 Poster: A snowHead
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I've never seen a child not get their badge at the end of the week
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Getting a badge is always great - the problem comes if they are devastated if they get the same badge as last year. In the very early stages of skiing most kids will make big strides in a week. But after a while, as with any similar activity, the learning curve flattens. Though most English kids stop ski school once they can batter round the hill having fun, and are often better than their parents (who stopped ski school 20 years previously). The French, especially if they are fairly local, as our neighbours were, tend to expect their kids to continue learning and get into the timed slalom kind of stuff which DOES need a "test" on the last day, as it's timed.
We all started learning to ski in Austria and the last morning of ski school - for adults and children - was a "race" which the adults pretended not to take seriously. With gold, silver and bronze medals. No idea whether Austrian ski schools still do that.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| pam w wrote: |
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It’s a huge generalisation but generally (don’t shoot me down) women don’t like the feeling of being out of control, whereas men do.
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From my experience and observation that's generally right. And it always makes me cross to read the mindless "children have no fear" assertion. I enjoy skiing, but only if I feel more or less in control, and the same with sailing too - people talk about being "addicted" to an adrenaline rush but I can't get my head round that. If adrenaline is what makes you feel that your heart is in your mouth and you might be about to shit yourself, my life is complete without those rushes. |
i had also wanted and thought i was so "addicted" to adrenaline"
Many said so, i also did. Until one day you laid somewhere on the snow , waiting for the rescue team to come and see what the hell happened with your Shoulder. From this moment you realise that life is nice, even without adrenaline
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| pam w wrote: |
| Quote: |
I've never seen a child not get their badge at the end of the week
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Getting a badge is always great - the problem comes if they are devastated if they get the same badge as last year. In the very early stages of skiing most kids will make big strides in a week. But after a while, as with any similar activity, the learning curve flattens. Though most English kids stop ski school once they can batter round the hill having fun, and are often better than their parents (who stopped ski school 20 years previously). The French, especially if they are fairly local, as our neighbours were, tend to expect their kids to continue learning and get into the timed slalom kind of stuff which DOES need a "test" on the last day, as it's timed.
We all started learning to ski in Austria and the last morning of ski school - for adults and children - was a "race" which the adults pretended not to take seriously. With gold, silver and bronze medals. No idea whether Austrian ski schools still do that. |
i do not have a big experience with ESF we were only twice in France , both weeks the kids made a week halt day course, but at the end of the day there was no "race" or something like that. The instructors wathed the kids the whole week, the improvement etc and last day they decided if the give the badge or not.
But we noticed that there are some cases where kids didnt make it.
On the other hand in AUT i found it a little bit as a chaos. There are not standars between the schools. Some schools made a "race" other not, some with time, other not, almost eveywhere the kids becomes a medal, even if the skied the whole week with snowploughs.
I dont know if the problem was that we were always in school holidays and it was always full.
However i have to mention that from ca 15-16 Weeks that my kids had a week course, 2 were in FR and 1 in Italy and 1 in Switzerland. All the other in AUT and a couple of days in GERM
The biggest improvement i saw it in FR IT and SW.
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Think of it from a different viewpoint: imagine your family had been keen equestrians, and you were competent, but not particularly keen. After a few years you felt it wasn't for you and would like to ski instead. How would you feel if your family had basically ignored your preference and kept dragging you on their horsey holidays?
The challenge for any parents as their children grow up is if they have to deal with a diversity of preferences, including those of the parents. There's sometimes no clear ideal compromise. But I think the first thing to do is to recognise that one of your children may simply not be into what you or their siblings like, and take it from there. Consider the option of leaving them behind with grandparents or friends. Not as any sort of punishment but as an acknowledgement they are turning into individuals in their own right.
Just wait 'till your older teenager children want to go to Ibiza with their friends rather than do any sort of holiday with their parents.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| pam w wrote: |
| Quote: |
I've never seen a child not get their badge at the end of the week
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Getting a badge is always great - the problem comes if they are devastated if they get the same badge as last year. In the very early stages of skiing most kids will make big strides in a week. But after a while, as with any similar activity, the learning curve flattens. Though most English kids stop ski school once they can batter round the hill having fun, and are often better than their parents (who stopped ski school 20 years previously). The French, especially if they are fairly local, as our neighbours were, tend to expect their kids to continue learning and get into the timed slalom kind of stuff which DOES need a "test" on the last day, as it's timed.
