Where is it? I know there's a lot of falling down involved. I don't want him to fall so many times and get so scraped up that he quits. So where should I take my son to ditch the training wheels? Thanks!
You can always put some knee and elbow pads on him, because riding on grass takes a lot more effort in the beginning. Some kids take to it faster than others, though.
Make it hurt to fall down. Make it hurt a lot. You'll be surprised how quick your kid learns to stay upright.
somewhere long straight and flat, with grass on either side, or just one side and tell him to fall that way. or you could be like my dad, and try to teach him on a narrow driveway with a house on one side and a fence on the other. complete with a slight decline near the end and a million bushes. at least the bushes were soft!
I'm in the same boat, my son's reluctant to give up his training wheels, but here's some advice we just heard (from a bike repairman, so it's gotta work, right?). When you take the training wheels off, take the pedals off as well. That way he can scoot around and practice getting the feel for balance before he has to worry about pedaling at the same time. When he's got that down, put the pedals back on and it'll be a lot easier. We're hoping to try this during the next couple weeks, so we'll see. Me, I learned on my big front lawn. Seemed to work alright. My neighbor called me a sissy, but I thought of it more as intelligent avoidance of unnecessary pain.
The best place for us: the garage. We went various places to practice, but then pulled the cars out for a couple of weeks, and they figured out how to ride in circles balancing on their own. Our job was done, and then we could ride a number of places! To parenting simple!
Good advice, my 5 year old learned to balance very quickly going down a small grassy hill with the pedals off. The only problem in the beginning was turning. Turning the handlebars too much one time sent him over the handlebars - thankfully, didn't faze him at all. Because of this, for my 3 year old I'm looking for one of these Like-a-bike type things with a limited turning radius.
Like-a-Bike. These things go for about $250, but you can get a knock-off for much cheaper. Target, I believe sells one for about $50.
Great question. My son is 6 and deathly afraid to take them off. Love the advice about taking the pedals off. We're going to try it!
My son hasn't wanted to ride much this summer... he also hasn't wanted to swim much either... well, he's wanted to swim, but he hasn't wanted to learn to swim. I saw a guy in our neighborhood helping his kid learn to ride with something like one of these. Looked pretty cool: http://www.amazon.com/Bike-Trainer-...e=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1218390694&sr=8-1 Holding onto the bike is really awkward... and I don't want to hold onto the kid, as he would feel it when I let go.
Same here, on both the biking and the swimming. Even borrowed a pedal-less bike from a friend, but he just hasn't been interested. But he just started on his first soccer team and is kicking ass and loving it, so I'm not complaining...
Hmmm. That's a far cry from my Dad running as fast as he could and shoving me off down the street screaming at the top of my lungs. How bad would it hurt a kid to crash and hit that bar?
well, it's a girl in the picture. no self-respecting boy child would put up with this kind of over-protective parental oversight. boys who are old enough to ride a two-wheeler learn life lessons in blood.
Good thread. I am getting ready to try to cut the training wheels off my six year olds bike. I was just going to find an empty parking lot on the weekend.
That's what I did just a month ago. Find on with a slight hill. Remove training wheels and pedals. Have them push off and balance as they coast down the hill. Once they have that down, put petals back on. Have them push off and balance as they coast down the hill with feet on pedals. Tell them when they're comfortable to start pedalling Soon enough they'll just take right off The move them to flat ground and they'll be ready to go.
for location, you need a public park with decomposed granite walkways. rough gravel is ouch, and asphalt is ouchouchouch. the handle thing looks like the best idea to me. i remember when guignol jr. was at this milestone the hard part wasn't running along with him, it was running along with him with one hand on his seat. but don't use it to walk him down the street for 6 months, only for those final "just do it" sessions. 2 or 3 x 30 minutes and your boy will be thinking, "today, i am a man."... and you'll be thinking, "today i am an old man". because be prepared: the moment your little tiger cub scoots off under his own power and doesn't need you to hold him up is strong, and bittersweet.
I learned on a gravel driveway but we wuz tougher back in the 70s. I had my 5 yr. old learn in the backyard. There's a slight decline and I gave him a push and told him to pedal like hell. Our goal was to get him trained before Kindergarten started and he did it with a week or so to spare
Possibly the best place to teach your son or daughter how to ride a bike properly would be your local park. Make sure to on a day where there are few to none around and make sure to have band aids ready! I can't stress that enough, I remember when I was 6/7 I fell down so many times when I was learning to ride a 2 wheeler.
I am currently doing this with my six year old daughter. I am just trying to hold her seat while she rides. It isnt going well because that absolutely kills my back running hunched over like that. I cant find one of those handles. I tried to Macgyver a handle on her bike but it didnt work so well. Her problem is that she is afraid to get enough speed to get going on her own. When she finally reaches a speed and I let go, she can feel it. So what does she do? She lets go of the handle bars to reach for me and my shirt instead of continuing to pedal and we all know how that turns out. Any suggestions?