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But was the old way really that ineffective? I remember driving to a big empty parking space on a Sunday with my father, he removed the training wheels, and aft

by lqet 5y ago

But was the old way really that ineffective? I remember driving to a big empty parking space on a Sunday with my father, he removed the training wheels, and after around 30 minutes, I got it. Learning to ride a bike isn't complicated, what makes it look so hard is that it is a sort-of binary skill. You can either hold your balance, our you can't, and so it will look completely impossible until you suddenly can do it. Tom Scott learned to ride a bike in this 30ies, it didn't take long [0]. Interestingly, "training wheels" aren't called "training" wheels in Germany, but "supporting wheels" (Stützräder), and when I was a kid, nobody used them to "train" their children to ride a bike. They were used to transform the bike into another kind of vehicle the kid could use until it was old enough to learn to ride a bike. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7GKK3liv8M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7GKK3liv8M

stkdump 5y ago
I think besides learning how to balance and steer a bike, kids have to learn propelling the bike using pedals. A bike is different from most other pedalled vehicles that kids usually use (with the exception of pedal karts) due to the gear ratio and the fact that stopping the pedals doesn't stop the bike. This requires learning to use the brakes as well.
- Hayarotle 5y ago
  And furthermore, the two skills depend on each other. If you can't keep your balance, keeping your feet in the pedals means falling down and not getting back up right away (as you also have to learn how to quickly get your feet off the pedals and onto the ground). If you can't pedal, you can't get a fast enough speed to make it easier to keep your balance. Combine that with the fear people might have of pedaling at a higher speed and falling, it's understandable why some people never learn how to ride a bike
warner25 5y ago
With balance bikes, the kids seem to learn so quickly that they're too young to have any memory (like you do) of learning to ride. I remember almost nothing from age 3, but that's when my second daughter made the transition from her balance bike to her big sister's bike, with zero instruction or encouragement from me. My oldest daughter was more cautious and insisted on training wheels, which she saw other kids using, depsite already mastering the balance bike, so she didn't fully learn until age 4. Anecdotally, I notice a real difference in my neighborhood between the families trying each approach, with the balance bike kids "getting it" significantly earlier.
eru 5y ago
Any discussion here needs to take into account the ages of the kids involved. Perhaps you (and other Germans) transition away from the training wheels with younger kids than is more common in the English speaking world?

by lqet 5y ago

stkdump 5y ago

I think besides learning how to balance and steer a bike, kids have to learn propelling the bike using pedals. A bike is different from most other pedalled vehicles that kids usually use (with the exception of pedal karts) due to the gear ratio and the fact that stopping the pedals doesn't stop the bike. This requires learning to use the brakes as well.

Hayarotle 5y ago
And furthermore, the two skills depend on each other. If you can't keep your balance, keeping your feet in the pedals means falling down and not getting back up right away (as you also have to learn how to quickly get your feet off the pedals and onto the ground). If you can't pedal, you can't get a fast enough speed to make it easier to keep your balance. Combine that with the fear people might have of pedaling at a higher speed and falling, it's understandable why some people never learn how to ride a bike

warner25 5y ago

With balance bikes, the kids seem to learn so quickly that they're too young to have any memory (like you do) of learning to ride. I remember almost nothing from age 3, but that's when my second daughter made the transition from her balance bike to her big sister's bike, with zero instruction or encouragement from me. My oldest daughter was more cautious and insisted on training wheels, which she saw other kids using, depsite already mastering the balance bike, so she didn't fully learn until age 4. Anecdotally, I notice a real difference in my neighborhood between the families trying each approach, with the balance bike kids "getting it" significantly earlier.

eru 5y ago

Any discussion here needs to take into account the ages of the kids involved. Perhaps you (and other Germans) transition away from the training wheels with younger kids than is more common in the English speaking world?