Getting shoes on the right feet

Last summer one of their teachers drew little flowers on the arch of each shoe, and told them the flowers had to be able to kiss -- they could usually get their shoes on the right feet that way (though I was a little annoyed with the teacher for drawing on their shoes!). But other than that, they seem completely unable to tell which is which. Is there some clever way to help them figure it out?

 

That's tough!!! I still struggle with it with Ali. She NEVER puts hers on the right feet!

The flower thing is clever, although I would have been livid with drawing on the shoes!!

 

Teach them left from right first -- you can do this if they suck one thumb, or the hand they use to color, whatever -- and then put a pin or sticker or jibbitz or something like that on the left (or right) shoe.

 

I like the flower idea except for the part about the mark being on the outside of the shoe. Perhaps you could draw a mark just inside the shoe top so it's not visible and tell them that the marks go together. We've taught left & right so most of the time my boys hold a shoe up and ask which foot and I answer left or right. We're trying to explain to them that shoes curve in and we'll ask them to take a good look and see if they can tell which way it curves but they haven't completely gotten it yet.

 

We just say that when the shoes are on the correct feet, their toes will kiss. If they don't kiss, they are on the wrong feet.

 

I've tried showing them how the strap should go to the outside of the foot, but they don't quite get it. It's hit and miss.

 

We use shoes with a "buckle" or a strap the fastens on the outside. Seems to work. Yeah, they get them on the wrong foot occasionally, but with a prompt they know how to correct it.

 

When I was younger I was taught because I knew what the letter "L" looked like. So I would hold up my hands and make a letter L (either the index finger pointing up and my thumb out, or all 4 fingers up and my thumb out) and then my mom drew an L on the inside of my Left shoe. So my fingers would look the same shape as the letter that was on the inside. make sense? If I held up my right hand in a backwards L it obviously wouldnt look like the correct one my mom put on the inside sole of my shoe.

 

QUOTE(E&Msmom @ Feb 17 2009, 07:35 AM) [snapback]1192768[/snapback]
When I was younger I was taught because I knew what the letter "L" looked like. So I would hold up my hands and make a letter L (either the index finger pointing up and my thumb out, or all 4 fingers up and my thumb out) and then my mom drew an L on the inside of my Left shoe. So my fingers would look the same shape as the letter that was on the inside. make sense? If I held up my right hand in a backwards L it obviously wouldnt look like the correct one my mom put on the inside sole of my shoe.



OH cool! I love this idea, your mom's brilliant! Thank you for that idea and thanks for this post. I too was wondering how I was going to teach them. Right now I just tell them wrong foot and they fix it.

 

Ooo, I love the "L" idea. They are both really excited about identifying letters right now, too, so it would tie into that.

I don't quite understand why they can't grasp that the buckle/strap goes on the outside. That's how I do it! But I think they don't really have a concept of the "inside" and "outside" of the foot yet.

 

Im trying to teach this right now as well... and my question is... Cant they FEEL that its wrong? Doesnt it feel funny to them? I ask my kids this all the time when they put them on the wrong feet, and they say no, but it just seems so wierd. If i put my shoes on the wrong feet, I would be able to feel it. Is it because their feet are so small they arent really curved yet so it doesnt feel as awkward as it would for us?

 

my ds Ryan would always have his shoes on the wrong fet.Dh used to joke that even a monkey would get it right 50% of the time! :laughing: Oh well, They eventually get it.

 

QUOTE(2plusbgtwins @ Feb 17 2009, 04:54 PM) [snapback]1193257[/snapback]
Im trying to teach this right now as well... and my question is... Cant they FEEL that its wrong? Doesnt it feel funny to them? I ask my kids this all the time when they put them on the wrong feet, and they say no, but it just seems so wierd. If i put my shoes on the wrong feet, I would be able to feel it. Is it because their feet are so small they arent really curved yet so it doesnt feel as awkward as it would for us?

I wondered this too, but I think you're right. Small children have flat feet (and often fat feet ) and they're just more symmetrical than ours.

To be honest, I'll let them walk around in shoes on the wrong feet (as long as it's not for very long) because I get so tired of reminding them to fix their shoes. But someone else's nanny (!) scolded me once for doing that....

 

QUOTE
When I was younger I was taught because I knew what the letter "L" looked like. So I would hold up my hands and make a letter L (either the index finger pointing up and my thumb out, or all 4 fingers up and my thumb out) and then my mom drew an L on the inside of my Left shoe. So my fingers would look the same shape as the letter that was on the inside. make sense? If I held up my right hand in a backwards L it obviously wouldnt look like the correct one my mom put on the inside sole of my shoe.


Clever mom! One of my friends taught me this when I was younger and I still often drive with my left hand in an L position if someone is giving me directions - I'm useless with left/right.

The mom next door put small dot stickers on the inner sides of each shoe (near the sole) and told her son they had to kiss - it seems a bit less permanent than drawing a flower ON the shoe. On the other hand the one time I tried it the stickers fell off way too soon. I wonder if there's something innate about this as one of our kids never makes a mistake and the other never gets it right. She just doesn't seem to get the shape of her foot in comparison with the shoe - big toes together.