If you like paying $500 for your child to learn next to nothing in the swimming pool, this is a great program for you. Save your money and sign up for lessons through the City of Vancouver or City of Burnaby. read more

I wish there was an option for zero stars. Our experience at the Langley soccer and bike summer camp was very disappointing. My son was physically and verbally bullied by another boy, who was also doing this to other kids and the staff. His parents weren't notified about his behaviour until my husband talked to them. To top it off my son's bag of extra clothes that was labelled with his name was somehow lost. Getting an email response from them is like pulling teeth. I was told multiple times they'd get back to me and never did until I followed up. I eventually got fed up and gave up. We will not be back and do not recommend. read more

t's incredibly frustrating to pay extra expecting quality instruction, only to find out that's not what you're getting. We had our child enrolled in Swimmer 3 and believed she was progressing well. This time around, we decided to try lessons with the City of Vancouver -- partly to save money, but also because the schedule worked better. Shockingly, on the first day, their instructors immediately assessed her and said she should be placed in Level 1. Not only was that a slap in the face, but Level 1 is already full, so now she can't even take lessons at all. After speaking with staff at the pool, I learned this kind of thing happens all the time -- they were just as frustrated with the situation as we were. Let's be clear: swimming is a critical life skill, not just a checkbox or a sticker on a report card. If you actually care about your kid learning how to swim -- don't come here. Don't waste your money. Go to a city-run pool where they pay qualified, experienced instructors a fair wage, and where you'll likely get better instruction for less money. read more

Terrible terrible experience at their bike camp at West Vancouver for my son who is not yet 5 years old. Shame by hiring young students that this is their summer jobs I assume to teach and work with little ones when themselves still need to grow up read more

We had our child at camp this past week. She had Morgan as a coach. Monday she showed up with training wheels and they were off by the end of the day. The kids all had a great time, they all got a million times better and it was a well organized camp. Our child loved it and wishes she could go all summer. read more

Originally this program was great for my 6 year old granddaughter where she learned to feel comfortable in deep water and actually learned to swim, tread water and had a terrific backstroke. She continued to move forward through Swimmer 1 to 3, however, in Swimmer 4 she failed twice due to " her web kick" which she wasn't consistent with but with more practice she would have got it. The instructor never showed her by doing it, she only told the child how to do it. Sometimes that's not enough. Problem I have is the child passed everything except that web kick but "she's very close" is what was said, yet she is to repeat Swimmer 4 a 3rd time for another $304.00 which is ridiculous. When she failed the 1st time it was only due to that "web kick" as well which the instructor was informed of this. Bottom line is that if she had failed 2 or 3 other things in that level I would understand but not just because of that particular kick. If she got to Swimmer 5 and had to repeat that level, I would understand. Sadly , this experience has now left me with questions regarding the instructors and the supervisor who assesses. read more

Terrible, I can't predict when my child gets sick. I asked if I can get credited or refund coz my child is sick with bad cold a day before the start date. They said I need a doctor's note. This is extremely silly and dumb. It's already hard already not having a family doctor coz of doctor's shortages. Now I have to find a walk in clinic somewhere as you know even walk in clinics not available anymore. Just a real big hassle. $350 just goes down the drain. I won't recommend this place, just not ethical and compassion. read more

Hello, I am writing to express the frustration we have had with our son's Pedalhead camp experience. It was our understanding that these kids would start off with training wheels and they would be taken off to practice without them. It is now the last day of camp and my son still has them on. I showed up early to watch the kids in his class and not one student has had theirs taken off. I also spent my hour lunch brake watching the children and during their non break times they just rode around in circles over and over again. I know this is not a matter of him being ready, its a matter of not having adequate staff to help these kids since not one student has had them taken off. When I picked up my son I was confronted by a group of pedal head employees who expressed their own frustration with management and not having the proper training or recourses to physically help each of the several kids successfully ride. They said their own training was two days of just riding bikes around without any real instruction and that they "have no idea what they are doing with these kids". They also stated they were unable to get ahold of anyone from management. The website states four children per instructor.. this is an absolute lie and quite honestly unsafe how many kids, maybe 8, per instructor. I don't want any of the employees in the camp itself to get in trouble as this is not their fault but the fault of management who trained them. Every day I asked for progress on my son and they kept saying the following day they would have his training wheels off. I went ahead and took his wheels off and tried to give him my own lessons in a parking lot. He was so confident riding all day with training wheels that he completely lost all the confidence he had all week when they were taken off. He got so used to them that he has actually regressed in getting closer to the goal of taking them off. Riding a bike takes practice with the trainers OFF not riding around in circles all day with them on. There is no skill that is aquired in that. We spent a lot of money on a camp that has not held to the promises portrayed in your advertisements. Your student to teacher ratios are not as described, the instructors are not qualified in the slightest and the program itself is a complete mess. I will give this until the end of Fridays class and if he is still on his training wheels and I see most other students are as well, I will respectfully ask for a full refund. If that is not possible I would like him to attend another week with a more qualified and trained instructor. Claudia- Please contact me as soon as possible regarding this issue. read more

