to ask what your 6yo knows

[Daddypigsgusset]

I'm not competitive at all nor do I believe in pushing small people too hard etc.
A few threads on the last couple of weeks have got me wondering what beneficial life skill type things to do with dc out of school.
Yknow, tying laces, telling the time, riding a bike etc.
We're stuck in a rut of crafts, baking, reading that I've forgotten what else children do!

Im so embarrassed by this, I grew up overseas and had a total outdoor life so my perception of what they should do and when is way out of line with others

[MabelSideswipe]

Well I am sure my 6 year old will make you feel better. He can't tie laces (but then again it took until age 10 for my other son), he can't ride a bike and no way can he tell the time.

Out of school he does Karate and Beavers.

[AmysTiara]

Mine can tell the time except for twenty five to haha and can ride his bike but cant tie laces. He goes to swimming lessons and beavers out of school. On the otherhand ds1 couldnt ride his bike until he was 8 so it really does depend on the child

[TheBody]

swimming, road safety skills, what to do if you are lost, keeping yourself and your body safe. could save a life.

also gardening, cycling, library visits, museums, story time, music concerts, theatre, ballet. stimulate them.

any idiot learns to tie laces and tell the time eventually.

[GreenLandsOfHome]

Ds1 has just turned 6. He can't tie laces yet. He can ride a bike, and has done for about a year. He can tell the time properly, on a 12 hour and digital 24 hour clock (time fascinates him, as does the 12/24 hour conversion. So if I say 'oh it's seven o clock' he'll usually come back with 'yes, that's nineteen oh oh isn't it?')

He can swim about a length unaided and has a lesson every week. He also has football practice once a week.

Um...can't think of anything else!

[manicinsomniac]

My 6 year old can ride a bike and tie laces but can't tell the time (she's rubbish at maths in general!)

Out of school she does ballet, tap, modern, lyrical and contemporary dance, gymnastics, singing, drama and piano. We go to the theatre a lot for musicals, plays and dance but rarely go to museums, stately homes etc. We do a lot of cycling and walking but very little swimming. She adores reading but never practises times tables (aforementioned maths block!) or spellings. We have no tv or electronic consoles so she is very behind technologically but we live in a very safe little village so she is quite independent and can climb trees, play in stream, woods etc.

A fair mix of the good and the bad I guess!

[AwfulMaureen]

DD turned 6 two weeks ago. She can't tie laces but she can ride a bike, she can't tell the time but she can read (not that well yet!)...she can make a sandwich and put on her school uniform but not do her own hair.

She can paint, model with clay, bounce up the stairs like a frog and be kind to children who are shy or hurt...she likes helping smaller children and babies.

She'd much rather dig in the mud or Daddy's tool shed than sit down and do homework.

[PomBearWithAnOFRS]

Each child is different - when I think back to what my pfb could do at various ages/stages, and what my youngest (5th) child can/could do at the same ages/stages, there is a huge dfference, not least because I am so much more laid back now and am willing to let my youngest attempt things that horrified me when my pfb was that age.
My pfb is 23 now, and my youngest has just turned 7 btw.
And I have an almost 20 year old who still cannot tie his laces, and has always steadfastly refused to even try to learn how - this was so not the "hill I would pick to die on" and so I bought velcro shoes and let him get on with it
My just 7 year old can read and write, make a simple meal and drink for himself, dress himself, ride a bike and scooter, climb trees onto the garage roof tell the time on a digital and "proper" clock, and work a Nintendo DS and a Kindle Fire. I don't think he can tie a bow yet, but am not certain - his current school shoes and trainers don't have laces.
Sadly he seems to be incapable of peeing without spraying and/or flushing the toilet, but in that he takes after his Daddy and three older brothers

[Toadinthehole]

Mine-

Can't tie laces
Can't ride a bike
Can't tell the time
Hasn't started times tables (to my knowledge)
Can't make a sandwich
Doesn't do ballet, tap, modern, lyrical, contemporary dance, singing, drama or piano.
She also can't speak Greek or Latin, unlike John Stuart Mill.
She doesn't play an instrument.
She is, however, good at losing her glasses and spends ages tidying up her room.

Hope that makes you feel better.

[ICanSeeTheSun]

Ds aged 7 can't do any of that, apart from ride a bike.

He has no sense of danger, so when he was 5 he just hoped onto a bike and rode it.

[ICanSeeTheSun]

He an expert on computers though :)

[Toadinthehole]

Mine buggered the lock on the drivers door of my car by inserting a stick into it. I find her enquiring, experimental mind encouraging.

[humblebumble]

My DS who is just 6.
Can not tie laces (have tried teaching him but just can't grasp it - I may also not be the most patient teacher)
Can not tell the time (no concept of time)
Can ride a bike (has been able to for a couple of years)
Can swim a length of a pool
Is just starting to read, very basic words/sentences

He can clear up his dishes with some persuasion (I mean lift them from the table to the sink only)

He can make his bed (again with persuasion)

He goes to karate outside of school. I am thinking of putting him in tennis lessons as he does seem very sports oriented and keen on starting.

