Mixed Adult and Child Ski Lessons

I think you will poosible see Mrs Smartski left behind as kids pick up the ski skills very quickly, but skiing is not cheap, it costs to learn, my advice to you would be to spend the cash and invest in the future it is one of the best things in life to ski with the wife and kids :thumbup:

AllyG wrote:Smartski,
When we were in group lessons with ESF in La Rosiere they deliberately kept the family groups together, for those over 13 years old.
There were loads of people at our level, so the instructors decided to divide us into 2 groups, and it wasn't until afterwards we realized that they'd done it on the basis of parents and kids - because everyone in our group was either a parent or one of their kids :)

And it seemed to work out very well :)

The French seem to be very keen on families ski-ing together. But I suppose it might not work so well for younger children - I don't know.

Different take, thanks.

AllyG wrote:Are you going to try and get private lessons for your wife and 2 daughters?

Three mornings of private lessons, was the thought. Of course it is much cheaper having one instructor between three, than two between three.

Ian Wickham wrote:I think you will poosible see Mrs Smartski left behind as kids pick up the ski skills very quickly, but skiing is not cheap, it costs to learn, my advice to you would be to spend the cash and invest in the future it is one of the best things in life to ski with the wife and kids :thumbup:

We skied altogether as a family last year, no lessons. But this year they need to progress, so spending cash is a certain, just how much!

I guess the key question is: will "9 & 10 year olds" be taught a different technique to a "two-score & something year old"? If the answer is yes, then it'll have to be two instructors.

Smartski, I may well be wrong, as I'm not a qualified ski instructor, but I don't think the kids get taught different techniques.
However, I do reckon they get taught by different methods. The kids seem to just follow their instructors with very little verbal instruction and learn by copying and example, whereas most of the adults prefer to understand what's going on.
I mean - it's not much good telling a young kid to lean like they're on a motorbike, or to start talking about centrifugal force, or friction etc. etc.
But I'd have thought, myself, in a family situation the instructor could cope with that, and find some sort of middle position so that the kids don't get fed up with long boring instructions they don't understand. The kids I have seen generally just want to get up and go :)

And speaking as a parent, it is pretty sickening how fast the kids learn to ski :-) What I find particularly annoying is the way they seem to bounce when they fall over - they're down and up in the flash of an eye - whereas the middle aged parents (like me) tend to be stiff and unflexible and lie on the snow groaning and unable to get back up :lol:

Best of luck with the private lessons :)

AllyG wrote:Smartski,
However, I do reckon they get taught by different methods.

I know they got taught "pizza" and "chips" at the snow centre. They understood that alright.

smartski wrote:

AllyG wrote:Smartski,
When we were in group lessons with ESF in La Rosiere they deliberately kept the family groups together, for those over 13 years old.
There were loads of people at our level, so the instructors decided to divide us into 2 groups, and it wasn't until afterwards we realized that they'd done it on the basis of parents and kids - because everyone in our group was either a parent or one of their kids :)

And it seemed to work out very well :)

The French seem to be very keen on families ski-ing together. But I suppose it might not work so well for younger children - I don't know.

Different take, thanks.

AllyG wrote:Are you going to try and get private lessons for your wife and 2 daughters?

Three mornings of private lessons, was the thought. Of course it is much cheaper having one instructor between three, than two between three.

Ian Wickham wrote:I think you will poosible see Mrs Smartski left behind as kids pick up the ski skills very quickly, but skiing is not cheap, it costs to learn, my advice to you would be to spend the cash and invest in the future it is one of the best things in life to ski with the wife and kids :thumbup:

We skied altogether as a family last year, no lessons. But this year they need to progress, so spending cash is a certain, just how much!

I guess the key question is: will "9 & 10 year olds" be taught a different technique to a "two-score & something year old"? If the answer is yes, then it'll have to be two instructors.

Kids at an early age ski as they stand you will possibly see them around the slopes sitting back on the tails of their skis as they get older approx 7/8 years of age they start to learn as would adults getting more forward in the ski, only you can make the call it all depends if the Mrs can keep up with the kids amd not hold them back. Bon ski

With proper instruction children typically learn quicker and progress much faster. Your wife will be holding their progress back and struggle herself to keep up. There is also a possibility that she will hold herself back by worrying about them instead of focusing on her own skiing. I think children learn better together with other children so they can go to a ski school and your wife will benefit from private lessons. Parents taking lessons together with children sounds very sweet, but I doubt it's very practical. Private lessons are not cheap, so they need to bring best possible results.

Thanks all. Good to hear the points of view.

I'm sure I'll be letting you know what we did and how it worked.

smartski wrote:Thanks all. Good to hear the points of view.

I'm sure I'll be letting you know what we did and how it worked.

What have you decided ??