Shoe Tying or Lack Thereof

 

                                                                           

First there were laces. Then there was Velcro. 

Now, neither- sneakers just slip on!

This morning when I was on the treadmill, I was listening to a commercial about sneakers for kids that now just slip on. Kids can be standing or sitting and don't even need to touch their shoes with their "dirty hands." This reminded me of how irritating it is for me personally, when students in upper grades still don't know how to tie their own shoes. 

Several things went through my head. First was that the shoes are pretty cool because my own granddaughter has them and it makes it very easy to get her shoes on to go outside. Then I was thinking that maybe it is just easier for the adults. No more fighting with the whole shoe- tying struggles. Then I thought about the importance of those fine motor skills that small children need to practice and how tying shoes is a great way for kids to practice them. Now, we don't even teach them to do that! 

After I went through all of that, I started to think about all the things that require some sort of tying. How many times do you tie up something in a day? Now, I know this may seem like a silly post about shoe tying, but it just seems like we are taking away the struggles for kids that actually help them with other life skills. I always told my own children that they couldn't even start school unless they could tie their shoes. (That wasn't actually true, but I recall shoe-tying as a rite of passage as a child myself, so I continued it as a parent.) 

I hope this post will help you to put you "best foot forward" today!