 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi
We've booked our very first ski holiday for late March, flying into Geneva with the resort still to be decided.
We have two young kids (4 and 5) who we are keen to both enjoy the snow and skiing and make progress in the week we have.
Both kids are quite timid and have never liked being left in new places without mum or dad around. Because of this I'm not sure the traditional kids ski school, where the kids are left for 1/2 or full day will work for them, so I was thinking about aranging private lessons that we can all attend together as a family.
Do instructors do this kind of thing? Is it possible to effectively teach both adults and young children in the same group? Or will I have to rethink my approach.
Chris
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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There are quite a few differences in how lessons are structured for kids of that age and for adults. Some of the silly games that kids would appreciate might not be to adult's tastes. Adults might want more explanation ("teaching") of what they should be doing, kids just need to ski and follow the example of the instructor. Lessons might be at a different pace, both from a skiing perspective and a stop and talk perspective. If the weather is foul young kids might need to stop for a break (or stop altogether) whereas adults would be happy to keep going.
I'm sure a good instructor would do their best to deliver what you ask, but I think there are lots of compromises you would have to make in terms of how the lessons are structured which would make them less effective for both kids and adults.
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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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jomax,
My gut feeling is that it is not a good idea, young children will want a lot more breaks and will learn in different ways but I'm not an instructor. If you do want to pursue the idea though it is possible to do. Nendaz offers family lessons for groups of four or more that you can take in the afternoon.
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It would be very difficult to teach young children with adults - especially their parents. With a 4 and a 5 year old the "lesson" has to be 100% games and how you talk to them has to be quite different. Will the adults really learn much from being fired up to hop around on their skis like a bunny rabbit, scamper like a marmotte, lumber like an elephant, play head-shoulders-knees-and-toes etc? 
Also, it could be difficult for you as parents to disengage and let the instructor get on with it. I have experienced an over-anxious Mum hovering on the slope, calling out encouragement to her 5 year old, rushing over to help her up when she fell ....... and generally wrecking any chance I had of establishing a rapport with the wee girl and of giving her the sort of fun she needed. Whereas I've had fun times with the ones whose parents went away (and some crackingly funny moments). No prizes for guessing which ones learned more.
So, I strongly advise a separate session for the wee ones. If you feel they need to know you are close by, that's fine. Stay in the area; go for a coffee in a nearby cafe which they can see and where they know you are. If you stay around to watch, keep your distance and take your cue from the instructor (eg he/she might incorporate waving to Mum and Dad into the activities, so wave back). And build up their expectations of a good time in advance and of how special they are to have their very own instructor.
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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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I vaguely remember going on a group holiday when very young (perhaps at age 5-6). My parents booked me and my little bro into ski school and went off to do whatever, but the family we had come with had a parent hovering for the first morning doing much the same thing as the Mum in cc's story. Even at that tender age, I remember being grateful that my parents weren't there to get in the way, although I was pleased to see them in the afternoon when school was out. Different folks, different strokes of course, but if they're confident enough to want to get on the snow, they may well be having too much fun to be anxious once they get stuck in...?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I had twin 5 year olds visiting last year. They had some private lessons, and also we helped them on the nursery slope - on the free rope tow etc. They were very nervous, by no means "took to skiing" like ducks to water. Even with a very expert, and nice, instructor, they struggled to get past the stage of shuffling round the little nursery garden. We took them on the rope tow, because they were desperate to have a go, but it was very hard work, and nerve wracking, as they had not learned to do snowplough turns, and just tended to slide down till they fell over, or until one of overtook them and sort of scooped them up before they hit anyone - it was about the most demanding bit of skiing I did all season!
We had booked some 2 hour private lessons on the basis that we'd have to sort out whether the boys, or their dad, would use the time. Their dad had never even seen snow before (grew up in Africa) but is very athletic, a cricket coach and first class cricketer, and learnt faster than anyone I've seen. The instructor was quite ready to swap around half way through the lesson - but it would have been hopeless trying to all learn together. Neil would not have wanted to shuffle round on a plastic mat and slide under the pixie figures with his hands on his knees! I noticed that they moaned a lot less when with the instructor than when with us, too.
