Children not as good at practical skills anymore?

[LadyInTheHouse]

My DS is 11 and I feel like I have to show him every little thing. Of course I know it’s my job to teach him as a parent, but I just don’t remember my mum teaching me this stuff for hours on end We just seemed to know how to do a lot of things instinctively.

E.g I’m sure I learnt how to tie my shoelaces by age 6 and my mum only showed me a few times. My DS still can’t do them and is getting incredibly frustrated. I’ve been making him practice every day and I’m fed up of going through it over and over. He’s starting high school so we’ve got to crack this over summer.

He has a bike and I noticed he was putting his feet down to stop instead of braking. He didn’t know to just use his thumb to brake and thought he had to take his whole hand off the handlebar which he didn’t want to do.

He can’t swing by himself and I’ve had to show him how to do it over and over. Nobody taught me! I’m sure I just did it naturally by trying.

These are just silly examples. He is NT and no coordination issues. I’m just wondering if this is typical and other parents do teach every little thing like this.

he’s working on that with a shoelace trying book he has and his tap shoes.

There you go, another tap shoelace learner. Maybe that is the answer. Everyone should send their kids to learn tap dance!

I showed my dd how to tie shoelaces umpteen billion times but she calmly told a neighbour she didn't know how so the neighbour showed her once and dd then went around for weeks saying ”neighbour’s name showed me how to tie my laces”

Ds with dyspraxia could manage laces and swing well before that age. We used silly rhymes to help him remember how to do things like shoelaces, although he resisted shoes with laces for several years afterwards. He found certain things like using a swing or skiing easier than some nt friends. Maybe your ds has a processing issue rather than specific fine motor skills difficulties but they do interrelate. Does he remember and follow multi stage instructions, keep his train of thought, get distracted easily?

Comefromaway

And their mums should all have musical references in their NNs

My older DS’s first completely independent shoe-tie was in preparation for his tap exam. I have a very smart photo of him in his exam gear, theatrically displaying a beautifully turned out foot with a shoe tied by his own good self.

Absolutely (one of my first usernames was very similar to yours but ended in Thropp!)

Should add that when I eventually learnt how to tie laces it was also through tap

Maybe tap really is the way forward.

I don't suppose any of them can light fires either.

Thats so funny schrodinger

I’m quite delighted that DS2 in particular can’t light fires. He’d kill us all.

I don't suppose any of them can light fires either.

All of mine can, but then it's something we do fairly often. I couldn't light a fire at their age.

Lol mine can light a fire :)

Never mind shoe laces, please teach your kids how to use apostrophes. Looking at the appalling spelling and grammar on social media it’s evident that schools gave up teaching either long ago.

Apostrophes?
I am still on capitalisation here. School doesn't seem to correct writing.