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Yes completely agree, however I think there are ways to get round these things. I do agree that that the learning curve flattens as they progress, but the grading also reflects that. I have more confidence in my 15 year going from bronze to silver (she now thinks and learns like a student), than my 11 year going up a level (he still thinks like a child and likes to get distracted from the learning!).
As mentioned, we've generally gone with the ski schools that have smaller groups so maybe that helps with the progression. Also, I think ensuring the right gap between the grades is important, and having a day or so in the new group recapping (which helps others slightly behind to catch up). Even having two tier medals - Level 3 Gold (means progress to Level 4), Level 3 foundation (means we recommend doing level 3 again to get your Gold badge, and if you go for level 4 we may pop you back in level 3 anyway to get your Gold) - but you always get a new badge.
I'm not saying these are the right approaches necessarily, but saying there are ways of trying to avoid not giving badges to children in all but the most extreme situations. While having lessons is primarily about ensuring they are safe on the mountain, we also know that the better they get the more they'll enjoy and be motivated by skiing. Why would you want to risk that unnecessarily, especially in the early days, by essentially failing a child on what should be a fun, holiday - which then gives them a bad memory of skiing (they'd be better to avoid giving out badges at all!). Kids zone in on things like this, and are effected them. After a bad cub camp experience, it look our youngest a couple of years to agree to going on a stay-over school trip.
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| Quote: |
both weeks the kids made a week halt day course, but at the end of the day there was no "race" or something like that. The instructors wathed the kids the whole week, the improvement etc and last day they decided if the give the badge or not.
But we noticed that there are some cases where kids didnt make it.
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That describes my experience too - and if the standards mean anything there HAVE to be some kids who "don't make it". But that's only a disaster if the child has been allowed to believe that just turning up for the week will get them "the next badge up". Parents must manage expectations and not make a big deal of it. Surely kids can be told that at during the week the instructor will be watching to see who is making progress and that, just like in school football lessons, some are better at it than others. But that as long as they've enjoyed it, that's fine. The suggestion that kids are often "promoted or relegated" during the week doesn't accord with my experience and would probably be just as devastating as not getting the badge, especially if the group has begun to "gel" and they like their instructor.
Is it something about British parents, this focus on "achievement" in a sport where, on the whole, our nation does not achieve much at all and the parents are not likely to be particularly skilled? I've had a fair bit to do with kids learning to sail (where the RYA has very clear standards and progression) and it would be rare for them to keep getting the next level up in just one week a year. With clubs they will probably sail at least once a week, all through the summer, along with a full week at least once during the school holidays. Even then, only comparatively few will pursue it enough to achieve the higher qualifications - mostly they just enjoy themselves and continue to yell "Starboard" at each other despite being on port tack. But the UK IS good at sailing and talented kids who work hard have a decent chance of competing at high level - especially in my neck of the goods. So informed parents do understand the need for high standard and competition - and the inevitable crashing disappointments which that will entail.
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| pam w wrote: |
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both weeks the kids made a week halt day course, but at the end of the day there was no "race" or something like that. The instructors wathed the kids the whole week, the improvement etc and last day they decided if the give the badge or not.
But we noticed that there are some cases where kids didnt make it.
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That describes my experience too - and if the standards mean anything there HAVE to be some kids who "don't make it". But that's only a disaster if the child has been allowed to believe that just turning up for the week will get them "the next badge up". Parents must manage expectations and not make a big deal of it. Surely kids can be told that at during the week the instructor will be watching to see who is making progress and that, just like in school football lessons, some are better at it than others. But that as long as they've enjoyed it, that's fine. The suggestion that kids are often "promoted or relegated" during the week doesn't accord with my experience and would probably be just as devastating as not getting the badge, especially if the group has begun to "gel" and they like their instructor.
