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Wednesday, August 28, 2019

How to “Teach” a Kid to Ride a Bike (Without Having to Teach Them at All)

It’s a rite of passage every child goes through: learning how to ride a bike. My son, Gus, learned a few years ago. My daughter, Scout, learned how to ride a two-wheeler six months ago.

I thought this was going to be a rite filled with scraped elbows, bruised knees, and a lot of tears. I thought I’d be frustrated trying to explain to my kids how to pedal, balance, and steer a bike. Because that’s how I remember learning how to ride a bike as a kid: me being hurt and my parents being frustrated.

But none of that happened with my kids.

Instead we sort of stumbled into a protocol that turned out to be highly effective and managed to make the process practically pain, anxiety, and parental-intervention free. A method where our kids learned how to ride a bike naturally and on their own.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

A friend showed me how he taught his kids. He took the pedals off and lowered the seat so that their feet could just touch the ground. Once they could scoot along and keep their balance and make turns, etc., he put the pedals back on and away they went.