that.

Anonymous wrote:What about:

Riding a bike without training wheels
Swimming without a floater

I have a six year old boy and he showers alone but wants help getting out, is starting with shoelaces, and doesn’t like buttons so I have clue. He can zipper. Can’t swim or bike so those are summer goals.

DS is 6, almost 7.

We took the float off at age 4 and kept a real close eye on him at the pool. He wasn't allowed to be outside our arms reach. He takes swim lessons on a weekly basis, can swim the length of the pool at the Y with a freestyle and is working on the back stroke. But we felt like the float would give him false confidence in the pool and took it off him early. His summer camps required a swim test, which he did not pass, so he had to stay in the shallow end at 5. His goal has been to pass the swim test so he can go to other parts of the pool this summer.

He still uses training wheels on his bike but we don't get him out on the bike enough. One of our summer goals is to get the training wheels off.

I know kids who are teens who can't ride a bike and far too many people who cannot swim. So I would say that those are important skills but there are others who could care less.

Anonymous wrote:What about:

Riding a bike without training wheels
Swimming without a floater

I have a six year old boy and he showers alone but wants help getting out, is starting with shoelaces, and doesn’t like buttons so I have clue. He can zipper. Can’t swim or bike so those are summer goals.

Summer she turned 6, but at 5, for both.

Anonymous wrote:What about:

Riding a bike without training wheels
Swimming without a floater

I have a six year old boy and he showers alone but wants help getting out, is starting with shoelaces, and doesn’t like buttons so I have clue. He can zipper. Can’t swim or bike so those are summer goals.

Riding a bike age 5.5. Swimming unassisted age 4.. We started swim lesson at 3.5. I would say she was confident ( as was I) about 4/4.5

DD is 6.5 and an only. I think that makes a difference personally because we do stuff for them for longer.
She could completely dress herself with snaps buttons etc just before she turned 6. She can shower herself now ( hair in shower cap) but most of the time asks me to help.
Learned to do her shoelaces successfully about a month ago.

I taught her to wipe after #2 before she started K so almost 5 ( summer bday) I thought that was something she should learn to do herself before starting all day public school.

Anonymous wrote:What about:

Riding a bike without training wheels
Swimming without a floater

I have a six year old boy and he showers alone but wants help getting out, is starting with shoelaces, and doesn’t like buttons so I have clue. He can zipper. Can’t swim or bike so those are summer goals.

My kids can swim 25m free alone and tread water for a minute (that’s the swim test at our pool) - around age 5 but I also basically have them in weekly swim lessons starting around age 3.5. I think a lot depends on how much they swim! Well, my older two boys could do that a little before 5, but my daughter is now 4.5 and I’m not sure she’s that close. I do think next summer at 5.5 she will probably be able to do it.

I commented earlier - that I have 3 kids. My oldest and middle boys learned to ride their bikes the same summer - so DS1 had just turned 7 (like that week), and DS2 was 4.5.
My DD is 4.5 this summer and she’s definitely not interested in learning to ride a bike without training wheels yet. I’m guessing she’ll be around 6 when she learns. May depend on when the neighbor girls learn and if that makes her more interested.

Most of this stuff I don’t think you need to worry about too much. There’s a range depending on how much the parents work with the kid on it, etc.

What about:

Riding a bike without training wheels
Swimming without a floater

I have a six year old boy and he showers alone but wants help getting out, is starting with shoelaces, and doesn’t like buttons so I have clue. He can zipper. Can’t swim or bike so those are summer goals.

6 1/2 year old DD - still cannot pull up a top over her head and needs help. We use velcro shoes since it saves time in the morning. For ballet shoes we need to tie the lace but it ends up being me who does it. She just learned to bathe on her own and brush her own teeth. I was helping out most of the time before.

DS will be 6 next month.

He has been showering by himself since shortly after turning 5.

Can't tie his shoes yet.

He was able to button and snap his clothes pretty consistently since about 4.5 but occasionally needed help with small buttons. Now he 100% independent with this.

Anonymous wrote:My almost 5 year old can more or less dress himself (although clothing sometimes winds up backwards), but it takes him a long time. If we're in a hurry I help him.

He can't tie shoes, but he doesn't own any shoes that require tying so I'm not sure what the appropriate age is for that.

I don't let him bathe alone yet.

We let DS shower alone at 5, we could hear what was happening in the bathroom and checked immediately if we heard a thump. We let him takes bath solo now, he is 6, because he is doing well in swimming. We still check with any thump and I pop my head in every few minutes to see if he needs anything or I'll call out to him to see if he needs anything.

DS friends started wearing tie shoes in first grade, with varying degrees of success. DS asked about tying shoes so we got him some.

Bathe themselves completely on their own - 9? I'm including hair washing.
Tie their own shoes - 5 or 6
Wear pants/shorts with buttons or snaps and can do it themselves - age 4

Anonymous wrote:When did your child:

Bathe themselves completely on their own
Tie their own shoes
Wear pants/shorts with buttons or snaps and can do it themselves

I feel like my DS is behind on all of these things. I don't want to share his age out of embarrassment.

7
5
7

My almost 5 year old can more or less dress himself (although clothing sometimes winds up backwards), but it takes him a long time. If we're in a hurry I help him.

He can't tie shoes, but he doesn't own any shoes that require tying so I'm not sure what the appropriate age is for that.

I don't let him bathe alone yet.