Learning to ride a bike can be challenging. The imagined danger of falling is sometimes worse than the actual danger that exists. It can be hard for parents to intentionally put children in harm's way, knowing that if a child falls a skinned knee or bloody elbow could bring a flood of tears.
Because of this, training wheels are a very popular option. They allow a child to ride on the bicycle without fear of falling. However, whenever the training wheels are in use, the child is mis-balanced. Relying on the training wheels reinforces bad habits. If you look closely at the above picture, you can see that the child isn't even on a bike; it's essentially a tricycle with an extra wheel in the middle of the back. Instead of helping this boy learn to balance and ride a bike, it instills a false sense of confidence. When he tries riding a real bike, he'll quickly find out that he hasn't gained the proper skills to ride.
When I learned to ride, my father took the pedals off of the bike and lowered the seat so that my feet could touch the ground. No training wheels were involved. I could push along with my feet, and lift them to coast along. With training wheels, you can keep riding for quite a while with a training wheel on the ground. This was not an option for me. I could go for a few feet without touching a foot down. The more I practiced, the longer I could go without touching down. Before long, I was ready for pedals, and I actually had learned to balance.
The most important part of the lesson has nothing to do with riding the bike; it has to do with the next batch of things I tried out. I knew that I had learned to ride a bike. That gave me the confidence to try new and seemingly risky things like climbing tree, catching a fast-moving baseball, and so on. I knew that I might be bad at first, but that by practicing doing the activity I wanted to learn, I would improve gradually until it was as natural as riding a bike.
3 comments:
I used training wheels but I didn't like them. So I told my Dad to take them off. When he did, I fell over a lot but I slowly learned and now I like to ride on risky terain.
Logan
I used training wheels for a while. One day I told my dad that
I wanted to take the training wheels off. I went over to the lower school field and fell a lot and I wanted to quit. My dad told me that we would do the same thing the next day. The next day I hid under a table because I did not want to ride my bike. My dad told me that I had to learn. That day I fell, but in the end I learned how to ride a bike without training wheels
Julian Mills
Clemson is awesome
At first I used training wheels for a little bit. But when my dad took them off, I kept falling and falling. My problem was that I was too scared to pedal and keep my balence. So, I kept on getting bloody knees. I also learned that if I kept on practicing with my dad, I could finaly ride by myself and around the neighborhood. It is hard to remember first trying to ride a bike but my dad keeps on talking to me about it.
Dr. Awwwsome
(Charlie McCray)
Post a Comment