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Teaching children to ride a bike
I am keen on the use of bikes as a means of transport, and would very much
like my children to learn to ride soon. My younger child has just about got the hang of riding a bike without stabilisers and now needs to gain confidence - she is 5. My son is too nervous to even ride a bike with stabilisers - he is 7. For the past few years we have used a Burley trailer and have now progressed to a U+2, but he will soon outgrow that too. We have read about techniques for teaching your child to ride a bike, but they all assume that your child will let you run alongside them holding them up. He is too nervous to go fast enough to even attempt to balance for a microsecond. Has anyone got any ideas! |
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#2
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Teaching children to ride a bike
Sarah Mansel wrote:
I am keen on the use of bikes as a means of transport, and would very much like my children to learn to ride soon. My younger child has just about got the hang of riding a bike without stabilisers and now needs to gain confidence - she is 5. My son is too nervous to even ride a bike with stabilisers - he is 7. For the past few years we have used a Burley trailer and have now progressed to a U+2, but he will soon outgrow that too. We have read about techniques for teaching your child to ride a bike, but they all assume that your child will let you run alongside them holding them up. He is too nervous to go fast enough to even attempt to balance for a microsecond. Has anyone got any ideas! The good old standard. Pedals off, saddle down so he can sit on the saddle with both feet on the ground then scoot it along. As he gets more confident his feet will spend less and less time on the ground until he's rolling along with his feet up. Then put the pedals back on and let him coast with his feet on the pedals until he is ready to try turning them Tony |
#3
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Teaching children to ride a bike
"Sarah Mansel" wrote in message ... I am keen on the use of bikes as a means of transport, and would very much like my children to learn to ride soon. My younger child has just about got the hang of riding a bike without stabilisers and now needs to gain confidence - she is 5. My son is too nervous to even ride a bike with stabilisers - he is 7. For the past few years we have used a Burley trailer and have now progressed to a U+2, but he will soon outgrow that too. We have read about techniques for teaching your child to ride a bike, but they all assume that your child will let you run alongside them holding them up. He is too nervous to go fast enough to even attempt to balance for a microsecond. Has anyone got any ideas! With all 3 of mine, I just took them to the local park with stabilisers off, walked along behind them holding the back of the saddle, then gradually let go as we were moving forward. They all went off without a second thought. Most satisfying ;-) Dave. |
#4
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Teaching children to ride a bike
Sarah Mansel wrote:
I am keen on the use of bikes as a means of transport, and would very much like my children to learn to ride soon. My younger child has just about got the hang of riding a bike without stabilisers and now needs to gain confidence - she is 5. My son is too nervous to even ride a bike with stabilisers - he is 7. For the past few years we have used a Burley trailer and have now progressed to a U+2, but he will soon outgrow that too. We have read about techniques for teaching your child to ride a bike, but they all assume that your child will let you run alongside them holding them up. He is too nervous to go fast enough to even attempt to balance for a microsecond. Has anyone got any ideas! Throw away the stabilisers before he gets used to them. They stop development of the instinct to put a foot down. Teach him starting and stopping, fully supported, first. This will involve walking along backwards, holding the handlebars. Make sure the brakes are good. Then teach him to stop and put a foot down whenever anything goes wrong. This should help with confidence to try balancing, and you can support under the saddle. At some point you will be able to let go without him noticing. Colin McMenzie -- The great advantage of not trusting statistics is that it leaves you free to believe the damned lies instead! |
#5
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Teaching children to ride a bike
Following on from Sarah Mansel's message. . .
