[blparent] Teaching a Sighted Child to Ride a Bike

[Nevzat Adil]

So long as she is on training wheels she will not learn to balance.
I know a thirteen-year-old girl still hasn't learn to ride a bike with
no training wheels and her parents are sighted.
With my two girls, I just took the training wheels when they were 6 or
7 and I helped them by holding to their bike for a littel while and
then letting them go after they gathered some speed.
I did this in an open field where it was safe.
Also an older cousin or a young neighbor could help.
For my older daughter one of her cousins was helpful.
Nevzat

On 5/30/17, Judy Jones via BlParent <blparent at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hello, Elizabeth,
>
> I think the big key here is to relax and tell your daughter that everyone
> masters this skill at different ages. One day she'll all of a sudden get it
> and take off. Since she is nine, I wouldn't be following behind her as with
> a younger child unless she is asking you, because like you said, she has to
> get up the speed to balance. For instance, maybe you can say something like,
> "Let's see how far you can go by yourself. I'm here if you need me." Tell
> her to do just as much as she feels comfortable, not to worry about it, and
> keep telling her it'll come. Both of you may be unknowingly trying too
> hard.
>
> I faced the same thing when trying to teach our girls how to swim. The older
> they got, the less they needed me to hang onto them, and as long as I was
> near, but not actually touching them, they got it.
>
> With the bike, each had a bike, and I remember both riding with training
> wheels, but neither was a dare-devil and careful, and they somehow managed
> to learn on their own. I remember being asked one day to take the training
> wheels off, so figured they were ready after asking the question, and they
> were. I know that doesn't sound like much of an answer, but I think once the
> stress of having to learn is off of both of you, everything will click into
> place. Maybe you can have a special Girls' Day to celebrate when she masters
> riding on her own.
>
> Another memory, I was determined to learn how to use a pogo stick, and I
> mastered it by myself out in our front trive, and I got to where I could
> jump off curbs and a couple of steps with it.
>
> Enjoy, and let us know how it goes.
>
>
>
> Judy
> sent from the U2 Mini
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Jo Elizabeth Pinto via BlParent  <blparent at nfbnet.org>
> To:  blparent at nfbnet.org
> CC: jopinto at msn.com
> Date: Monday, May 29, 2017 11:56 pm
> Subject: [blparent] Teaching a Sighted Child to Ride a Bike
>
>>
>>
>> Hi everybody. Have any of you taught your children to ride their bikes? My
>> daughter is nine and sighted, and I haven't had much luck at this. She has
>> a bike, but her training wheels are still on. She's embarrassed to ride
>> now, since most of her friends have been without training wheels for a few
>> summers, at least. I've walked behind her, or rather jogged now, for a few
>> years. She can ride independently with the training wheels, but I can't
>> seem to get her over the hump to where she can balance without them. The
>> thing is, I can't run fast enough with her to hold her up so she can stay
>> in balance and have me let go so she'll maintain speed and keep the bike
>> sailing along on her own. The hard truth is that I'm not liable to get any
>> help from her sighted dad on this one. He claims his knees are bad. I'm
>> not sure I believe that, but whether I believe it or not isn't really
>> relevant. She has a three-wheeled scooter, but it's on its last wobbles,
>> and she needs to learn to ride her bike. Any ideas?
>>
>>
>> Jo Elizabeth Pinto
>>
>> "The Bright Side of Darkness"
>> Is my award-winning novel,
>> Available in Kindle, audio, and paperback formats.
>> http://www.amazon.com/author/jepinto
>>
>>
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>
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