4yr olds zips!!

[brightstar1]

Teachers at ds nursery (attached to school),insist that the children can do up their own coats.They are told to try themselves but still do not get help.My ds has made comments on several occasions that a boy is told off because he cant do his up.I'm not sure whether to mention it to the mum who i know has been spoken to by the teacher as to wether he could wear another coat.If adults find it hard enough how can they expect 4yr olds to.I know they are pushed for time but the majority can and it only takes a second.put them off schl before they start? your views please.

fgs, what is he supposed to wear then? one that velcros up?

Well, luckely enough my ds has plenty of velcro on his, so he can avoid the zip!!!

I don't think they should be told off for not being able to do their zip up, but I think they should be encouraged to try.

DS (3.9) started nursery in September and is now able to do his own zip up. I'm glad they encouraged him and he is very proud to be able to do it.

I remember being shocked once when I was in school listening to readers and happened to walk past the nursery class getting ready to go out. All the children were doing up their own coats and sorting themselves out. The teachers were being very patient, but insisting the children did it themselves. DS2 (3.5) had already done his up.

Why was I shocked? Because I had no idea ds2 could do his own coat, and the teacher told me he'd been doing it for months!
And stupid me was still doing it for him at home

These skills are important for kids. I'm all in favour of them being taught at nursery/school ...
especially when they're not being taught at home

Well, if the teachers are teaching them to do the zip, encouraging them to try, helping them - that is great.

If they are just saying "do it yourself, and if you can't, get another coat" that's not so great!

im a lunch time supervisor at a i&j school, we help reception year 1 & 2, & sometimes 3&4, each child learns to do things at differant times.some zips are hard for me to do!

Zips are tough. dd - 4 - can pull hers up but not do the intial catch. It is a school specific coat so they'd better not complain. As it is ds who is Year3 has problems with fiddly zips so we always have to make him try a coat on properly before we buy. Not got him the school one yet but thinking about it he may struggle as it is a smaller toothed plastic one.

We give the children lots of encouragement to do it themselves. We start off by doing the first "catch" to get them going. Then we progress to getting the children to try and do each other's zips and then gradually they start to be able to do their own.

A parent once told me that a little spray of WD40 on zips makes them move much more smoothly!

DS1 is 7 and has only just managed this year to do up zips - we did have a coat with velcro tabs as well. I couldn't do up my zip at rising 5 and remember having help with it at school. DS2 certainly can't, but I think they just let them play outside with the coat open.