They enjoyed gentle toboganning, and loved making snowmen, playing snowballs, having a picnic in the snow etc. They only had about 5 hours skiing during the week because, really, they enjoyed the other stuff more.
On the other hand some small children seem to become moderately competent in a week - usually other people's children, though, especially French ones! If your kids are really worried about separation (e.g. but they go to school/nursery?) maybe you should aim for a holiday in the snow, with a little "taster" at skiing, and maximum fun all round, to encourage them to really want to learn to ski another year? It's really hard to have a first family holiday, when you are all beginners, unless kids are ready to go to ski school and/or you take granny (preferably one who can ski) to help take up the slack and do a few hours snowball duty so that parents can have a few hours for a lesson.
If you live near one of the snowdomes, how about some lessons there, just to see how you all get on?
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jomax, It's a nightmare for the instructor. You can't give what is basically 2 totally different lessons at the same time. Kids need very different lessons to adults, plus the kids never really let go with the parents there.
Put the kids in the ski kindergarten and book lessons for yourselves separately. they'll have much more fun with other kids and you'll learn far more too.
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My oldest son, now eight, was very similar when we took him on his first holiday. He had just turned five, he was a shy, timid child who liked to be with mummy all the time. The first day that I left him at ski school was a nightmare. He was not happy and neither was I! But, he loved it! The ski school were used to shy little kids and they took things very easy at first and by the end of the week he was doing really well and, most importantly, he had great fun.
he now skis twice a week at the dry slope and doesn't want to be anywhere near his mum who can't keep up anyway - so it was hellish at first, sending him off to ski school on his own but it was the right thing to do and your two will have each other.
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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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jomax, If its your first ski holiday you will find it a full time task looking after yourself in a ski lesson and would be no help or in fact be able to help your young children when they fall over etc. Send them to the kids class, the only downside of this is that at the end of the week they will be better skiers than you as kids make very good progress at that age.
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Don't do it!
A four year old is a different kettle of fish even compared to a five year old sometimes.
As already mentioned above, it is a nightmare for an instructor to work with.
A ski school that has a good reputation with kids is the best idea. The instructors are all used to kids and will know what to expect in terms of missing parents, creating games and just creating a really fun environment for kids.
I am an instructor and have in the past worked in a dedicated childrens centre. Yes, some of the kids came in really shy at first and sometimes there were a few tears. However, 99.9% of the time, the kids had a ball playing in terrain gardens, hanging off their instructors (that always made me laugh as this was in America and we were not allowed to handle the kids but they liked climbing on us!), buzzing around the resort etc. Some kids cried at the end of the day because they didn't want to go home!!
The other thing I would encourage is that if you live near a dry slope or a snow dome, get the kids in particular some lessons before they go. Even if it is only a couple of hours, it will help them to know a wee bit about their equipment, to be able to straight run and maybe do a snowplough. It just makes it that little bit less daunting when they get onto the snow.
At our ski centre (dry slope), we would take the children individually as the four year old would probably be better with a one to one lesson which we would do as a half hour. A five year old at our place has the chioce of a small group class or a private lesson.
Kids when they get going on skis are hilarious. I've known four year old kids ski from the top of our slope and shout at their parents as they go past telling them that their rubbish!! They're just brilliant to teach and watch them developing into little skiers as it is often so amazing how little people can learn and do so much!!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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You are getting very consistent advice, Jomax, so I won't repeat myself. I mentioned crackingly funny moments with children and Snowaddict speaks of them being hilarious. I well remember a wee 5 year old blonde blue-eyed cutie in America who started talking the moment his Mum handed him over to me and never stopped: I had a complete dossier on his parents, his sister, his uncles, aunts, grandparents, the dog, the cat and the hamster within half an hour. He was already doing good wee plough turns so we set off on the beginner's chairlift. He caught a tip getting on and a ski came off. "No worries," I said, "someone will send your ski up after us." So he just carried on the non-stop family history until getting near the top I said "I think it's time we stopped talking and thought about how to get off this chairlift with only one ski." So he stopped chattering, thought for a moment, looked at me with these big blue eyes and said, "Gee, yeah, that's sure going to be a tough one" - at which point I came close to solving the problem by falling off the chair laughing.
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