Is it something about British parents, this focus on "achievement" in a sport where, on the whole, our nation does not achieve much at all and the parents are not likely to be particularly skilled? I've had a fair bit to do with kids learning to sail (where the RYA has very clear standards and progression) and it would be rare for them to keep getting the next level up in just one week a year. With clubs they will probably sail at least once a week, all through the summer, along with a full week at least once during the school holidays. Even then, only comparatively few will pursue it enough to achieve the higher qualifications - mostly they just enjoy themselves and continue to yell "Starboard" at each other despite being on port tack. But the UK IS good at sailing and talented kids who work hard have a decent chance of competing at high level - especially in my neck of the goods. So informed parents do understand the need for high standard and competition - and the inevitable crashing disappointments which that will entail. |
I do agree that you have to manage children's expectations - and as a super competitive dad, I absolutely loathe the idea of no winners and an award for just turning up (my eldest hates training but loves competing as she loves to win!). But I think there's a key distinction here between competitive sport and progressing in a hobby. I haven't put my kids into ski school to 'win' or to gain a qualification - and while I know they have to achieve a level of learning to proceed to the next stage, I'd rather avoid the naming & shaming in a badge ceremony. Instead, have no badges for anyone, or badges for all as a sign they have have completed the week and acknowledgement of their progression (surely every one must show some progression after a week, even if it's just perseverance!) - and then the instructors notify the parents separately whether they can progress to the next level.
I totally see when they get to certain age or level, then the grading and qualification element becomes more important. But when the main aim of the first couple of ski trips is to get the kids enjoying skiing (in what can be a cold, tough environment at first), to single out 8-9 year olds amongst the group, and put them off skiing, feels a bit counter productive.
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Just to add, we make a big deal that they have to focus and learn in lessons, as they have to hit a certain level to make the grade. In reality we know that the likelihood is that they'll get the badge anyway. But a) we want them to try their hardest and learn b) we know that they'll get a huge positive feeling from passing, and they'll associate those positive feelings with skiing.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@pam w, Most ski clubs don't bother with qualifications for the kids.
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@pam w, to be fair the RYA revamped the youth qualifications some years ago - possibly in consultation with the operators of week-long holiday courses - so they are more incremental in a way that allows holiday sailors to identify progress year on year. But they are also sensible enough to issue "course completion certificates" rather than assessed qualifications for some of their activities.
As you say, most youngsters in UK sailing clubs don't get hung up over qualifications. My cousin's son is a high level sailor (national squad) and I don't think he got any formal qualification until after he won his first Nationals. He caught up after that though, he needed all the coaching and commercial certificates to make his living from sailing.
(Apologies to the OP for thread drift but hey, this is Snowheads).
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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i think the discussion is a little bit away from the original point.
As someone already said, every kid has its own mentality and character.
With some kids the Group Course is the best option, for some other private, for some othe the NO COURSE at all is the best.
I seet it also with us. My daughter want to make a course, she likes when she is with other kids, even if she didnt manage this whole Star qual. thing.
My son dont want so much, but when i told him that he will be better and he will improve his technique to go faster etc, he accepted that and he is willing to participate.
And as @Handy Turnip said, we have to manage the expectations of the kids.
But this is for all sport, school, studies etc. And on the other hand, the dissapointment of not succeed to do something is also a part of the life.
The original question here is how we/he could make a kid to love the skiing (again). If this means group lesson, private or not a lesson at all, is a more personal thing based on the kids personality.
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#1 An activity holiday by definition is going to be a bit tricky. If it's a once or twice a week thing, done from home, it's easy to get round/drop. But if you going on a family/group holiday specifically to do that activity it's a different ball game.
#2 I've not known many adults who completely disliked skiing and didn't want to go again but they do exist. I can think of half a dozen that I've known that didn't get past the snowdome/first few days on the snow. But generally most like it, even if they don't end up being regulars or fanatics like SH's. I would imagine kids are the same. I mean, in lots of ways, what's not to like.
The caveat here is that a bad experience can turn a reasonably happy participant in to a "you know what, I'd rather do something else". I've seen that in other sports/pastimes too.
And children are more fickle and more difficult to read.
Like many this feels like a bad experience situation.
Personally I think all the badge stuff is nonsense. And my kids for sure started to figure out this as they got to their teenage years. Not skiing (they didn't do ski school) but in other sports/school activities.
