# Help me teach my son to tie his shoes. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 20, 2005, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-teach-my-son-to-tie-his-shoes/322538 "2005-09-20T15:10:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-teach-my-son-to-tie-his-shoes/322538/1 "2005-09-20T15:10:37Z")
It’s frustrating. He’s five, and he really wants to learn, but he just can’t get his brain around it. He’s a very smart kid, and I’ll admit I haven’t been trying very long. But how did others do it? He seems to want to work ahead, and at 5, frustration sets in pretty easy. Tell me your success stories. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-teach-my-son-to-tie-his-shoes/322538/2 "2005-09-20T15:51:25Z")
> [@NurseCarmen](#): > > It’s frustrating. He’s five, and he really wants to learn, but he just can’t get his brain around it. He’s a very smart kid, and I’ll admit I haven’t been trying very long. But how did others do it? He seems to want to work ahead, and at 5, frustration sets in pretty easy. Tell me your success stories. [Here is one resource.](http://www.ehow.com/how_5906_teach-child-tie.html) [Here is one](http://www.netrover.com/~kingskid/shslow1.html) that shows a step-by-step story you can tell to your kids to help them remember. [Here is an alternative](http://www.cs.uleth.ca/~cheng/tieshoes.html) way to tie shoes. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-teach-my-son-to-tie-his-shoes/322538/3 "2005-09-20T15:59:22Z")
When I was a kid, I was quicker than most in stuff like reading and math and science, but in Kindergarten I was one of the few who couldn’t tie my shoes. I never got it until one time when my aunt showed me, and it just “stuck” then. She didn’t do anything differently than anybody else, my brain was just ready for it then. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-teach-my-son-to-tie-his-shoes/322538/4 "2005-09-20T18:32:48Z")
Velcro or zippers until they’re a bit older is how we handled it for most of our kids. A pair or two of shoes which needed to be tied, but the everyday stuff was slip on, velcro, or had zippers. Their one pair of dress shoes or whatever they had with laces was what we would use to teach them. This allowed them to learn at a slower pace without feeling frustrated EVERY DAY. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Kiminy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Kiminy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiminy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-teach-my-son-to-tie-his-shoes/322538/5 "2005-09-20T21:20:11Z")
Our son didn’t really learn to tie his shoes until he was almost in second grade, when a physical therapist showed him how to make loops out of the ties, then twist the loops together. He still prefers velcro, zipper, or pull-on shoes, though. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-teach-my-son-to-tie-his-shoes/322538/6 "2005-09-20T23:02:54Z")
> [@](#): > > Make sure that you and your child are side by side rather than opposite each other when you demonstrate. That way he’ll be able to copy your movements rather than mirror them. My dad taught me to tie my shoes while he was facing me, the shoes between us. To this day (many years later), I still tie bows upside down. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-teach-my-son-to-tie-his-shoes/322538/7 "2005-09-21T13:59:06Z")
When I was small, I tied my shoes using the rabbit ears method - maybe he could do this? It’s certainly simple. I learned the “grown up” way by closely (but surreptuously!) watching my sister, and was so proud when I got it down. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-teach-my-son-to-tie-his-shoes/322538/8 "2005-09-21T14:38:13Z")
> [@Snickers](#): > > When I was small, I tied my shoes using the rabbit ears method - maybe he could do this? It’s certainly simple. I learned the “grown up” way by closely (but surreptuously!) watching my sister, and was so proud when I got it down. _ **waits for someone to come in and be astonished that there is a way other than ‘the bunny ears’ method to tie shoes.** _ ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-teach-my-son-to-tie-his-shoes/322538/9 "2005-09-21T15:20:26Z")
Actually, you might want to try [this site](http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/knots.htm) devoted to various ways to tie knots. In fact, the [“Ian Knot”](http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm) is _easier_ to tie than the standard I learned as a kid. And not only that, that page has very easy step-by-step “how to tie” illustrated instructions. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-teach-my-son-to-tie-his-shoes/322538/10 "2005-09-21T15:25:28Z")
Have you had him practice on a shoe that wasn’t on a foot, or let him tie your shoes for you? I found that practicing on unoccupied shoes that I could turn this way and that let me get better at tying the laces. (And medium length laces were better, not too short, nor too long to know what to do with.) Some people find it more difficult to tie the shoe on their foot. I did. I could tie other people’s shoes ok, but my own confused me because it was “upside down”.