That “crash course” is rather funny!

Just a lesson from my childhood - make sure she learns how to brake before you let her off on her own! I had a big scare - I was excited to stay balanced all the way down the block, but then couldn’t stop when I got to the end. I think the oncoming driver had a bigger scare than I did!

Other than that, I think all the scrapes and bruises are just a coming of age thing. Best wishes!

my ex and i separated when our girls were 5 and 3 so we never had a chance or time to teach them how. after i married my current husband it took me about a month and half before we could come here to cali. he had christmas waiting for us when we got here. he had bought all the kids bikes and me one, too. he is the one who helped them by sort of holding the bike by the back and running along side them. when they got going a little bit and he saw that they weren’t turning the handlebars too much, he let go. they were 8 and 6 at this time. 8 yr old learned rather quickly and the 6 yr old followed not too far behind.

Oh no, I have not even started thinking about this one yet! My daughter will be 5 next month and the most exposure she’s had is a tricycle at preschool. Now you’ve got me thinking. I better get her on one and fast!

Last summer at five years old, I raised Noah’s training wheels just a little off the ground to get him used to balancing. About a month and a half ago, I raised them almost all the way. About three weeks ago, I noticed he wasn’t even using them for balance checks anymore and took them off. He took off and hasn’t fallen once. I think the key was waiting until your daughter was ready. Now that she is, I think it will just happen for her. It’s the parents that take the wheels off before their kids are ready that drive me crazy. I think your daughter is motivated enough that you probably won;t have as many wipe outs as you are excpecting..I hope. Good luck.

Ooh, I like Kristi’s advice. I wish we had thought of that when our boys were little.

We did the running next to them thing. They practiced in the yard, which was harder to pedal on but if they fell (and of course, they did), they wouldn’t get as banged up.

Just make sure she has on her safety gear and prepare for some accidents. She’ll soon get the hang of it.

Just don’t wait too long to teach her - I read somewhere that it’s harder for kids to learn to ride a bike the older they get, something about a window of learning period?

My nephews were NEVER taught to ride a bike (just one of the many bones of contention I have with my sister) and now? They’re hopeless. They’re too embarrassed to even try.

Good luck! Don’t forget to take videos/pictures!

We are in the process of teaching my 7 year old how to ride her bike. Shes a bit unsteady. We take her down to the school parking lot so she has a bigger area to ride.

My son was about 5 and my daughter about 6. She wouldn’t let us teach her. Oh, we tried! She taught herself, though, because she was too scared when we would push her off. So, she stood her bike next to the curb forever until one day, she took off. I don’t remember how old I was, but my bike was how I got around.

DD was older too when she learned. Our biggest obstical is that our house is on a hill…there’s a really good hill to just get up our driveway (I’ve blogged about trying to get the cars up it in the show).

but DD was willing to use the training wheels as long as she needed them.

When I learned (back in the stoneages ) I don’t remember if my training wheels bent on their own or if my dad adjusted them, but eventually I went from having 4 wheels to having the trainers up a bit so I was sometimes on only 3 and mostly on 2. We did that with DD’s too. I think it helps.

But if GG doesn’t want the training wheels, I see a lot of running behind the bike for you or your DH…oh and skinned knees too. Do you have knee pads for her?

My girls were 6 and 5. They learned at the same time and were like Girly Girl…no training wheels please! Didn’t take the long though!

My boys (10 and 11) still don’t know … but don’t show any real interest. My daughter (5) rocks hard on her Big Wheel and will probably be pro before either of her brothers get out of the locker room! :p

My daughter was pretty young when she learned to ride a bike - probably around 4 or 5. My son, on the other hand, refused to take off the training wheels until we forced the issue at age 7. Hubby took them off, we put the boy on the bicycle, and pushed him down the driveway saying, “Pedal fast!” it worked.

It sure does help living on a cul-de-sac.

