To be a little worried about my five year old

[HannahBanana87]

She’s five and a half. Oh I know she’s only little and she is who she is. She is wonderful. She is kind and funny and affectionate and my best little pal in the whole world.

She is in P1 and one of the youngest in her class. She has made some friends at school but she’s very “young” compared to a lot of the girls in her class. Loves Paw Patrol, dolls, that sort of thing. The girls in her class are all into LOL dolls, zoom chats and drawing (DD enjoys drawing but her attention span is very short).

The latest thing is that we are trying to teach her to ride her bike without stabilisers. It’s a nightmare. She’s too frightened of falling off. The minute I let go of the bike her feet come down and she wobbles to a stop. Three full days at it and no improvement shown.

In the meantime kids a good year or two younger than her are cycling past her. Then we met a boy in her class who said “my bike is much bigger and I’ve been riding without my stabilisers for ages”. DD is too young and naive to feel any shame about it, thank goodness.

I know she’ll get it when she’s ready and I have no intention of trying to make her something she’s not. At the same time I don’t want her to be left behind. I don’t want her to be made fun of for being the baby.

Her three year old sister demonstrates a great deal more courage and independence than she does.

I work in p1 and the things you describe from the other kids really aren't typical at all. My p2 isn't on zoom with her friends either. DD1 was 7 before she could ride a bike as she was careful and cautious. Dd2 was 3 and just cycled off like she'd been doing it forever when I took the stabilisers off when still aged 3. Very much an individual personality thing I think. DD1 is one of the youngest and dd2 is one of the oldest as I deferred her. To be honest I still see the difference compared to the class now and DD1 is in p6. She's definitely young for her year but still gets along fine - dd2 is very much the leader of the pack, obviously older and breezes through the work.

I’ve had one daughter learn to ride a bicycle aged 4, and one aged 10. None of mine at 5 would be having lol dolls and zoom, immaterial if others in class do. There are children who love to do one-upmanship like that little boy but I’ve found it just gets dismissed by the other kids around.

Enjoy your little girl, she sounds lovely.

My dd is 7 and into LOL etc, she’s pretty grown up
For her age and likes bloody make up and all sorts! She can’t ride her bike without stabilisers though! Don’t worry

Is primary 1 reception? We don't call it that here, my ds is 6 and a half and is in year 1 (he was in reception last year). I'm thinking if your dd is only 5 and a half and in year 1 then the other kids could all be almost a whole year older?

Dont worry about it, her toys sound fine, don't make her grow up.too quickly! It takes a while to master a bike without stabilisers, every child does it at their own pace and with lots of practice, 5 is young to master it ime, thou there seems to be a big push in balance bikes/ expensive light weight bikes now that is meant to help a child master it quicker but honestly 8-15 years ago when mine were learning 5 would have been considered young to do it.

I do genuinely believe children just develop at different rates. It doesn't mean that your daughter will be "behind" forever. For what it's worth I couldn't ride a bike until I was 11, I'm now studying medicine (still rubbish at sports though!) We all have strengths and weaknesses!

My daughter is an August birthday and I had exactly the same worries as you.The other girls seemed so much more “ mature” than her .She is now the most amazing woman , Oxbridge educated and extremely confident...my advice ..let her be herself!

My dd7 is a young 7 but I love that about her and I'm really pleased she's not growing up too quickly. She has lots of friends and is quite sassy and confident which helps when she doesn't know what something is for example. She just owns it.

She was happy riding her bike with stabilisers in front of her friends until lockdown when she mastered it without. Saying that, she's certainly not the very last of her friends to learn so I wouldn't worry, your dd is still very young.

The problem as I see it is there's so few children in her class. In terms of learning that's excellent, in terms of choosing playmates it doesn't leave a lot of choice.

You say she has friends so I would just let her get on with it and help her to become confident and proud of herself. This seems more like your issue that hers, I don't mean that nastily.

I wouldn’t worry too much, this was me when I was 5 but I soon caught up :) was youngest in my yearn

@HannahBanana87

She’s five and a half. Oh I know she’s only little and she is who she is. She is wonderful. She is kind and funny and affectionate and my best little pal in the whole world.

She is in P1 and one of the youngest in her class. She has made some friends at school but she’s very “young” compared to a lot of the girls in her class. Loves Paw Patrol, dolls, that sort of thing. The girls in her class are all into LOL dolls, zoom chats and drawing (DD enjoys drawing but her attention span is very short).

