Thursday, August 26, 2010

We all have our talents

I am not a teacher. Sure, my children have learned plenty of things from me, but those are the kind of things they just sort of pick up on (whether I want them to or not.)

When it comes to sitting down with them and providing specific instructions... the results are not successful. Which is why AJ is still wearing shoes with velcro.

I've had him try to tie his shoes. I've had him try to tie my shoes. I say one lace goes up and over and through. He twists them into a corkscrew. I say make a bunny ear. He does it, right at the end of the lace. I show him and show him and show him how to make the bunny ear right next to where we just tied, so that there's a long tail left. He makes another bunny ear, right at the end of the lace. And then when it doesn't work, he wrinkles up his face in a look or irritated frustration, as if I'm tricking him and leading him on a wild goose chase.

To him, it appears that tying shoes is a bit of a puzzle. If you see any kind of loop, stick the end of a lace through it.

But we'll keep working on this and some day will be successful. On that day, I will inform Jeff that since I taught AJ to tie his shoes, he gets to be the one to teach AJ to drive.

No comments:

Post a Comment