So again like others I would do some privates, ski together, make sure it's a holiday, etc.
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You know it makes sense.
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| turms2 wrote: |
The original question here is how we/he could make a kid to love the skiing (again). If this means group lesson, private or not a lesson at all, is a more personal thing based on the kids personality. |
One thing is for sure - A Group lesson won't be tailored to the needs of one unhappy student....However, the "right" Instructor can - and can even make it seem like it isn't a lesson at all.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| LaForet wrote: |
Just wait 'till your older teenager children want to go to Ibiza with their friends rather than do any sort of holiday with their parents. |
To which the answer is surely post 18 "go ahead but you are entirely reponsible for funding and the consequences of your actions" and they have to do a few live roleplays before you give it your blessing.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@oldschool72, maybe it's worth rebranding the next trip as a winter holiday rather than a ski holiday, and focus all the attention of the snow activities that she loves. Hopefully that will get her initially bought into another trip. Maybe have some extra-special activity up your sleeve, so when you gradually start to introduce the idea of one or two private lessons into the equation, you can also introduce this extra-special activity at the same time as an incentive.
It feels like she's spent more time enjoying skiing than not, and it's one bad experience that is over-riding currently (which is often the way with kids) - you need to get a good experience on the board and then the previous experience will be forgotten hopefully.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Skiing when it's less cold, and making sure she's really warm, is also important. I was a keen skier for many years, but being cold is just miserable. I had a young niece who loved skiing, and was very sporty, but she suffered terribly from cold - she was so skinny. She would be crying with cold sometimes, but still wanting to keep going. A less enthusiastic child will just want to give up - and who can blame her?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Hopefully in future years the Family Bash will line up with Irish school holidays, but unfortunately 2024 is not workable. She's very gregarious and a real 'joiner'.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@oldschool72, no other local friends or family with kids of a similar age you could strong-arm into clubbing together with you to go skiing. Get a whole chalet to yourselves and the kids run around together like some little gang.
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I can only echo what some others have written - make it a winter holiday and not a ski one.
My wife is not a skier, son LOVES skiing, however can easily get board in European resorts.
Since we started skiing in Finland, we've not been elsewhere.
All of the non ski activities make for an amazing family holiday, and when skiing, we do a few hours, nip off snow mobility etc, and pop back for an evening ski if we fancy it.
Also, being on a hill rather than mountain, I can give Theo a little more free rein to ski trees, off piste etc without the fear of him popping off a cliff.
The joy of booking somewhere like Finland is you can head there without the pressure that she has to ski. Suggest that you can nip on the slopes for an hour and just ski with you. With the variety and no pressure, she will soon get hooked again
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| CathyAuLait wrote: |
| It’s a huge generalisation but generally (don’t shoot me down) women don’t like the feeling of being out of control, whereas men do. |
I think it's possibly more that there are differing thresholds for what's considered "out of control" and potentially a lot of male skiers are happier to be closer to where they feel the edge of control is. I certainly wouldn't say that I like being out of control, but I also know there are some times when I overstep the mark a little.
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One of my kids decided to switch to skiing. I made her drive herself to the mountain. Thankfully switched back to snowboarding after a few weeks, so we are on speaking terms again.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@hang11, 
I remember getting awards in the form of stars or similar when I was at school. This was in the UK, Norway and (I think Austria) which was every place I had skied before leaving school. Austria did definitely have the end of week race, which was brilliant fun… would’ve been more fun if Gordon Duncan hadn’t pushed me into Silver right enuff!!
On my second trip to Norway, I got the awarded the same number of stars as I did the previous year. I was a bit disappointed, especially when I saw plenty of my peers improve…. But…. I had had a great week. It was brilliant. I got over it quick… and set my mind to being better next time.
I guess it’s subjective.
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@Richard_Sideways, that is the best badge tip ever! We were in CH this year and they gave everyone a medal for taking part in the ‘race’ - which was skiing a teeny slalom, one after the other, and then there were medals for ability afterwards. So much nicer.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| oldschool72 wrote: |
Only child (9) didn't have a good time skiing on our last holiday. She's not really the sporty type and is quite cautious generally. She has skied with us for one week per year since she was 3 and was getting on fine for the first few years, progressing and enjoying herself. Covid cancelled two planned holidays, then when she went skiing this January she lost her nerve completely, refusing to get out of snowplough and 'refusing' at the top of many runs. She was at the tail end of her group in lessons, which meant that by the time she had caught up with the group waiting for her they were off again, and she couldn't catch a breath.
