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How Doug Engelbart taught kids to ride a bike (without training wheels)

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Re: How Doug Engelbart taught kids to ride a bike (without training wheels)

#11

Post by trefn »

ghshephard wrote: post #7

Second grade I received my first bike, a pedal bike, which puts me at 8 years old. I recall, precisely and clearly the experience of being pushed on the bike, being told to pedal, and once it got going, pedaling to the very end of the road. http://bit.ly/gmaps-firstRide Actually turning around was a bit of an adventure, but I managed that (and precisely recall the experience as well) - and so, 5 minutes after being i…

I've got another anecdote to support this: I taught my girlfriend's little brother (age 10) to ride his bike in about 30 minutes one afternoon. He'd never ridden, not even with training wheels, and is not particularly athletic.

All it took was running along beside him and letting go, then following and catching if he started to tip.

Re: How Doug Engelbart taught kids to ride a bike (without training wheels)

#13

Post by pbhjpbhj »

cduan wrote: post #8

Apparently a much simpler way is to just take the pedals off the bike: http://www.sandcanyoncyclery.com/index.php?option=com_conten...

I assumed he meant rotating the handlebars clockwise and anti' when he says "forward and back".

Both techniques are doing the same thing. The one in the post is explicitly guiding the rider as to the mechanism involved in keeping the bike upright. The "remove the pedals" method is allowing the rider to discover this themselves. The later method probably introduces a side-to-side motion by virtue of the mechanics of pushing off with ones feet; you twist and turn the handlebars automatically.

OT: Can't read that link at all in the default style, dark blue on black?

Re: How Doug Engelbart taught kids to ride a bike (without training wheels)

#14

Post by Tichy »

I don't see how training wheels would help learning at all? Just wondering if there is an age when kids can not yet learn riding a bicycle, and then training wheels would enable them to use a bicycle anyway (like you wouldn't expect a 6 month old who can barely walk to be able to learn cycling, I suppose). That would be the only reason I can see for using training wheels.

Re: How Doug Engelbart taught kids to ride a bike (without training wheels)

#15

Post by ericd »

Tichy wrote: post #14

I don't see how training wheels would help learning at all? Just wondering if there is an age when kids can not yet learn riding a bicycle, and then training wheels would enable them to use a bicycle anyway (like you wouldn't expect a 6 month old who can barely walk to be able to learn cycling, I suppose). That would be the only reason I can see for using training wheels.

They're largely a confidence booster for kid and parent.

Re: How Doug Engelbart taught kids to ride a bike (without training wheels)

#16

Post by spokey »

Tichy wrote: post #14

I don't see how training wheels would help learning at all? Just wondering if there is an age when kids can not yet learn riding a bicycle, and then training wheels would enable them to use a bicycle anyway (like you wouldn't expect a 6 month old who can barely walk to be able to learn cycling, I suppose). That would be the only reason I can see for using training wheels.

Training wheels don't have to be in constant contact with the ground. With my kids I installed the training wheels several inches off the ground. The kids had to balance to use the bike effectively, but the training wheels would catch them when they leaned too far.

Re: How Doug Engelbart taught kids to ride a bike (without training wheels)

#17

Post by jellicle »

They're called "balance bicycles" or "run bicycles" and they're readily available from dozens of manufacturers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balance_bicycle

I don't know why anyone cares that Doug Engelbart discovered something already known by millions of people - that pedaling isn't the important part of learning to ride, balancing is - but hey, here's my golf clap for him. {clap clap}

Re: How Doug Engelbart taught kids to ride a bike (without training wheels)

#18

Post by hugh_ »

ghshephard wrote: post #7

Second grade I received my first bike, a pedal bike, which puts me at 8 years old. I recall, precisely and clearly the experience of being pushed on the bike, being told to pedal, and once it got going, pedaling to the very end of the road. http://bit.ly/gmaps-firstRide Actually turning around was a bit of an adventure, but I managed that (and precisely recall the experience as well) - and so, 5 minutes after being i…

Yep, I got my first bike for my sixth birthday and never had training wheels.

What's the point of giving a four-year-old a bike anyway? It's not like you're going to let 'em ride it anywhere interesting, or unsupervised.

Re: How Doug Engelbart taught kids to ride a bike (without training wheels)

#19

Post by jodrellblank »

jellicle wrote: post #17

They're called "balance bicycles" or "run bicycles" and they're readily available from dozens of manufacturers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balance_bicycle I don't know why anyone cares that Doug Engelbart discovered something already known by millions of people - that pedaling isn't the important part of learning to ride, balancing is - but hey, here's my golf clap for him. {clap clap}

Did you read the article? It's not celebrating that he found pedaling less important than balancing, it's telling how he came up with a method to explicitly teach balancing by steering constantly and therefore making the wobble-lean-steer-tilt relationship stand out and be the bit to focus attention on.

( Also, have a 'trying to be cool' sticker for your jaded cynicism: http://www.paulgraham.com/essay.html )

Re: How Doug Engelbart taught kids to ride a bike (without training wheels)

#20

Post by FahnRobier »

jellicle wrote: post #17

They're called "balance bicycles" or "run bicycles" and they're readily available from dozens of manufacturers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balance_bicycle I don't know why anyone cares that Doug Engelbart discovered something already known by millions of people - that pedaling isn't the important part of learning to ride, balancing is - but hey, here's my golf clap for him. {clap clap}

If anyone is interested in building one of these for their toddler, there is a great pattern located here: http://crumleydotorg.chattablogs.com/archives/038834.html

I used the above pattern to build 2 of them for my 2.5 year old twins... they love them and have great balance now.

Here's how mine turned out: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/113513/bikes.jpg http://dl.dropbox.com/u/113513/bike1.jpg http://dl.dropbox.com/u/113513/bike2.jpg

I broke-even in price, it cost approx. $60/bike which is what it costs to get a similar "elmo" bike at target: http://www.target.com/Elmos-Beginner-Bike/dp/B00155X3UI

If you're going to break the bank, it's going to be b/c you couldn't find cheap wheels. This is where I went wrong, since I spent about $11 per wheel at home depot. I later found them for $4 at a smaller local hardware shop. ;p

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