The latest thing is that we are trying to teach her to ride her bike without stabilisers. It’s a nightmare. She’s too frightened of falling off. The minute I let go of the bike her feet come down and she wobbles to a stop. Three full days at it and no improvement shown.

In the meantime kids a good year or two younger than her are cycling past her. Then we met a boy in her class who said “my bike is much bigger and I’ve been riding without my stabilisers for ages”. DD is too young and naive to feel any shame about it, thank goodness.

I know she’ll get it when she’s ready and I have no intention of trying to make her something she’s not. At the same time I don’t want her to be left behind. I don’t want her to be made fun of for being the baby.

Her three year old sister demonstrates a great deal more courage and independence than she does.

I’m guessing you’re in NI? I’m using the P1 reference to guess that.

Both my DS were 7 or so before they rode bikes without stabilisers. They have special needs but this was their “thing”. They were ahead of some mainstream children of friends.

Let her take her time. Patience is a virtue.

My 27 year old SD (who is amazing) was showing me her bruises today from trying to learn to ride a bike. We then swopped stories about trying to teach her when she was 8 or so...first time I’ve seen her since lockdown. The bruises were impressive.

My DD1 who is now 7 and my DD2 who is now 4 learned to ride without stabilizers at the same time a year ago (much to the chagrin of my oldest)

My eldest will also happily watch paw patrol with her little sisters although her interests are similar to her friends.

Embrace her individuality, she has a lifetime to conform to peer pressure and expectations - let her be herself.

Dad is nearly 8nand can't ride a bike. She has no balance at all we've tried so many times.
She couldn't balance walking along a line painted on the floor!
Her dm. Is the same and in mid 30s can't ride a bike. Not sure why. Guess some just can't.

My son is 6. He watches Peter Rabbit and Octonauts. He has no interest in riding a bike. I encourage him to try new things, but am in no rush for him to grow up.
His cousin is 7. She wears bikinis and leopard print and make up. She cycles and surfs. She watches Queer Eye.
They vary a lot.

She sounds exactly like my dd. She will barely get on her bike with stabilisers, no idea how we are going to get her to ride. Natural caution isn’t a bad thing op. There will be benefits as well and the drawbacks as she grows up. As long as she is happy at school I wouldn’t worry. The other girls sound rather too grown up for their age.

Bike riding seems to be one of the most age variable skills for kids.

TV- My approach has always been to not push for anything more grown up so my 6.5 year old watches cbeebies and prefers paw patrol, sarah and duck, hey dougie etc to films with even mild peril.

None of her friends can manage zoom chats well. They like to see each other for a few minutes but can't sustain conversations.

We recently saw a friend who we hadn't seen face to face since March and they were fine together within a few minutes.

Does she really want to learn? Both of mine decided themselves when to go it alone and off they went. Any pressure, gentle or not can turn them right off. Can she manage a balance bike? If so she'll be fine, when she's ready herself and really wants to do it. Try and trust that. And it's great she feels no shame at all. Her interests sound absolutely fine for her age.

My DD is 5.5 and is definitely not into Zoom chats! That's way too grown up for a 5yr old!

She sounds lovely :)

She is five ! Tiny ! I didn’t learn to ride a bike without stabilisers until I was about seven. I played with baby dolls until ten or so and Sindy for longer than that.
My dd has just turned 13 and still loves cuddly toys.
It really is fine. She doesn’t sound “young “ for her age, she sounds like a very normal and happy little five year old.

No WAY I'd let my 7 year old on zoom chats. Long live the bucket and spade years

5, sorry.

Had pimms

Your daughter sounds lovely. As others have said, don’t push her about the bike. Stay calm, reassuring and let her take however long she needs. She’ll learn in her own good time.
I was like your daughter, I absolutely hated falling off and my dad was very impatient and kept pushing and pushing, and making his disappointment very clear. We didn’t get anywhere. I finally learned, of sorts, from a friend when I was 13-14, but I’m still an appalling cyclist, and still scared of the bloody things.
I’m a bit of an extreme case, but you get my point.

My Dc15 can't ride a bike. She just can't. I don't care.

My 5.5 yr old DD is still up (long story!) and I'm not kidding, she's just put paw patrol on! Not watched it in months! (I haven't said anything to her about this thread either, obviously) How funny.

She can however, put up a wooden shelf on her own and put it level with a drill and everything she needs and pack away -now that is useful.