They don't pay their employees. This coupled with the complete lack of structure for the program, I wouldn't recommend anyone work here or send their child here to camp. Update: Wages were withheld from June 23rd to July 3rd. I only received my pay after I refused to come to work until wages I were owed were in my hand/bank account. Company proceeded to fire me. Their reasoning? "It wasn't working out." Gee, I wonder why. Oh, and please answer me this, Claudia, why am I still getting emails from corporate asking why I'm not doing my camp manager duties? My employment officially ended July 7th, yet it seems corporate never got that memo? I'm getting consistent emails almost daily. I email back. Nothing. I message regional management. Nothing. The lack of communication with this company is truly astounding. read more

My son took part in PedalHeads Trail 1 bike camp at the Kenmore Washington location. My son does not have asthma and this was not a smokey day. On the 4th day at pickup my son was returning from biking/pushing his bike up a trail with a 350ft elevation gain. His breathing was distressed, body slouched over, drooling, miming he couldn't breathe, and unable to speak. Luckily I was there and made the decision to call 911. This situation was 100% preventable. The young instructors 15/16 years old are not well trained to identify trail rides that are age appropriate for 4-6 year old learners. Pushing a 5 year old beyond their physical limits that results in a medical emergency is not okay. More water breaks could have been offered, breaks on the hill to catch his breath, calling another teacher to assist with pushing the bike, and acknowledging it was a medical emergency and calling some version of an "adult" for help earlier before I arrived to call 911. I DO NOT RECOMMEND PedalHeads Trail Camp. Pedal Heads needs to review their training programs to include more safety precautions along with including some version of an "adult" with each student group. read more

This review reflects my experience as an employee through pedalheads. After 10 plus years in the electrical field I was tired of being taken advantage of and not being paid for the work I did. So I made a huge change and took the gamble that working with kids and sharing my magic with others might be more fulfilling. BOY WAS I WRONG! After two weeks of running camp, making schedules, managing both instructors and camper age 3-12 both my team and myself where NOT paid!! After addressing the issue with management, when I showed up the following Monday for my scheduled shift I was told to go home! Needless to say my interactions with this company leads me to believe that they are more interested in taking your money then paying those who keep their camp running. Ive filled a complaint with Colorado Divison of Labor standards to hopefully get the money that is owed to me and my coworkers. Is this the type of fun place you want to send your kids? read more

Lesson was cancelled by Pedalheads due to high chlorine levels at the Richmond location and we were asked to contact head office ourselves for a refund. I emailed them on Aug 20 and have not heard back from them. I sent a follow-up email today (Sept 8) If the school cancels a lesson and are not proactive about reaching out to families to offer a refund or to reschedule, the bare minimum is to respond to emails. read more

Pedalheads - Summer Camps Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

I do NOT recommend: Patrick at Pedalheads, St Alphonsus location The first day of class he was yelling in a stern voice at first time bike riders. A young boy was crying and asked to call his mother and Patrick said "Your mother is paying a lot of money for you to be here." I don't know if he called her after. The second day: He was riding around with the kids and said "You better ride well if you want a prize." The third day: My son only rode his bike for 32 minutes out of a 3 hour class. His instructor spent most of the day sitting on the ground playing tick tac to with another child. Patrick gathered all of children around for story time where he told them that he used to be incarcerated and knew all of the bad words in multiple languages, that he used to be an artist and drew pictures of "butts and boobs and other areas," he also went on to tell them about how he used to be in the army and knew all about the Chinese and Russians at which point one of the other instructors laughed, then he said "Yes, people think I am funny. Now how did everyone like my story. Give me a round of applause." and made all of the children clap for him. My son will not be returning to this school and I do not recommend it for anyone else. What an incredibly disappointing and sobering experience.I read more

Very unsafe. Don't leave your kids here. Better yet - find another bike training program. The oldest "teacher" and staff member on duty was a childish 18 year old. The youngest staff member was 15 years old. No adults on duty. Very young staff with no social skills, definitely no training. First hour was just having the kids kick a ball around in an abandoned parking lot while the staff listened to music. Location was an abandoned elementary school - parking lot behind school. Not safe in many aspects. Pulled my child out after one day. read more

