Helping Your Child Overcome the Fear of Riding a Bike
Learning to ride a bike is an endeavor that can create anxiety and fear in a young child.
All children have different temperaments, so riding a bike may be the first time in their lives that they are genuinely taking risk of physical harm.
Scary.
So what can you do to minimize the fear the can accompany this activity and help your child succeed? Have the Right Attitude The best thing you can do as a parent to make it a positive fear-free experience is to understand that this process is a journey.
Rarely do kids master the 'art of the ride' in a day.
It will require patience on your part and an understanding that kids learn at different rates.
Be encouraging, positive and resist any urge to show frustration at lack of progress.
If your child feels they are disappointing you, they won't want to continue.
Keep the lessons upbeat and make sure every little success is celebrated.
Use Time to Your Advantage Early on, set a time limit for the lesson keeping it to around 30 minutes.
Kids can get frustrated by the things that are not easily mastered.
Going on to long can cause a child to be less enthusiastic about the next bike riding session.
Having a 'hard stop' will leave the child wanting more.
As the lessons continue, expand the length to 45 minutes or even an hour depending on your child's attitude.
Make It Easy The best way for a child to learn to ride a bike is with a balance bike.
These bicycles, also known as run bikes or learning bikes, have no pedals, chains or sprockets.
They're low to the ground, lightweight and specifically designed to aid a young child in learning to ride a bike.
Kids just hop on them and push themselves along with their feet.
with a balance bike, the focus is on balance instead of mastering pedaling or steering.
Any child under five will benefit from the use of a balance bike to learn to ride.
Some parents might question the benefit of purchasing a bike that's specifically designed for 'learning' and isn't a conventional bike with pedals.
However, kids often ride their balance bikes long after they've graduated to a pedal bike because they offer manueverability you don't find in a traditional bike.
Since they often weigh half of what a normal bike weighs, it's easy for a child to push around on grass and uphill.
Kids treat it like a scooter.
Balance bikes come in a variety of sizes that suit children as young as two and as old as 9 depending on their height and weight.
If your child has outgrown the opportunity to learn on a balance bike, the next best option is to remove the pedals from their standard bike, lower the seat as low as it will go and start working strictly on balance.
Training wheels should never be used to learn to ride a bike as they remove the critical skill kids must master.
Just find a gradual incline, set your child at the top and let them coast down to the bottom.
Learning to ride a bike can be a frightening experience for many kids.
The best way to help your child overcome that fear is to be positive, resist the urge to overwhelm them with long riding sessions and make it fun and easy by focusing the lessons on balance first.
All children have different temperaments, so riding a bike may be the first time in their lives that they are genuinely taking risk of physical harm.
Scary.
So what can you do to minimize the fear the can accompany this activity and help your child succeed? Have the Right Attitude The best thing you can do as a parent to make it a positive fear-free experience is to understand that this process is a journey.
Rarely do kids master the 'art of the ride' in a day.
It will require patience on your part and an understanding that kids learn at different rates.
Be encouraging, positive and resist any urge to show frustration at lack of progress.
If your child feels they are disappointing you, they won't want to continue.
Keep the lessons upbeat and make sure every little success is celebrated.
Use Time to Your Advantage Early on, set a time limit for the lesson keeping it to around 30 minutes.
Kids can get frustrated by the things that are not easily mastered.
Going on to long can cause a child to be less enthusiastic about the next bike riding session.
Having a 'hard stop' will leave the child wanting more.
As the lessons continue, expand the length to 45 minutes or even an hour depending on your child's attitude.
Make It Easy The best way for a child to learn to ride a bike is with a balance bike.
These bicycles, also known as run bikes or learning bikes, have no pedals, chains or sprockets.
They're low to the ground, lightweight and specifically designed to aid a young child in learning to ride a bike.
Kids just hop on them and push themselves along with their feet.
with a balance bike, the focus is on balance instead of mastering pedaling or steering.
Any child under five will benefit from the use of a balance bike to learn to ride.
Some parents might question the benefit of purchasing a bike that's specifically designed for 'learning' and isn't a conventional bike with pedals.
However, kids often ride their balance bikes long after they've graduated to a pedal bike because they offer manueverability you don't find in a traditional bike.
Since they often weigh half of what a normal bike weighs, it's easy for a child to push around on grass and uphill.
Kids treat it like a scooter.
Balance bikes come in a variety of sizes that suit children as young as two and as old as 9 depending on their height and weight.
If your child has outgrown the opportunity to learn on a balance bike, the next best option is to remove the pedals from their standard bike, lower the seat as low as it will go and start working strictly on balance.
Training wheels should never be used to learn to ride a bike as they remove the critical skill kids must master.
Just find a gradual incline, set your child at the top and let them coast down to the bottom.
Learning to ride a bike can be a frightening experience for many kids.
The best way to help your child overcome that fear is to be positive, resist the urge to overwhelm them with long riding sessions and make it fun and easy by focusing the lessons on balance first.
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