I have to say, reading this made me breathe a little sigh of relief. The Boy refuses to ride his tricycle, big wheel or scooter for more than a few minutes before he just gives up. I thought he was being lazy, but maybe some kids just aren’t that into it. As a competitive person, I cringe when I see the kids down the street who are the same age as him booking along on their trikes, but this is a good reminder for me. Thanks for sharing! And good luck with the bike riding lessons! Get her a set of those elbow and knee pads for skating or roller blading and that might help take away some of the sting of the first few falls

Well, she and my 6 yr old would understand one another perfectly. We have had the same scenario here and all I can say is it has to be in their own time. Now that our girls have a burning desire to learn, they will hopefully push on, even when they crash and burn. My hubby offers to go practice with her as often as possible with the rest of us cheering her on when they ask.

Good luck!!

My girls both learned to ride w/o training wheels , at about the age of 6. I, on the other hand, had no interest in learning until I was about 10 or so. Not a good age for a major wipe out! Before that, I was just happy being driven around on the handle bars!

Aw…my son who is age 11, didn’t REALLY get it until he was about 8. Same here.. all the other kids out biking and out of embarrassment, he would just claim not liking it.
His whole attitude on learning was “why in the world would subject myself to something that I may get hurt doing?” Of course, being a child, it’s difficult to see beyond the NOW.
He was doing great at about age 6 until he crashed in the neighbors yard who came running out screaming about her damaged flowers. Needless to say, I had a few words to say to her in response. I then took him to the track at the high school in the evenings and made a game out of it as if it were a big race.

My kids were older too (7 or and we tried to training wheel thing but they were too tall for bikes with trainers. Just trial and error really. Flat area with lots of room to fall. Good luck. Nothing like that thrill of riding a bike.

You couldn’t pry my “big wheel” from my cold dead fingers… until i saw all the other kids had moved on as well. I think i was about 7 when i learned to ride a bike. No training wheels. Just dad holding the back seat for a few seconds before i looked back and saw him wayyyy back there. I had been yelling “don’t let go!” the whole time.

Katrina is 8 and still doesn’t know how to ride a bike without training wheels. We don’t live in a very good area for practicing though because we live on a gravel road. Jack learned to ride when he was 8 or 9. As did my two older sons.

Tips…every kids learns differently. None of the boys ever used training wheels. They just learned the skinned knee way. We would put them at the top of a small incline, so they could practice the balance part while coasting down the hill and then add the peddling part in when they got better at that.

Good luck. (My first bike was purple with a banana seat and a white basket with flowers on it…)

Every kid is different. My daughter didn’t have much interest and as my oldest I too noticed about the same thing when she was 6. The reality was even though we tried to teach her she wasn’t really into it. When we moved to our new home she really mastered it on her own but not until she was almost 8. Then along comes my son who nailed by age 3 - - - before parenting you couldn’t have convinced me just HOW different kids can be.

Hugs,
Holly

My son was really young when he started with no training wheels… he was 3. My daughter was about 5. I don’t have any tips -just make sure the bike isn’t too big for them and provide them with support and a flat surface =) I think the longer a child rides with the training wheels, the longer it’ll take to ride without because they find comfort in riding with the extra wheels. Just my thoughts.

My oldest was 7.She was too afraid… and now we are teaching my 5 year old.

It was actually much easier than I thought for my 4 y.o. DS. I put him on it and chased after him a few times. Within 20 minutes, he was a pro. I was shocked!

My son was early 4. What helped him was we had bought him one of those bike that don’t have pedals so he learned how to balance. Then we moved him to a real bike with training wheels so he could get the hang of pedaling and then I could tell he wouldn’t balance anymore so we removed the training wheels and he was off! He never fell down once.

Hello, This is a fun time. Blue jeans or pants really do help with good fitting shoes. Dash mastered it a t6 he was very scared and just kept it up over and over. Dove was around seven. She learned on grass and it helped a lot. We have a dry grass in our parks. It is a firm surface but softer to land on.
Make sure the knee is very slightly bent. When they were first learning we lowered the seat until they were more comfortable and raised it as they became more confident! Too low can make it too hard to push.
Take lots of pictures! It sounds so cute!

I look forward to the days when I’ll be teaching my little guy how to ride a bike. That sounds like fun.

P.S. There’s an award waiting for you over at my blog.

My boys are 7 and 8 and they still don’t know how. Isn’t that awful?

