teaching a child to ride a boke

[hannah40]

How do you teach a child to ride a bike ,my girl is 7 and still cant ride a bike i dont think im doing it right as soon as the bike wobbles she gets scared and thats when im holding the bike she doesnt have stabalisers any more as i think she is to old most of her friends come to school cycling any ideas please.

[RAV1D]

Was She scared when the bike had stabalisers on? I'ts better to have them on untill shes riding around on the bike with confidence and you will tell when they are no longer needed.Maybe It's best to put them back on and if to ashamed to go school with them on then just walk to school and practice back home away from the school kids until she can cycle.

[jomifl]

She won't learn to ride if you are supporting the bike as she needs to learn how the bike behaves and develop the reflexes to control it. You can't learn to ride a bike without falling off at least once. I learn't on grass so that when I fell off it didn't hurt(much). She should learn in an hour or so.

[Maydup]

I agree with Rav that it would be worth putting the stabalisers back on and get her confidence back. She'll never do it if she;s scared or worried that she's the only one of her age who can't do it.

Put them on and leave them on for a month of so into the school holidays when there's no pressure to go to school on the bike. Once she's happy again and bombing about you'll know when the times right to take them off.

[pink-kittens]

Let go of the saddle! Seriously, if you keep holding onto her bike she will never learn to ride it

Can I ask why your daughters school allows them to ride their bikes in at aged 7? If mine allowed it I'm pretty certain she would love to take her bike but they aren't allowed to until they get their Cycling Proficiency certificate

[kerriesmum]

buy a crash helmet knee pads , find a large patch of grass and let her "teach herself" i dont think it is a skill that can be taught. My kids at this age went out with a friend who couldnt ride either and taught themselves with the support of friends.

[piggynose]

dont bother, i was given a bike when i was 6 yrs old, used it once, fell off, and didnt go near a bike again for another 10 years.

[JonnyBoy12]

Hold on to the saddle, and then walk with her, and as she keeps asking about a million times if you are still holding on then keep saying "Yes"! Gradually loose go of the saddle, until she is riding all by herself, but keep walking beside her, and pretend to be holding on all the time.

Alternatively find a grassy field with a slop on it, and then sit on the bike, and coast down the hill until she can pedal for herself.

Hope this helps.

Signed

The Spelling Police (who saw the delibrate spelling mistake, but chose to overlook it this time)

[mumsie_wumsie]

We bought our youngest grand daughter a balance bike( its like a small bike-two wheels, but has no pedals). This teaches them to get used to just having to balance on the two wheels without stabilizers, whilst not having to pedal. It worked for us, Ruby is four and can now ride her 'proper' bike without falling off. Sorted !!!!

[hannah40]

thanks for all your replys.Pink kitten the children at my daughters school and the school i work at are allowed to cycle with there parents to school and then there parents lock the bikes up in the school car park where teachers park and then ride home with them in the afternoon.they can only ride alone with a cycle helmet if they have done bike saftey awareness course which they do in year 5 and 6.

[annie0000]

It is two separate steps, she needs to learn to balance and then learn to pedal. If she has learned to peal properly with the stabilisers then now she needs to learn to balance. she needs to feel the wobble in order to work out how to correct it. Can she ride a 2 wheel scooter? if so, she will already have a lot of the balance skills required. I agree with pretending to continue to hold the bike but she needs to be pedaling quite fast to make it easier to balance, so you will need to run, not walk - it is harder to ride a bike slowly. To be fair it is easier to learn to balance first and pedal second so a balance bike is the best thing.

[scotman]

Agree with JonnyBoy

Assuming she has a girl's bike with no crossbar. Grassy area with gentle slope and first get her to learn to balance by coasting down slope, wheel bike back up slope and repeat as required. You don't get involved with holding the bike at all.
When she is confident about balance she will start pedalling in her own time.
That is how I learned in about 20-30 minutes(many years ago). A bike with no crossbar is essential for teaching children.

[pink-kittens]

thanks hannah
Sounds like a great idea and I might shall be raising the subject at my daughters school

[JonnyBoy12]

You could get her to ride a 5 wheeled cycle (pentacycle) instead. That is how Olympic cyclist Victoria Pendleton learned to ride, and led to one of the world's hardest toungue twisters:

I propose to participate in Pendleton's pentacycle pentathalon!

[momcj]

Make sure the bike isnt too big for her, when learning to ride its best to learn on a smaller one, its better if she can touch the floor with both feet ( not just tip toes) while on the seat. Adjust the seat for this. Also best to learn on grass and as others said hold the back of saddle run with her and before u know it she will b riding thinking u r still holding on! good luck

[FUZZYBEE]

this might seem really random but both my daughters were the same, we were told to get them a simple scooter one of those fold up metal tenner jobs as this is the best way for them to learn balance. This is no joke within a week they were off the scooter and learnt to ride in about 30 mins. worked for me. oh and a nice big flat field.

[tigwig]

I agree totally with the 2 wheeled scooter ideas. My daughter was exactly the same, she screamed loudly everytime I let go and absolutely freaked out (she's always been a drama queen lol). She got a scooter for her 6th birthday and once she balanced brilliantly her dad just happened to say you could ride your bike now you've got a sense of balance. She listened for once and went on her bike the same day. She picked it up very very quickly from then on. Its just a confidence thing.

[redcrx]

put her stabilisers back on, but gradually move them so that the bike has a bit of a tilt before the stabilisers touch the ground. Show her that if she cant balance the bike wont fall over.

Gradually move the stabilisers until she is not reliant on them anymore and has learnt to balance.

[DEN53]

When my son was little, the method I used to teach him to ride his bike was, no stablisers, no holding the back of the saddle, but get the child to put his/her left or right foot (whichever they feel comfortable with) on one pedal, and the other foot on the ground - then get them to push off on the foot on the pedal and then bring other foot up continuing through.

It will take a few goes, but the child finds its own balance and confidence with the bike. I used this method on a couple of friend's kiddies aswell and it worked.

Stabilisers are to wobbly and holding the back of saddle gives a false sense of stability, because when you let go, both their feet are on the pedals and there is no balance.

Give it a go, it does work, but be patient. (:o)

[calicosrcool]

Use the stabalisers for a little bit, about a week or so, and then try taking them off. When my brother was learning, after about a week we took the stabalisers off because, when he rode the bike, the stabalisers didn't touch the ground. She needs to be slightly fearless because I agree with jomfil, it's practically impossible to learn how to ride a bike without falling. The ideal place to learn how to ride a bike is a large, flat and grassy area. Just grassy will do, though. Good luck!