8 yr old dd can't cycle is this normal?

[Redwood]

this may be on another thread so please redirect me. Does your dd cycle at 8? Mine can't and I'm not sure if this is a problem or if I should just chill out and just keep trying every few months tO see if her balance has got better? To be honest she's not too bothered about it. Would I be the worst mum if she didn't learn?

both mine had balance bikes as 2-3 year olds and both anaged to ride the proper bike the first day they tried - aged 4.

they are not child prodigies - cycling is all about balance and they had that sorted. stabilisers just don't really work IMO as a teaching aid because if anything, they destabilise the bike

Life skill or not, children get it when they get it. You just have to keep trying but not pushing too hard. DS took ages to learn to ride but once he got it, he was off within an hour.

Don't be too hard on yourself.

I didn't learn till I was 11! Just lack of an opportunity when we lived abroad. However I went to be a keen cyclist as a teenager and did the London to Southend 50mile charity ride at 17.

my eldest was 5 when he learnt? as was ds2 and then we got ds3 a balance bike when he was 2, he then learnt to ride a bike without stabilisers at 3, it was his choice, he begged me to take the stablisers off an old 12inch bike we had in the shed, i did so and left it in the garden, came out ten mins later to shouts of 'look at me' and he was happily peddaling round the garden and the same day rode to school and back (an hours round trip walking) at 6 he is by far the best on his bike out of my elder 3 boys, he just seems to have natural balance etc, but am sure the balance bike helped :)

my ds4 who is 3 is now using the balance bike but is not that interested, he prefers his scooter, but next summer we are hoping to get him riding on a bike (he will be 4 next march)

i dont think it matters particularly when a child learns to ride a bike but i would say most non special needs kids would be able to do it by age 5-6 with practise and opportunity? and i do find it suprising the number of kids who are the same ages as my ds2 and ds3 (9 and 6) who cant ride a bike.

i think its a shame in that riding a bike is FUN!

ds almost 8, has a bike, can't ride it, utterly uninterested, not brilliant on a scooter either.

I never taught any of mine they all learnt from older friends/siblings helping them, the eldest was age 6 and the youngest age 4 when they learnt. They just kept trying because around here in a rural location its the best way to get about to meet up with friends without having to use the occasional bus or hassle me or their dad for a lift.
They are used by the youger children every day riding round with friends, it keeps them fit and healthy and outside.
Best things we ever bought were their bikes.

My Dd learnt at about 81/2yo and at now 10yo is still quite insteady on a bike.

My DD hates sport lots. I decided to concentrate my efforts on getting her over her phobia of water & pools and learning to swim, which I believe is a much more important life skill.

She was late learning to swim too, and although can now swim, still lacks confidence in deep water.

With regards to bike riding - not many kids have much opportunity to ride bikes these days. Well, not in the same manner I did as a child, where we all played on our bikes all day every day and went off cycling in groups around our village and surrounding villages. The roads are too full of parked and moving cars. Not as many kids play out in the street with other kids as they did 20 odd years ago.

There will alsways be kids riding 2 wheels at age 3 or 4 but I really dont think it is that unusual for kids to be 8 or 9 these days before learning. Times and circumstances have changed. Dont feel bad about it, although to be honest I did get to a stage where I did think OMG, she cannot ride a bike yet. She was not at all fussed about riding a bike so I thought Why should I psuh it and apply pressure really. To this day, she will still choose to take her scooter out to play than her bike.

Just to restate what some might have missed earlier = I learnt to ride at 46! Would have said to anyone who ased that it didn;t bother me but it did. You feel like an idiot as a non-riding adlt especially at University when everyone trots their bike out etc. I took a lot more guts to learn at 46 than it would at 6-12yrs and tellingly I taught my boy when he was 5 (luckily he was very co-ordinated) because it bothered me so much not being able to ride.

The only reason I didn;t ride as a child (both my brother and sister did) was because my parents didn;t make the effort (both with busy jobs when I was the right age and two older siblings that didn;t want everything they did suspended whilst I was wobbling around on my bike.

I'm not very good either, I can ride, but cannot stand on the pedals, so no hills for me, cannot take my left hand off the handlebars at all (right is not a problem), I could really do with improving. Although I learnt as a child, I never did cycling proficiency or anything. My friends and I walked or bussed everywhere. Here though (small town) you see children of say 10+ cycling everywhere, especially to the sports centre, skate park etc, which are a bit out of town.