Custom Search
|
|
How I Taught My Children To Ride A Bicycle
Riding a bicycle is all about balance. If you have balance, it will work. If you don’t, gravity will emphasize that fact. There are few products on the market that help your child develop their sense of balance and translate into being successful at riding their bike. When I was learning to ride, I started out on a tricycle that I could barely reach the pedals on. For extra speed, I stood on the back platform, reached for the handlebars and pushed it like a scooter. This was fun at the time, but it did not teach me balance. When I got older, my father held on to the back of my shiny two-wheeler, and ran behind me as I pedaled up and down the quiet street where we lived. If I leaned too far to one side, he helped me correct my balance. This taught me balance but my poor dad had to bend in half and do a lot of running. Now that I have children of my own, I remember my own reluctance to go out and teach my children how to ride because they were short and I was not, so it made my back ache being hunched over. On a hot sunny day, perfect for bicycle riding, I would be huffing and puffing while we did endless laps back and forth in front of our house. My daughter’s friend was 8 and still used training wheels. I didn’t want that for my children, nor did I want them to learn to ride like a mutton-buster, hanging on for dear life while clinging to one side of their bike. Children who use training wheels ride on a tilt. They rely on their outrigger wheels to keep them from falling over, instead of learning where their own centre of gravity is and developing that into balance. I was fortunate that another parent who overheard my woes had seen some very small children, around 3 years old, racing around the campground that he had been staying at. He said that they appeared to be riding regular bicycles, and he was amazed at the balance they had for being so young. When he looked closer, those perfect replicas of children’s bicycles had one thing missing. Pedals. Those kids were running and coasting and gliding and zooming on their little bicycles, and if they started to lose their balance, they put a foot down to steady themselves. No parent was running behind to steady them, there were no training wheels on which to rely, just their own 2 wheels and 2 legs. I couldn’t believe what I heard. Children teaching themselves balance on a bicycle without pedals? I decided to look up balance trainer bikes for myself, then ordered 2 of them: one for my two year old and one for my 4 year old. They came, shiny and new and looked just like a child’s bike, sans pedals. I took the kids outside and they both hopped on their new balance bikes. The two year old toddled around on the sidewalk, but the four year old wanted a larger space to practice. He had already been on a big bike, but I had removed his training wheels and he lacked the confidence and balance to ride without them. Within 15 minutes he was making short glides on his balance bike, like running in slow motion with the bike supporting his weight in between strides. By 30 minutes he was running, then lifting up his feet and gliding for 5, then 10 then 15 feet. He was learning to balance and stay upright all on his own. Once he mastered balance, my son decided to take on “the hill”. He walked his bike up to the top, then lifted up his feet and coasted down the hill, balancing all the way, only occasionally putting down a foot to steady himself. You should have seen the look on his face. He was positively beaming! Now he could glide down the hill, round the corner and coast down our street for all to see. His confidence and ability grew so quickly that after two weeks of riding his balance bike, he informed me that he was ready to hop on his big pedal bike again, and he did. My younger son loved to toddle around on his bike, and it was a blessing when I walked the kids to school. Instead of lagging behind with his little legs, he rode his balance bike and had no problem keeping up with us. As he grew older, he was running and coasting and we were the ones trying to keep up with him. A nice change if you have ever taken a small child out for a walk. He also drew many second glances as people were amazed at the bike riding ability of one so young...but what was different about that shiny red bike? Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com Cindy L. Shaw is the proud mother of 5 children and owner of Eco Scooter Online, an online store dedicated to Eco-Friendly methods of transportation. Buy the KinderBike Laufrad balance bike trainer her kids used. |
|