Horrible experience waste of money, no better than programs at The local community center which costs a fraction of the price. The class size was not smaller than at the community center and taught by the dame teenagers or young adults. I tried thinking it may be worth it if getting more skilled and professional quality instruction for my son in order to be able to successfully pass the levels. Still failed my son, after hundreds of dollars for the class and then expected me to retake the class again for hundreds of dollars again! Ridiculous, for that price there should be a much lower retake fee not full price again. I will never recommend the program. I tell all of my mom's groups what a horrible experience it was and a complete waste of money and time. Just go to the community center, same class size and same Teenagers or young adults teaching the class. It was such a waste of money. I will never never use or recommend pedal heads again. I felt totally ripped off. read more

I can not ever recommend this camp! It is not safe. Staff are not properly trained and are given far too much responsibility for inadequate safety training and background checks! read more

Consistently VERY hard to find the locations for swimming pools. I have been to 3 different locations for pedalheads and each time the pools have been extremely difficult to find (to the point where we ended up missing our first class on 2 separate occasions despite allowing ample time to arrive and park). If you attend the Park Royal location, give yourself lots of time and ask for clear directions first, because you will NOT find it otherwise and end up wasting a lesson or two. Also the prices seem quite high given how young and inexperienced most of the staff I've had before seem. Will likely be using for the last time. read more

This is a review for Pedalheads swimming lessons at their Richmond location. I brought my four month old baby daughter to take their swim lessons on a five-day Monday to Friday schedule. The classes are 25 minutes long and largely consist of singing songs in the water while getting your kiddo acclimatized to being in the water. They also spend about 5 minutes teaching you some basics of how to help dislodge something from your baby's throat in the event of an emergency. I'm not sure how useful this training was, to be honest. There were 6-8 kids in my class each with a parent in the water and two instructors. My daughter was doing well until the fourth day when we decided we would try to put my daughter's head in the water. Specifically they had a song where we would lift our kids out of the water and splash them up and down as we sang the words "up" and "down" in the song. Multiple times I asked the instructors if it was OK to just dunk her head in the water like some of the other kids were doing and they just said "yes it's entirely your choice". I asked if there were any particular considerations with a baby this young (we were the youngest in the class) and the instructors said no, just quickly in and then out. On the last "down" I quickly dunked my daughter's head under and pulled her right back up. She started bawling inconsolably for the rest of the class and we had to leave early. She continued to cry the whole time in the changing room while being changed and it was a solid 20 minutes before we could calm her down. That evening my wife and I did some research online on how to get a baby ready to put their head under and it turns out NONE of them advocate for just dunking your kid's head in the water like this. They all work their way up gradually and start with pouring water over their heads and down their faces to get them used to it before using a different technique of gently putting their mouths and noses in the water. We were shocked and upset. On the fifth day, they called us 10 minutes before the class was due to start to tell us the chlorine levels were too high in the pool and that they had to cancel. I don't know if that's normal, but we had already got baby into the car and had almost arrived when we got the call. Frankly, I cannot recommend Pedalheads for their swimming program at all. Their instructors are not particularly well-trained nor certified from what I can tell. We chose Pedalheads because Marina swim school wouldn't accept babies under the age of 8 and Aquaventures' Waterbabies class hasn't started up again yet due to COVID. The only reason they get a two star rating instead of one is because it does appear they've made some renovations to the changing rooms since taking over the space from Marina swim school. But that's about the extent of positives I can come up with. read more

My children attended a 4-day Pedalheads Bike Camp. The first two days, they were with a trainer who did not encourage them, and when we talked to her, we barely got a word or two out of her. We did get complaints at the end of the day about our kids' not listening and "feeding of each other." We suggested they split them in separate groups and put them with another trainer experienced with kids. Unfortunately, no action was taken until day 3 (Thursday) when I asked a manager why no changes were made. She then put them on different groups with better trainers but with the rain storm that day, we were told very little biking was done. We are disappointed that given the cost and advertising of this camp, not all trainers are experienced to deal with children. We feel like we were not heard initially when no changes were made during the first two days to improve the situation, despite our suggestion. No school or other camp we have had our children attended has ever complained. Any kind of children educator, coach, or trainer should be trained not only on what to teach but how to deal with children, how to redirect them, and how to cheer and encourage them so that they stay focused. Kids are kids - their attention span is short, so they need lots of praise and redirection to keep them engaged. Our children learned very little in this camp. They could have learned so much more if they've had experienced trainers from the start - the second trainers were great and cheery but unfortunately took over too late. We were hoping to register our kids for more camps in the future, but sadly, we were left with a bad impression. The $1,030.56 paid would have been worth it if what Pedalheads advertises in their website was actually true for all trainers "... our instructors go through a rigorous training process ... Our instructors then complete our comprehensive training which includes an online component and hands-on training where they learn how to teach skills, create games, care for the well-being of the kids in their classes, and safely instruct and lead kids on a road ride." read more

Instructors were not well trained and have no idea how to deal with a bunch of children. Pulled my kids after the first day of camp.

