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Having had the pleasure in training three kids on how to ride a bike, forget training wheels, or taking the pedals off! find a reasonable long grass hill - not

Having had the pleasure in training three kids on how to ride a bike, forget training wheels, or taking the pedals off! find a reasonable long grass hill - not to too steep, but steep enough to allow a kid to go down the hill riding the bike with out pedalling. and then goto the top of the hill and let them go down the hill on the bike. Once they master the balancing part of going down, they seem to pick up the art of turning the pedals at the end of the hill to keep going (if not, explain what to do) advantages: doesn't hurt when they fall off, gets them used to rough terrain. it becomes fun once they start to master the balancing bit

hourislate 5y ago
They have to understand to keep pedaling and not to stop while you push them to get up to speed where it requires a lot less balance. The hill method you mention offers the same affect. It's amazing that it only takes a try or two and they are set.
eru 5y ago
What were the ages of your students?
- 123pie123 5y ago
  about three to five yo
nodamage 5y ago
This is how I taught myself to ride a bike when I was a kid. I eventually figured out (through trial and error) the actual technique to maintaining balance: if you feel yourself falling to the left, turn the handlebars slightly to the left, and if you feel yourself falling to the right, turn the handlebars slightly to the right. I suppose kids these days learn this intuitively with balance bikes but it was a real lightbulb moment for me and I suspect I would have learned much more quickly if someone had explained it that way.
bestham 5y ago
My favorite metohod on how to learn kids to ride a bike is the "wibble-wobble method"[1] by Douglas Engelbart, where you instruct the kid to keep alternating between turning gently left and right on order to get the balance (as you would to if you wanted to balance stationery) and the feedback mechanism between tilting, steering and then un-tilting established. It is incredible how quickly most "get" the relationship. [1]: https://collectiveiq.wordpress.com/2009/12/13/how-doug-engelbart-taught-kids-to-ride-a-bike-without-training-wheels/ https://collectiveiq.wordpress.com/2009/12/13/how-doug-engel...

hourislate 5y ago

They have to understand to keep pedaling and not to stop while you push them to get up to speed where it requires a lot less balance. The hill method you mention offers the same affect. It's amazing that it only takes a try or two and they are set.

eru 5y ago

What were the ages of your students?

123pie123 5y ago
about three to five yo

nodamage 5y ago

This is how I taught myself to ride a bike when I was a kid. I eventually figured out (through trial and error) the actual technique to maintaining balance: if you feel yourself falling to the left, turn the handlebars slightly to the left, and if you feel yourself falling to the right, turn the handlebars slightly to the right. I suppose kids these days learn this intuitively with balance bikes but it was a real lightbulb moment for me and I suspect I would have learned much more quickly if someone had explained it that way.

bestham 5y ago

My favorite metohod on how to learn kids to ride a bike is the "wibble-wobble method"[1] by Douglas Engelbart, where you instruct the kid to keep alternating between turning gently left and right on order to get the balance (as you would to if you wanted to balance stationery) and the feedback mechanism between tilting, steering and then un-tilting established. It is incredible how quickly most "get" the relationship. [1]: https://collectiveiq.wordpress.com/2009/12/13/how-doug-engelbart-taught-kids-to-ride-a-bike-without-training-wheels/ https://collectiveiq.wordpress.com/2009/12/13/how-doug-engel...