How to ride a bike in 4 easy steps

Sometime last summer I picked up an Aldi 12" bike on the cheap, and we had committed to giving it to Ella on her 4th birthday. Of course, since she turned 4 on our holidays, we just drew a picture of said bike, and it wasn't until after we got home that she was able to ride it. While Ella is fairly proficient on her balance bike, we weren't sure that this would translate directly to a pedal bike. But it all turned out easier than we thought, along the following lines:

1. Learn how to pedal.
Unfortunately, the only way to learn how to pedal is with training wheels, and so last Saturday I assmbled the bike complete with the training wheels. Training wheels are the most annoying invention since sliced bread. Ella can steer well on her balance bike, but training wheels have one leaning in the wrong direction and oversteering, neither of which Ella could cope with very well. To add to the confusion, training wheels get impeded by gutters, or any other obstacle, so progress was slow. Despite this, Ella thought it was great, and we even took a short trip around the block for a bit of fun.
2. Learn how to balance
On Sunday, we graduated to free riding. After 2 minutes, Ella wanted her training wheels back on, but after 5 minutes she was riding happily (albeit slightly erratically) back and forth along our road. The only catch remained starting off -- which meant she needed a push to get going each time. But once started, she was pretty much gone...
3. Learn how to start off
On Monday afternoon we got home sufficiently early to spend 20 minutes practising before we had to cook dinner. The strategy today was to learn how to start off on downhills (pretty easy in the end) and graduate to starting off on the flat. Pretty pleased with ourselves after this.
4. Learn how to brake
Turns out that this one is hardest of all. Logic would dictate we would learn this first, and believe me, I tried. But when panic sets in, she forgets all about back-pedal brakes and tries to plant her feet down. Plenty of time to learn this, I thought, as we set of this morning for a play/coffee at Jammo with Abby & Zoe. It wasn't until the way home, on a steep downhill, and despite my instructions to slow down for the corner, that Ella missed a turn and ploughed headlong into a bush! She thought it was hysterical, so obviously no damage done, but perhaps this is one lesson I need to reinforce before we hit the hills again.