[Toadinthehole]

Mine can't swim a length either.

[ILiveInAPineappleCoveredInSnow]

Mine can swim, he knows the 2,3,5,10 times tables (maths freak), can read fairly well (and reads everything - including the back of my books - mummy what's SEX!!!! It was only a bloody novel, a James Patterson lol), can tell the time on a digital clock, knows days, months and seasons.
He can't ride a bike without stabilisers, or tie his shoe laces, but he's just got some new football boots so he wants to learn!!!

They all do things at their own pace, just give them opportunities and don't stress about it.

[MexicanSpringtime]

Yeap a lot of differences between children. My dd was too risk-aversive to learn how to ride a bike or climb trees until she was much older.

[coralanne]

TheBody how very hurtful of you. Äny idiot learns to tie laces and tell time eventually"

My DGS has dyspraxia. He is 8 years old and wears Velcro shoes. He won't learn to tie his shoes in the near future '. He's fine with that because his hero Harry Potter (alias Daniel Radcliffe) had/has the same problem.

His 6 year old sister has been able to tie her laces since she was 4 because she has the type of personality that has to persevere until she gets something right.

[Coconutmummy]

When you refer to not riding a bike you mean with stabilisers? Right?
My 6 year old can ride a bike, read, write and spell quite well, swim, tie her laces, make sandwiches, tell the time on a digital and old fashioned clock.

She however, only managed to sleep through the night in her own bed in the last month. She is very very sensitive and in my opinion cries at the drop of a heart.

Her 3 year old sister has been riding a bike with stabilisers since September. Same parents, and upbringing. One is a cautious thinker who loves being watched and seeks to excel for praise. The younger a seeming daredevil who charges without fear into everything. I don't see the younger one reading for a while. She gets a star in play school for sitting through a story. On a bonus, she can stand up and sing lots of nursery rhymes on her own to her class

[NoodleOodle]

I couldn't tell the time or swim until I was 7, but I did other things much earlier. Like, shoe laces at three - tap classes and I wanted to do my own.

At 6 my DD could ride a bike, roller skate, read pretty much anything, use computers. Could not do times tables, play an instrument, swim (ear problems meant no risking getting them wet).

An activity I loved at that age was going to the woods with my dad and playing on a rope swing, and building a den/fort out of sticks around a tree. Playing pooh sticks over a small stream bridge, camping, climbing trees, doing homework (I enjoyed being a swot).

They all achieve different skills in their own time. Other suggestions include photography, art, woodwork, science experiments - growing things like crystals from a kit, measuring plant growth, making circuit boards, woodwork (a stool could be doable at that age).

[wigglesrock]

Mine can swim (but not fussed on it)
Tell the time
Have a shower, wash her hair
work the Wii
use a mobile phone
ride a bike
make toast
cross the road
can't tie a bow/knot

Her older sister couldn't swim/ ride a bike without stabilisers/ tie a shoelace until she was 7.5 & then she did it all in the space of 2 weeks.

Her younger sister can a lot of things already but can't sleep without me in the bed yet!

[youbethemummylion]

DS can ride a bike, tie laces, tell the time ish, swim 50 metres, green belt in karate, make toast, make cereal, make squash, feeds the cat, use a tablet/laptop, cross the road, empties dishwasher, sorts recycling

[hazeyjane]

dd is 6, she

rides a bike (no stabilisers)
draws beautifully
knows lots of stuff about animals
can make a computer/batmobile/combustion engine etc out of cardboard, sellotape and string
has created a world populated by purple shnooks on the ipad
can spend a whole day dressed as a superhero called SilverOwl
knows every episode of scooby doo
she's not so good at reading (dyslexic) but loves listening to stories
her spelling isn't great, but her stories are amazing
can't swim but loves going swimming
can bounce on a trampoline very well
can play the recorder and the ukelele
can do a very good scottish accent
can sign in Makaton
loves sciencey stuff
knows many many words for fart.

[Shamoy]

Mine has just turned 6.. He has been riding a bike with no stabilisers since he was 4, he can swim, tie his own school tie.
He can't tie shoe laces yet
He knows 2 and 10 times tables, can cartwheel and headstand!

[AuditAngel]

DD1 will be 7 on Thursday. She can ride a bike without stabilisers, roller skate, swing like a monkey, she does karate and dancing outside of school. She can swim a length much better than I can.

She can tie her laces, dress herself but is incapable if taking something out of a drawer without making a mess and is very untidy.

She is learning her 3 times table and can do 2, 5 and 10.

She can't tell the time yet, but knows where the hands are on the clock for bedtime (Roman numerals)

She can read, but is frustrated that she still needs help to read the books she wants to read (Horrid Henry)

[manchestermummy]

knows many many words for far . Same here!


Mine can ride a bike (and has done since the age of four), swim, getting there with time, draws well, get her breakfast ready, work the CD player, does piano, can cross the monkey bars at school (to date her biggest achievement !).

Can't ever see her doing shoelaces.