In a recent Tweet, followers of The Wall Street Journal were informed that 14% of kids age 4 or 5 can tie their shoes, but 21% can play or operate at least one smartphone app! This deeply disturbs me!

Flash back to 1997, my 2nd year of teaching at my current school. A child of two professionals enters kindergarten. Instead of going to preschool, he stays at home with a nanny. Introduced to the computer at an early age, he’s busy daily with software so he will be ready for school and compete with his peers. He passes the entrance requirements with flying colors. So why was it suggest to his parents that it would be in their child’s best interest to take him out of our school and place him in a preschool? Because he had never been given the opportunity to do the developmentally appropriate activities that his classmates had experienced. Yes, he knew how to read but he didn’t know how to use a pair of scissors or crayons. A computer could hold his attention to play his games but he couldn’t sit to listen to the teacher read a story. He didn’t have the readiness skills he needed.

Dexterity plays a roll in being able to tie your shoes. If your child can’t tie the laces on their shoes, then get them legos, tweezers to transfer rice from one bowl to another, Polly Pockets, Matchbox Cars or anything else that makes them use their fingers. You have to be able to pinch those bunny ears to hold them tight while you go around the tree and into the hole.

Do you want to know where bike riding fits into all of this? The complete article is located at AVG TECHNOLOGIES.