@zenvelo
That policy makes a whole lot of sense to me.
One of the chief reasons that I chose to teach 3–4th grade rather than K or 1st grade is because I wanted students who were more capable of independence in mundane skills.
The K teacher at the first school at which I taught had the patience of a saint. A very sweet lady who spent an inordinate amount of time tying and retrying shoes all day long as well as the traffic jam at the end of the day from all the kids needing coats zipped, buttoned etc.
That would have driven me nuts were I in that situation and there would have been repeated notes going home reminding recalcitrant parents to put in that extra 5 mins. per day to teach their kids these basic skills and practice them regularly. Thank goodness that all I had to do was remind the boys to tuck their shirt tails back in several times a day and zip up after a bathroom break :)
( the students had to wear uniforms which included blazer, tie, and white shirts. It always puzzled me why clothing mfrs. made the shirt tails so short, compared to men’s shirts. Little boys are far more in need of those extra inches compared to adults. )
Granted, there will always be a small handful of kids that age who just lag behind in fine motor skills and coordination but the best solution for that is repeated practice guided by the parent. Eventually they will ALL get there (unless the parent continues doing it for them rather than requiring the necessary effort on their part.)
@RDG
I hate to break the news to you, but your mother really did you no favors by continuing to tie your shoes for you well into adulthood.