Eli's Shoes

I distinctly remember learning to tie my shoes.  It's a pretty hard concept - it requires a fairly high level of fine motor use, and it requires an enormous amount of patience, both on the part of the learner and probably more on the part of the teacher!  Chris introduced Eli to the "normal" method about a week ago.  That's where you take the bunny ears and do all kinds of fancy pinching and twisting.  It's great for an adult, but for a 6-year-old it's a big challenge.

One of my cyber friends (THANK YOU, ANG) posted a link on Pinterest yesterday titled "How To Teach A 6-Year-Old To Tie Shoes In 5 Minutes."  I didn't think it would work, but it was certainly worth a try.  The web site had a little video and step by step instructions.  I couldn't figure it out myself for a few mintues, but once I got the hang of it, it really was pretty easy.  I showed Eli, and he struggled and couldn't get it, so we took a break.  A few minutes later he came to me with both shoes tied.  :)  He had to go and think about it for a minute, and then he got it.  And he can repeat it!  I see things on Pinterest all of the time and wonder if they really work, but this one was amazing.

More independence = one happy kid!  :)