We have read about techniques for teaching your child to ride a bike, but they all assume that your child will let you run alongside them holding them up. He is too nervous to go fast enough to even attempt to balance for a microsecond. Has anyone got any ideas! Fear is ummm 'psychological'. You knew that. It's obviously important to deal with it as a matter of principle before 7-yo becomes used to ducking out of /everything in life/ that involves a bit of risk and effort. Naturally you wouldn't do something you're terrified of unless there was a good reason. That is there has to be some reward. _You_ can see the value of being able to ride a bike but 7-yo can only imagine grazes and frustration and possibly humiliation. The other replies here along the lines of take off the pedals and scoot are perfectly valid - They make it easier by reducing the fear of falling. BUT even a little bit of fear will outweigh no reward. There are various ways of getting rewards - The traditional one is peer pressure which is a _big_ motivator. (Hence the importance of kids playing on their bikes.[1]) But you can use all sorts of bribes for really small but significant efforts. Some overall value that means a lot to 7-yo is handy. eg When you can ride your bike we'll cycle to see Thomas the tank engine (or whatever). Finally. There is a possibility that 7-yo has an additional problem you don't know about. For example a vision problem[2]. (Children's visual system is still developing up to say 9 and things like lack of spatial awareness is why letting them out on the roads on their own is not a good idea.) [1] Plus the kids that know how to do things can be good teachers as well as motivators for those that don't. [2] This covers a lot more than short sight. If 7-yo is no good at catching a ball or has reading problems then this should be worth checking - pronto. -- PETER FOX Not the same since the deckchair business folded www.eminent.demon.co.uk/wcc.htm Witham Cycling Campaign www.eminent.demon.co.uk/rides East Anglian Pub cycle rides |
#6
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Teaching children to ride a bike
Colin McKenzie wrote:
Sarah Mansel wrote: I am keen on the use of bikes as a means of transport, and would very much like my children to learn to ride soon. My younger child has just about got the hang of riding a bike without stabilisers and now needs to gain confidence - she is 5. My son is too nervous to even ride a bike with stabilisers - he is 7. For the past few years we have used a Burley trailer and have now progressed to a U+2, but he will soon outgrow that too. We have read about techniques for teaching your child to ride a bike, but they all assume that your child will let you run alongside them holding them up. He is too nervous to go fast enough to even attempt to balance for a microsecond. Has anyone got any ideas! Throw away the stabilisers before he gets used to them. They stop development of the instinct to put a foot down. Teach him starting and stopping, fully supported, first. This will involve walking along backwards, holding the handlebars. Make sure the brakes are good. Then teach him to stop and put a foot down whenever anything goes wrong. This should help with confidence to try balancing, and you can support under the saddle. At some point you will be able to let go without him noticing. Colin McMenzie I'd have to second the idea about removing the stabilisers, and the scooting along with feet is a great way to learn. I had stablisers as a kid, and they were always disconcerting because of the lean of the bike if you were on one or the other, and the motion when you flipped from one to the other. Most unpleasant, and not all that confidince building till you learnt that they really WOULD stop you falling over - does he actually trust the stabilisers? Velvet -- Velvet |
#7
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Teaching children to ride a bike
Sarah Mansel wrote:
I am keen on the use of bikes as a means of transport, and would very much like my children to learn to ride soon. My younger child has just about got the hang of riding a bike without stabilisers and now needs to gain confidence - she is 5. My son is too nervous to even ride a bike with stabilisers - he is 7. For the past few years we have used a Burley trailer and have now progressed to a U+2, but he will soon outgrow that too. We have read about techniques for teaching your child to ride a bike, but they all assume that your child will let you run alongside them holding them up. He is too nervous to go fast enough to even attempt to balance for a microsecond. Has anyone got any ideas! The method I have used with all my four has been the same. First of all, drop thoughts of stabilisers. They can make the situation difficult and do little for teaching a child to ride, although they do have some benefit in getting a child to understand braking. Before doing anything make sure that the child can reach the brake levers and knows what they are for. To set a youngster off and to see them disappearing into the distance can be somewhat disconcerting - I've been there :-( Take the pedals off the bike if possible, although its not essential. Sometimes taking them of will confuse a child who is already used to pedalling (as with stabilisers) and their legs will flail about tring to locate them. Find a gentle grassy slope that doesn't head towards anything potentially dangerous, like a road, or a prize rose bed, or stinging nettles. Put the saddle really low so that the feet are flat on the ground. Hold the bike up by the back of the saddle and gently set off, walking behind the bike. Do not walk at the side as it is only a distraction and the child will look at you rather than ahead. Keep talking. Encouragement works wonders as does lashings of praise. It also gives the child security, knowing you are there. After a few short supported rides, you will sense balance coming. You can then let go of the bike. They will almost certainly wobble and possible have a minor crash but keep the encouragement up and try again straight away. It will only take a few goes before the child's face changes from worry to absolute joy. It is so satisfying. Yesterday I was out with a family group who had taken their four year old with them. On a mini childs bike with 10inch balloon tyres the little mite covered 11 miles, including two big 'mountains' To see his face when he received his Bike Week certificate was a joy to behold. Good luck. John -- http://www.hampshirecycletraining.org.uk/ |