I have used pedalheads for my boys for some years and while I appreciate the business concept and how they run the camps, I am very displeased with their administrative policies. I provided appr 4 weeks of notice to cancel some classes - that given the demand for camps right now will be easily filled - I was charged $50 per registration cancellation. Yes it's stated in their policy and it's my own fault for not paying attention however to claim that $50 is the administrative fee they have to pay to issue the refund is preposterous. Please be aware of the cancellation policy before you book. We all live in uncertain times right now and people's circumstances change - to charge these kind of fees in a time like this especially by an organization with national scope doesn't seem the most prudent thing to do. read more

I love, love, love the biking camp. My 5y old was very sad and dejected that he was the 'only' one who couldn't bike without training wheels and was refusing to bike when friends were around. Coach Becky and Coach Mathew were kind, and caring. My son was very worried about falling and hurting himself. They really coached him through his fears. At the end of the week, this same child was weaving around cones and doing shoulder checks and stops at stop signs without his training wheels! Coach Becky and Coach Mathew are miracle workers! We highly recommend Pedalheads (and will be letting our friends know about that) and cant wait to join another session! read more

Make sure you ask for a skills demonstration from your kid before you accept the 'report card' at face value. Our six-year-old daughter could ride her bike, but could not figure out braking so we enrolled her in Pedalheads. She apparently passed with flying colours, and, according to her report card, she passed the 'braking' component. However it's a 6 weeks later and she still won't bike down any kind of an incline at all. She gets off and walks her bike, or, even worse, drags her feet on the ground, banging her shins into the pedals or scraping off her shoes. I'm sure the instructors are friendly and keen, but it seems they're quite willing to incorrectly check off all the boxes on the 'report card' to show a kid that's passed. read more

I would not recommend signing up summer camp with this company - paid and signed up 2.5 months before the program begins and they cancel our registration 3 days before the start date, telling us that there is not enough participants. This is end of July, how do they expect parents to find backup childcare so last minute? They knew well ahead of time that there were not enough participants and should have contacted us earlier so we could have arranged for alternative childcare. Business practice like this is totally unacceptable - would not recommend at all. read more

I paid for and my son attended the first day. Staff report when i picked him up was he needed support but did well. The second day the staff refused my child with no explanation why. After repeated calls and emails, and a promise to get back to me about this, no one from Pedalheads has contacted me .State i have requested copies of their policy for refusing students who have been accepted and successfully attended a session, a refund for the full week since they refuse to let him return after day 1, and an apology from the company for causing him emotional distress by refusing him access as we arrived for his second day in the program. The website says they have experienced staff and they were told before camp that my son had autism. I was told they would handle this and the first day report from them was very positive. This does not even cover my loss of work hours for the week during his sessions at Pedalheads. Never j will put my son in that kind of camps . I read more

My daughter did a course last year and learned so much in just one week! We just took off her training wheels and when she was finished the course she was able to start and stop by herself and was very proud! She was very excited to go every day as the instructors were great and engaged them at all times. She just started her spring break camp and is enjoying it so far and we are looking forward to seeing all the improvements this year! I definitely recommend them! read more

My son Zane attended the Markham Pedalheads in Toronto in August 2017 and I was disappointed with the whole experience :=( The students working there were far from engaging and the overall set-up I felt was poor. He needed Before and After care and the room I was picking him up in was messy, disorganised and had limited resources. The most he would come home with were paper airplanes so innovative planning in terms of activites when the kids were not biking is far from creative. Also found my son was not excited in the morning to go, which after a summer of awesome camps was evidence in itself! read more

Wow! My six year old daughter just attended a week long pedalheads camp in Portland, OR and it completely surpassed my expectations. My daughter was very fearful of riding her bike, even with training wheels. She has always been a cautious and somewhat anxious kid. She also hates camps, because they are usually a bit chaotic for her. So, going into this, my expectations were low. Somehow, she has come home every single day, excited about how much fun she was having. By day 2, she took her first pedals, on her own, and by day 4 she could completely ride her bike by herself, around cones in the parking lot. She is already begging us to sign her up again next year. Thank you Pedalheads! I don't know how you do it, but you did! read more