At the end of the week, she didn't achieve her equivalent of the ESF 1 star badge. Since then, she has repeatedly said that she doesn't want to go on another skiing holiday. She does like all the other snowy activities, especially when in a group of other children. Should we try again, perhaps getting her private rather than group lessons with a recommended instructor in a 'flattering' resort, or just leave it and give up ski holidays as a family? |
Go to Les Arcs 1800 and ski on Mille 8 with her a lot. Brice Lamons is an excellent coach there too. You can find him on instagram. I recommended Owlette off of on here to go with her nervous husband and she loved it.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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In my experience - kids minds get fixated on negatives and sometimes it a little time to focus them on the good things they have achieved. I would leave it a little while, highlight every now again how proud and good they were and then start them off with a couple of one to one indoor slope lessons to build confidence.
In Resort I would skip week long lessons. My two did it for two years and they were okay but i Switched to private for a few days 4 then 5 and 3 on subsequent weeks. They are more expensive but I think worth it as the attention is on them, they ski more and progress at their rate. I was initially concerned not getting any awards but I think actually it doesn’t really matter and they now just love skiing with us.
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| hang11 wrote: |
| One of my kids decided to switch to skiing. I made her drive herself to the mountain... |
I think @hang11, might be onto something here. @oldschool72, have you considered disowning here or putting her up for adoption? 
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You know it makes sense.
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I think @hang11, might be onto something here. @oldschool72, have you considered disowning here or putting her up for adoption? [/quote]
I did think of switching her to snowboarding instead, but then I think my other half would disown the pair of us!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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It's actually backfired on me a bit, because she's got a really nice splitboard that I had my eye on, but the return to snowboarding means I can't pinch it off her.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Re:badges
Years ago I had a job as head coach for a number of recreational gymnastics classes. To keep to a proscribed syllabus we operated an award scheme with badges awarded for different levels of achievment with a number of elements in each award, for example a back flip on floor or a kip on the bar. The children (the adults wern't interested in badges) were really keen to get each level. I spent more time assessing achievments that actually coaching. I'd be surrounded by children pleading that I tick of an element off. I also coached an elite group where we had much more flexibilty to taylor the programme to the individual gymnasts.
The same probably applies to coaching skiing. If you have groups where you don't know who will be in the group and what their ability, desire and motivations are then you will need a proscribed programme and a set of awards that you can give so that each skier knows a/ what they have achieved, b/ what they should look at for their next class and c/ a crude level of achievement so that their next instructor knows what they can already do. Perhaps a more detailed transript would be much more useful than an simple pass/fail badge.
Back to the OP. Does the child want a/ stay at home on her own or b/ the rest of the family forego the holiday they love just because she doesn't enjoy skiing or c/ go on holiday with them but not partake in any activities/
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Badges are nonsense.
My daughter has loads of gymnastics badges but she was badly coached and in the end quit quite happily.
Both my kids have numerous karate badges and belts. So what. Neither of them do karate anymore.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@Layne, but you’re not a child are you. Badges mean something to kids - its recognition and most people like that.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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With my daughter it wasn't not getting the badge that she minded, just that she was always way behind the group during lessons. She wouldn't have minded being moved down a group; I don't know why the instructor didn't suggest it (maybe no space)
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| oldschool72 wrote: |
| With my daughter it wasn't not getting the badge that she minded, just that she was always way behind the group during lessons. She wouldn't have minded being moved down a group; I don't know why the instructor didn't suggest it (maybe no space) |
Important piece of info!
That's it right there. Bad ski school is... well,... bad. And frustrating.
Solution: Choose good ski school. 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Macker13 wrote: |
Go to Les Arcs 1800 and ski on Mille 8 with her a lot. Brice Lamons is an excellent coach there too. You can find him on instagram. I recommended Owlette off of on here to go with her nervous husband and she loved it. |
Just minding my own business, scrolling through the thread, and my name pops out at me.
