Here's how to teach a child to ride a bike in about one hour. Basic idea: find a gentle, grassy slope where the kid can learn how to balance the bike while going down the slope without pedaling. Learning pedaling and balancing at the same time is too much for some kids. The grass ensures a soft landing for the inevitable falls. This works for kids at age 5 through 8, in my experience, but probably older or younger as well.
1. Make sure the bike is small enough so the kid can almost stand herself up while sitting on the bike.
2. Get rid of training wheels -- but do make sure the child wears a properly fitted bicycle helmet.
3. Find a short, gentle, grassy slope with a large flat grassy area at the bottom with nothing nearby to crash into.
4. Let the kid coast down the hill, perhaps starting halfway up at first. Tell her not to worry about pedaling but just get used to the idea of balancing. Expect a few wipe outs. Or a lot of wipe outs. That's okay.
5. Repeat step 4 for about 20 or 30 minutes using plenty of encouragements and making sure any falls are soft and harmless.
6. Once balance and stability in coasting appears to be working, start farther up the hill.
7. Repeat until the kid is comfortable coasting down the hill and balancing the bike.
8. When step 7 is mastered, tell the child to start pedaling toward the bottom of the hill.
9. In my experience (4 kids' worth), once step 8 works, the child pedals away and just keeps going.
Again, this method has never failed me and has never taken more than about one hour. I assume it would work for younger or older people as well as long as the size of the bike is appropriate.
They make tiny, low-to-the-ground, two-wheel "bikes" for toddlers with no pedals so kids can learn the balancing part of bike riding at an early age, if you want to encourage that.
Good luck.
No comments:
Post a Comment