OK, an update... I got in touch with Claudia from pedal heads to explain what happened the day we were in camp and to see what could be done to make sure it didn't happen again. Claudia met with me, took the situation seriously and has taken some steps to help the camp leaders get additional training and follow up specific to my situation. We decided to go back and try a different camp. We ended up going to the Point Grey location for the evening session (5-7:30). It was a totally different experience from the North Van camp, and I would recommend it for the much younger kids. The evening camps are far less busy so there was only maybe 20 kids in total. As well, there are two different grassy fields that the younger kids practice on, much easier for the little guys than the gravel field at North Vancouver. There was also way more space for the kids to spread out. There were only 3 kids in my son's group and a very engaged,hands on instructor. I would still be a very cautious sending younger kids (3/4/5) to the busier camps but I would recommend the less busy camps for kids of that age. I noticed at Point Grey the camp leader greeted everyone as the arrived by name and was there saying goodbye to all the kids as they got picked up. I did feel like someone was watching to make sure all the kids were accounted for and safely picked up, even though there isn't really a sign in/out. His tent was also stationed right at the end of the field next to the parking lot so it seems less likely a kid could have wandered past him alone into the lot without the leader noticing... I'm glad we gave it another try as my little guy is now riding up a storm. I'm also glad Claudia and her team at pedalheads took the situation very seriously and implemented some changes and upgraded training because of what happened to us. read more

Seattle had a smoke alert at unsafe levels during the week of Aug 20 2018. It was declared unsafe for even adults to be outside for long times leave alone kids. Pedal heads continued to hold the outdoors camp and on reaching out to them for a refund responded on the last day of the camp. They noted in an arguably discourteouss note that though the camp was conducted to continue provide daycare to the kids (in govt declared unhealthy situations equivalent to smoking 20+ cigarettes in a single day) they would give a partial credit (but no refunds) towards their next camp for the 'inconvenience'. The next set of camps are available only in the last week of June 2019 (9+ months out) where we can use the credit but we will have to call them at a line (they never pick the phone at) to avail the credit, which btw only they have a record of. I believe this organization has lost my trust that they have any concern for the safety of my child or any kid at their camp. They prioritize profits over kids health and safety. Who is their supervising organization so the parents can take up the entire issue of even conducting of this week's camp and not notifying families in advance about the government issued health alerts for kids? read more

Love Pedalheads. The camps have been great for my 3 yo and 8yo. The older one is doing a combo bike/swim at the Jericho location and it seems well structured and well run. The younger one did the balance bike camp and learned a lot. We will be back next year! read more

I registered my son for the Pedalheads summer program at their Burnaby Location on Parker Street and it was a great success! My son, 7 yrs, has always been afraid of riding his bike without the training wheels - it also does not help that his motorskills are not very sharp and it takes him twice the efford to learn a sport - however, by the end of the first day, he was riding his bike on its own. The instructor's are great and they are really engaged with each student and their progress. I highly recommend this program. read more

Beware of Pedalheads. We purchased a week of bike camp for our daughter at a location near our house in Leaside. We received notice today that they relocated her camp to a location in Flemingdon park. Now getting her to and from her half day program would be a complete ordeal. My daughter had signed up for level 5 Gearheads and we purchased her first gears bike in anticipation of this camp. Now it cannot proceed. They have little to say other than they failed to get the permit from the City. Bad form on Pedalheads to unilaterally move your location on May 15 when families rely on camp and this book was booked on Feb 3. Now we will be scrambling for alternatives for our daughter and her friends - all of whom have been left out in the cold. Refund or offer of a $25 dollar credit is little consolation. read more

We've done two bike camps (over three years) with PH, in two cities. They rock. Why? They are super organized yet flexible. They have all kids come to one site, double-check their skill level, then ensure they are with the most appropriate group. The leaders are calm, friendly, and -while young- very professional! They know which kids are under their care, have and teach excellent boundaries, communicate with the children and parents, and allow the parents to provide all the kids' food rather than hand out junk/processed food. At the full-day camp, they have a simple activity (drawing on their table place setting) ready right upon the kids' arrival, so that the kids can feel anchored and comfortable rather than overwhelmed, frightened or shy. At the last camp we went to, a kid we didn't know had a serious allergy, and the camp double-checked with every family that none of us had packed nuts -very conscientious, responsible, and inclusive! Their teaching is very effective, and my son has such a great time. But most important to me is that they take excellent care of the children. read more