Message from our daughter, and my reply.
He is making huge progress with riding a bike, but I’m stuck on how to help him direct the bike. He says he can’t steer, and yet today was just veering off to one side, but insisting he wasn’t doing it. I can’t think what to say about how to guide his bike in a particular direction. He also can’t get started unless I’m holding the bike and he has both feet on the pedals, but again, I don’t know what to say to help.
Any other advice I can give?Basically, he can balance and propel himself, so the “mechanics” are all there. All he needs is technique.
Balancing is the hard part. You know, if the bike falls to the left, you steer to the left to correct it. Same as falling to the right and steering to the right. As he can do that, he’s more than half way there.
As for “navigating” it’s all to do with practice. If you could make it fun and competitive, he would look forward to keeping at it.
Get some bits of cardboard. Loo roll tubes lying down? and place them on the ground as a target. Get him to ride over them. Use two or three targets initially in a line, and then later staggered left and right. Put numbers on the cardboard so he can score points ………or, get him to go in and out of them without hitting them.
It would be good if you could demonstrate it yourself, and you too can score points.
As for getting going without your holding him, make sure he can get both feet down confidently for safety, and again it’s practice practice practice.
Remember, he’s done the hard part. No doubt with infinite space, he could ride continuously. Let him know he’s done the hard work already, and all the rest is fun fun fun.
Tell him that I am immensely proud of him, and that I know he will succeed.