Wisconsin schools raising money to teach kindergartners how to ride bikes — in gym
When most people think about learning to ride a bike, they probably remember doing their best to balance and pedal at the same time down the sidewalk or driveway, as their mom or dad held on to the back of the bike, panting and trying to keep up.
That’s not the way a growing number of 5- and 6-year-olds will remember it though. They’ll think back to learning how to ride a bike in their school’s gym, surrounded by their classmates.
The All Kids Bike program is a curriculum developed by Strider Education Foundation, the nonprofit arm of Strider Balance Bikes, a company that sells bikes that allow children to balance without pedals and then add the pedals as they gain confidence in their ability to handle a bike.
“Riding a bike is all about balancing and steering and learning how to move your body,” said Jenn Smith, an education specialist at Strider Education Foundation. “If you have training wheels on, you’re not learning to find trust in those core skills.”
That philosophy permeates the eight-lesson curriculum that physical education teachers can become certified in to teach their kindergarten classes right inside their schools’ gyms.
According to Smith, the classroom experience isn’t as crazy as you would think it could get with more than 20 little kids in a contained space with bikes.
“You might think it would be kind of chaotic, but it’s not like bumper cars or something,” Smith said, laughing. “The teachers teach the lessons through games that keep the students pretty well-contained, like follow-theleader and starting-and-stopping games.”
Schools across the country have been implementing the program for the past two years, and Wisconsin schools are jumping on the bandwagon.
It costs a school about $5,000 to pay for the curriculum, teacher certification, 22 bikes and pedal conversion kits, and 22 helmets. Schools can sign up through the nonprofit’s site, where they’re eligible for national grants, but the process goes more quickly if the school can raise the funds through local means.
That’s what northern Wisconsin school Washburn Elementary was able to do, with the leadership of physical education teacher Matt Goodness this school year.
“The area of the state we’re in is really dynamic for all kinds of biking,” said Goodness. “We’ve been looking for ways to connect our students to all the types of biking they can do.”
When Goodness’ wife told him about All Kids Bike, he got the program approved by his school and set about raising funds.
In September 2019, Goodness teamed up with Washburn’s local biking advocacy group, the North Coast Cycling Association, to host a bike-athon fundraiser. The money raised from that, as well as community donations, put Washburn over the top by December.
The bikes have been delivered to the school, and Goodness plans to start lessons in April or May.
Several Milwaukee schools are fundraising as well, but not for the same reason as the rural bike-trail heavy Washburn school. For them, it’s about not having the room and resources in an urban community for kids to learn to ride.
“Biking is a wonderful form of exercise as well as a confidence booster to young children. Unfortunately, 92% of our students come from low income households that may not have the means necessary to provide bicycles or teach bike riding skills at home,” Albert Story School physical education teacher Teal Kalunzy, is quoted as saying on the All Kids Bike program website.
The following Milwaukee schools are fundraising for the program: Engleburg School, Fairview School, Frederick J. Gaenslen School, Starms Early Childhood Center, Trowbridge Street School and Albert Story School.
To help one of the Milwaukee schools’ efforts, go to the All Kids Bike website and look under “Kindergarten PE Program,” then “Find a School.”
Contact Amy Schwabe at (262) 8759488 or amy.schwabe@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @WisFamilyJS, Instagram at @wisfamilyjs or Facebook at WisconsinFamily.