Balance
Remember when you learned to ride a bike? I remember my dad pushing me. And pushing me. And pushing me. Seems like it took days before I figured it out. He probably ran miles in the elementary school parking lot behind our house. But finally one glorious day it all clicked, and off I soared. I could balance!
As the mom of ten kids, I’ve spent a fair bit of time running after a kid who’s learning to ride a bike. And if you think it is tiring to support a 40 pound 5 year old, just try teaching an 11 year old. Our two girls who arrived at 9 and 11 from Ethiopia learned to ride bikes in America. Pushing them around wore me out in mere minutes. Thankfully they were really motivated and learned quickly. These days all but one of our kids can ride. I’ve just been thinking that it will soon be time to start pushing our 4 year old around the driveway.
The other day when I read about Balance Bikes at 5 Minutes for Mom, I was intrigued. These cool little bikes allow preschoolers to quickly master the trickiest part of bike riding: balance. Come to think of it, that’s one of the trickiest parts of life in general, isn’t it?
If you’d like to win one of these cool little bikes for your kid, check out this contest.
That is a great idea.
When we were teaching our 11 and 9 year olds to ride (when they were younger), we just took the pedals off their bikes until they had the balance thing down. The 11 year old was about 5 at the time, and it took her about a week before we put her pedals back on. The 9 year old actually waited until she was 7 and it only took her a day before she wanted her pedals on. I plan on taking the pedals off of our 4 year olds bike really soon.
Great suggestion!
I was going to say the same thing as Stephanie- I’ve heard over and over again that taking off the pedals until kids have the balancing down works like a charm.
You’ve got so many bikers! I’m imagining that you’ve made everybody some playclothes out of old drapes and you’re all going to bike through the country to a picnic.
Great post! We are working on that very thing this summer. My daughter has just had it, and refuses to even try at this point. She’s so frustrated, and frankly, so am I. I will be sure to check those links out.
Balance is a good thing.. I am always “preaching” about that around here. (grin)
We take the pedals off, too. It’s amazing how quickly they get it down. Each of our last two sons learned this way in less than two days. Getting ready for our 5yo to do the same.
That is a really awesome idea. No energy to enter the contest, but I’m keeping those sites in my bookmarks, lol!
We bought balance bikes for our kids while we lived in Germany – all the kids over there use them (no trikes in sight). My oldest learned to ride in about 30 minutes, at 5, a couple of months after he came home from Ethiopia. My middle child learned to a two-wheeled bike the week he turned 3. Still working on my littlest girl – she’s just not all that motivated!
I absolutely recommend them. Love balance bikes.
We didn’t have a balance bike but the way our (at the time) 3 and 2 4 year old learned(within a week of each other) was to balance first without ever touching the pedals and with no training wheels on. We showed them what to do and before we knew it they were pedaling on their own with no training wheels. Very cool indeed and no pushing involved!
Blessings, Faith
I never can get over the fact you have 10 kids! It truly amazes me.
Yes, these bikes are sooooo much fun for kids.
I’ve also heard of people taking the pedals off a regular bike… I think it does work quite well.
Good luck in the contest.
Just wanted to say that the wooden bike thing works! We lived in Germany a few years ago, and that was all the little kids over there had. Consequently, we started my son out on one (and even found one at their WalMart!)… He rode his little bike from age 3 to about 5 and when he graduated to a “real” bike he never used training wheels. Currently trying to get my daughter started on his old wooden bike and hoping for the same results!
Great post! Love your blog