Teaching Kids to Ride a Bike
Sing with me: "I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike, I want to ride my bicycle, I’ll ride it where I like.”
If you know and appreciate the tune, then besides having revealed your age, you must also have good memories of being on a two wheeler, the wind on your face, with the world just whizzing by. I certainly did!
I had many memories on my bike, riding around the village as a child, having been taught by my three elder brothers. I remember I was an awkward adolescent, I wasn’t too skilled as a rider and I was struggling going up a slow climb near the village park. I was huffing and puffing, my legs burning from the pedaling, then halfway I looked to the right and saw village boys and they spotted me.
I tried to speed up while looking away but they decided to cheer me on with every pedal until I reached the top of the street. My self conscious self then would remember this as one of the most embarrassing moments as a young girl! Good thing those memories are superseded by happy times on the road with my siblings, riding to Misa de Gallo for nine morning in December in the cold holiday air.
This is how I grew up so naturally I wanted my kids to know how to bike as well. For me, and also for my hubby, biking is one of those skills they should know just like swimming. My boys learned to ride in our old house in Quezon City at around 5 or 6 years old. It was easy teaching them. Just one or two sessions, and they were on their own. We barely kept the balancers on.
For Reese, it was a bit more challenging. I tried the same techniques my brothers used to teach me, arming myself with lots of patience because I knew from experience that’s usually all you really need. However after several tries of pushing her and anticipating for her to balance and catch on the pedaling, it still would not work. Even with her big brother Zach helping and encouraging her, she would have a hard time keeping the balance and was getting frustrated. A first pedal would make her tilt too much on the side and would be too late or too angled to balance out to the other side. We tried and tried, but it would not happen for my little one.
Coincidentally, around this time, my mom friend Cheng inquired about getting a booth for Expo Mom for this certain bike brand that her son loved. I was curious because it was the first time I've heard of a "Balance Bike", and that's what the STRIDER is.
According to the literature Cheng sent me and online research, the STRIDER No-Pedal Balance Bike has taught more toddlers and kids how to ride than any other brand in the world. Cheng also shared how much her son Andric loves it and he even celebrated his 4th birthday with a Strider-themed birthday party. Check out this video: Andric 4th Bday - Best Time of My Life from Kids Haus on Vimeo.
Reese on Strider
STRIDER No-Pedal Balance Bike
Cheng is so passionate about this brand because she saw how it has helped her own son, so she wanted to share it with other moms and hopefully spread awareness about it so it can help more kids. Strider was at the Expo Mom event last May in Glorietta and in true mompreneur spirit, Cheng and her other mommy friends shared their inspiring Strider stories with other moms at the event.
After the Expo, I was determined to try out the Strider for Reese. I felt that I needed to do something before she gets too tired and frustrated that she would give out learning to bike all together. So she tried the Strider and at first, found having push herself tiring and cumbersome. But after just a few times, she was balancing and gaining confidence in that, and I realized that was the point of it all.Here's Reese on the Strider No-Pedal Balance Bike: you'll have to kick to get it moving then you learn to balance without worrying about pedaling. By just around the third time she got it.
The Strider allows the child to ride the bike, working like a push car, essentially using feet power and momentum to keep the bike moving, keeping the child's mind away from being conscious about the pedaling, and just gain confidence in being balanced first.
When there are pedals the tendency if that the bike tilts too much towards one side especially on the first pedal and you'd need proper timing and force on the other to balance it out. If not, you'll topple over. Without this predicament, the Strider rider gains balance and confidence, and in Reese's case, she enjoyed it a lot and guess what, right after, she shifted to her two wheeler she was able to ride it already just after several rides on the strider.See how confident she became on her bike when just a few weeks before we were struggling to teach her to balance on it without the training wheels. This is just after a few Strider bike rides.
The Strider is an awesome product and I'm thankful to Cheng for sharing this with me! I only wish I learned about it sooner because the Strider is actually more perfect for toddlers and very young children. If you want to start your child early on biking, or if you have a kid like mine who you'd like to learn to bike, call Cheng to know more and also to get exclusive discounts.
See info below:
Cheng Duran
0917 842 2824
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STRIDE ON!