True story though. Mr. O was ready to hang up his skis after a Christmas trip to Austria that was like skiing on an ice rink. The difference having long, cruisey blues, access to greens, and warmer weather at Easter made was incredible.
The post above that mentioned laughing and whooping summed it up for me. One of the highlights of our week (us aged 40, children aged 9 and 11) was getting the last lift up and then skiing down empty pistes, with the kids testing out skiing backwards and generally playing all the way down. We really did laugh and whoop. I hit some slush near the bottom and fell over spectacularly. We all found it hilarious.
The Mille 8 run is fabulous fun, as is Forêt Pitchouns over in Peisey-Vallandry. You can easily lap both of those, giving high fives to the big hands, and playing the xylophone with your poles.
My youngest (turned 10 earlier this month) is more about the snow than the skiing too, and did recently say to me that he was 'meh' about skiing. We try to ensure that he has lots of play breaks, and keep the pressure off. We used Evolution2, and did expect him to listen and partipate in lessons, but the rest of the time was his alone.
We'd not skied in France before, so were not used to their system of badges. We'd skied on Austria, and we did miss the end of week race, as both kids looked forward to that. However, we will return to LA1800, as it provides the perfect playground to just play and build confidence.
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This thread has got me thinking about the aforementioned 10 year old and his enjoyment. As noted on my trip report, he found the constant getting out of the door first thing, with no morning off, hard work. Because we only did morning lessons, I was reluctant to have him miss one.
I'm wondering if a better approach for him would be private lessons over 3 days. He'd get 6 hours of tuition rather than the 15 he'd receive in ski school (3 x 2 hour private vs 6 x 2.5 hour group), but as it would be more focused, I'm thinking he'd have a similar level of progression and they could be catered to his interests. The rest of the time he could ski with us or indeed have a relaxed morning (Mr. O isn't much of a morning skier), and it would offer more flexibility. I wouldn't have my boys share an instructor as the eldest is at a different level.
Thoughts? Also wondering if this approach might help @oldschool72, too.
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An important thing to remember is that 9 year olds do go on and off things - and friends, and teachers, and what topping they want on their pizza. A year is a very long time when you're 9.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Parent of two children, now 24 and 22. Both very good skiers now, but the younger, my daughter, has my passion for skiing and would go every holiday if possible and the other, my son, loves the family aspect of a ski holiday but, whilst very competent, has no desire to improve nor do more than one annual trip.
Experienced a bunch of behaviours over the years to reach this outcome and I’d make the following points (and provide one suggestion that, for us, was gamechanging)
1. Private lessons are ideal and, better still, if you arrange to ski with other families that have similar age kids. Went with three families usually and hired an instructor for our kids. Meant that they had a lot of fun together and there was much less time pressure (plus it was similar price to putting them in ski school).
2. Ski with them. I always avoided putting them in full-day lessons (except when they requested it) and would ski with them for the rest of the day. Sometimes they wanted to show what they’d learned and blast around, other times they wanted to have an easy time and grab a hot chocolate.
3. Afternoon Lessons. The mad rush to get ready in the morning sometimes feels like regular school to kids and it’s off putting. Put them in Afternoon lessons instead; result is that the morning is much more relaxed and, usually, you can meet the instructor up the mountain thereby making it much easier.
4. Lead by Example. I’ve always taken lessons, still do, and swear by it. If you’re both joining lessons at the same time then that sends a very strong message without you having to push it overtly. However, that said, have to confess that I am super competitive and want to be as good as I possibly can … appreciate that not everyone wants that.
5. Badges/Exams. Wait until they want to compete, if they ever do. My daughter liked this as she’s very competitive, my son not at all and he was discouraged quite a lot when his younger sister became the better skier.
6. Wait. As others have said, a year is a long time in a child’s life. When the time comes to book the next holiday I’d then take it low key and say ‘Would you like to come on the ski holiday or would you prefer to stay with Grandma/Friends/Camp ?”. Funnily enough, faced with the option to stay home neither of mine ever decided to do so.
Everyone is different so don’t know if that’s at all helpful; but good luck !
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Oh dear. Can you disown her?
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