Most of us learned how to ride a bike the same way. We had our training wheels that turned our bicycle into a quad-cycle (if that's a word). Then, when we took our training wheels off, we fell over again and again.
Again and again until that magical day we were able to keep going unhindered.
That changed completely in 2007 with the introduction of the modern balance bike. If you've never seen one, it's basically a bicycle without wheels.
Young kids can push with their feet Fred Flintstone-style until they start building momentum and coasting. Then, when they add the pedals, they discover the magic of continuing the momentum they are already used to generating. And it happens almost instantly.
Here is a video if this is completely unfamiliar to you and you would like to see it in action:
And now, children are learning to cruise on bikes at 3 or 4 years old. Yours truly didn't learn until 12 years old. And man, did it take a whole lot of falls first.
It is such an effective, new way to learn to ride a bike.
So, what to know something interesting? Guess when the balance bike was first invented.
1817!!!!
That's right. No joke. You can read all about it in this post from Best for Teens.
Why did we wait so long? And why did we ever think training wheels were the best solution?
Now that we have the balance bike, training wheels seem kind of silly, don't they? They keep you from falling, yes, but do they do the job of getting you ready to ride?
So, my question to you, dear reader, is this. What are the training wheels in your life? And could there be a proverbial balance bike that you could consider?
In music education, I think we were inflicted for over a century with the training wheels of Every Good Boys Does Fine. And then, we found more developmentally-appropriate ways of teaching the staff.
We hope to become the balance bike of how community music schools are run.
So, what does your balance bike look like? And which training wheels are you looking to trade in?