#8
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Teaching children to ride a bike
Sarah Mansel wrote:
I am keen on the use of bikes as a means of transport, and would very much like my children to learn to ride soon. My younger child has just about got the hang of riding a bike without stabilisers and now needs to gain confidence - she is 5. My son is too nervous to even ride a bike with stabilisers - he is 7. For the past few years we have used a Burley trailer and have now progressed to a U+2, but he will soon outgrow that too. We have read about techniques for teaching your child to ride a bike, but they all assume that your child will let you run alongside them holding them up. He is too nervous to go fast enough to even attempt to balance for a microsecond. Has anyone got any ideas! The method I have used with all my four has been the same. First of all, drop thoughts of stabilisers. They can make the situation difficult and do little for teaching a child to ride, although they do have some benefit in getting a child to understand braking. Before doing anything make sure that the child can reach the brake levers and knows what they are for. To set a youngster off and to see them disappearing into the distance can be somewhat disconcerting - I've been there :-( Take the pedals off the bike if possible, although its not essential. Sometimes taking them of will confuse a child who is already used to pedalling (as with stabilisers) and their legs will flail about tring to locate them. Find a gentle grassy slope that doesn't head towards anything potentially dangerous, like a road, or a prize rose bed, or stinging nettles. Put the saddle really low so that the feet are flat on the ground. Hold the bike up by the back of the saddle and gently set off, walking behind the bike. Do not walk at the side as it is only a distraction and the child will look at you rather than ahead. Keep talking. Encouragement works wonders as does lashings of praise. It also gives the child security, knowing you are there. After a few short supported rides, you will sense balance coming. You can then let go of the bike. They will almost certainly wobble and possible have a minor crash but keep the encouragement up and try again straight away. It will only take a few goes before the child's face changes from worry to absolute joy. It is so satisfying. Yesterday I was out with a family group who had taken their four year old with them. On a mini childs bike with 10inch balloon tyres the little mite covered 11 miles, including two big 'mountains' To see his face when he received his Bike Week certificate was a joy to behold. Good luck. John -- http://www.hampshirecycletraining.org.uk/ |
#9
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Teaching children to ride a bike
On Mon, 14 Jun 2004 09:03:39 +0100, Peter Fox
wrote: [1] Plus the kids that know how to do things can be good teachers as well as motivators for those that don't. Exactly so - my 4.5 yo learnt more from his 5 yo friend about how to ride a bike with no stabilisers, than he did from me running behind holding on. FWIW, 5 yo's advice is: scoot along with one foot on a pedal and one foot on the ground. Learns you how to start off yourself, as well as improving balance. My 4.5 yo practised that up and down for about an hour (refusing all offers of help from me) then started attempts at pedalling with both feet, then gradually increased the amount of two footed pedalling time. A -- email = audmad aaatttt hhhottt mmmaailll dddoottt ccccoommm |
#10
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Teaching children to ride a bike
Peter Fox writes:
Fear is ummm 'psychological'. You knew that. It's obviously important to deal with it as a matter of principle before 7-yo becomes used to ducking out of /everything in life/ that involves a bit of risk and effort. Naturally you wouldn't do something you're terrified of unless there was a good reason. That is there has to be some reward. _You_ can see the value of being able to ride a bike but 7-yo can only imagine grazes and frustration and possibly humiliation. And spend some time trying to find out what exactly it is he is frightened of, so you can address that specific detail. Acknowledge that he is scared, saying "just get over it" doesn't work for me. When I was learning to roll a kayak I never had any problem learning the movement but my panic under water stopped me from progressing. Once I was able to narrow it down to my head filling up with water and not being able to look for fear of losing my contacts a simple diving mask which also covered my nose made all the difference. And a nice warm swimmingpool with clear water. And friendly patient people. So if he is afraid of bumping into things: find a spaceous area to practise on. If it falling over: make sure he can get his legs on the ground and practise that first. It may be just a small adjustment that is needed, or a correction of some irrational idea he has about something. Good luck, Roos |
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