My oldest learned at 5, I didn’t think she was ready. She hopped on & took off. She has always been very social & has always loved being away from home, lol.

My youngest wasn’t as interested in riding bikes & mainly only did when her big sis made her. Right before her 7th bday this summer though she was sick of being made fun of for training wheels. The first couple days I wasn’t sure how she was gonna do. She had terrible balance. Then she just all of a sudden got it. Her bike was a 14″ & now she is already on a 20″ after only about a month.

My son is nowhere near ready…but I can share w/you my experience learning to ride a bike. One day, not having had any practice prior, my mom decided to take me & my brother to blaisdell park to learn how to ride a bike. My brother just learned on his own w/in an hour. I on the other hand was too afraid of falling and I couldn’t balance. Just so happened my neighbor was there teaching his kids to ride bikes by “running” alongside & behind them while holding onto the bike, and then letting go after they got their balance. He did the same thing w/me–and after several “runs,” I was able to balance and I was riding the bike all over the park. However, my neighbor was completely exhausted running alongside/behind the bike w/me so if you try this, you’ll have quick results, but you and/or your hubby need to be in good shape =). I know I wouldn’t be able to do this w/my son! I’d be exhausted after a minute =).

she is just 3.5..so i am going to say, not yet. But i was like 10 before I learned I think.

trisha

Ha! I recently posted about Justin learning… at 9 and a half!

Good for her! Hope she gets the hang of it quickly, with as few injuries as possible!

i don’t remember how old my kids were (too long ago) but it took my daughter longer than my son. peer pressure plays a big part. good luck =)

I hate to say it, but at almost 13, my daughter doesn’t ride a bike. She has one. She got one for Christmas when she was 7. There was never really anyplace for her to learn to ride. My nephew who is 8 learned when he was 6. He taught K a little in their backyard because it was all dirt. So she can “ride” just not well. We have been talking about getting her a bike, but haven’t done it yet.

My best friend who was a few years older than me taught me to ride a bike when I was 7. I’ll never forget that memory…

No, sorry. My 4.5 year old is only just now showing an interest in learning how to ride a bike with training wheels. Like GirlyGirl he just couldn’t be bothered to pedal before. Now he’s quite keen though so we’ll have to wait and see when the trainers come off. I know lots of people from my dad’s generation think trainers are a waste of time and kids should just learn on normal bikes straight away.

Good luck!

Kelly

MY Girly-Girl is 8, almost 9. She learned to ride last year, but was too afraid to do so without one of us constantly jogging alongside. It was exhausting. This year, she’s suddenly blossomed.

Silly-Head, on the other hand, has been riding quite confidently since she was 5.

Well, I have boys, who are on their bikes as much as possible! They were riding with 2 wheels at age 4. And yes, lots of skinned knees (and elbows, and faces, LOL) even now! Buy a box of large bandaids that can cover knees.

Good luck Girlie Girl! You can do it!

I was probably 9 years old when I graduated from my bike with training wheels.

Good luck to Girlie Girl. There are a lot of nice safety gears available for kids today.

Well, so far we’re pretty much at zero for the number of kids who can ride a two-wheeler. Abby’s a bit like Girlie Girl - she’s never had much interest in riding, and even when she does, she wants the training wheels on. At age 7 though, I see the peer pressure coming at some point… And Hannah freaked out the other day when one of her training wheels was loose, complaining that her bike was ‘too wobbly’, so I don’t see her losing the extra wheels any time soon either. Sigh.

Sorry I’m no help - if you find something that works, let me know!

I can’t remember!
I remember letting go, tho.
I remember having a corner on the Band-Aid market.

I don’t think I learned to ride my bike until I was in 6th grade…we lived on a giant hill with a steep driveway. it was just too hard…so I’ve got no advice!

My oldest just turned 7, and she learned to ride a bike this summer. (She started with training wheels and had them taken off last week. She was riding fine within 5 minutes.)

I think kids know when they are ready. Previously, she hadn’t shown any interest. Once she wanted to, she did it herself, largely.

My son became a bike fanatic this summer. I want to find a riding club for him in the area but am not having any luck….