How do you teach little kids how to ski who have never skied before? HELP?
Question:I work at a local ski area, and I've worked in the same place for two years this will be my third year. The people don't think i'm very good at teaching and they are correct i'm not the best instructor, but i'd like to be able to have a lesson plan that will make the kids (ages 3-6) capable of duck walking and making some turns and stopping. The problem is i'm a good racer i just am awful at teaching so i desperately need some pointers. the only thing i feel i'm good at is always smiling and picking kids up=( HELP please i want to make my ski season enjoyable and have my boss respect me!
anything is appreciated
Answers:
1) No poles...somebody mentioned that, absolutely, I agree.
2) Kids love games. Make a game out of everything. Example:
All right: who can get around that sign over there and back first, with one ski only? Make sure to give EVERY kid congrats, especially the last one - high five's all around.
3) If your ski area doesn't have a little kid-land set up, invent one with some spare bamboo, hula hoops, whatever. Duck under, hop over, dive through. Kids 3/4 don't have to be on skis to have fun, and that's what it's about. Boot skiing, snow angels, tug-of-war, etc.
4) Once you are on the chair though, it's a little different. You can't lose any of them, and you don't want them all over the place. I'm sure you have learned lots of little things in your clinics, such as airplane turns, and the like, use those things. Ask veterans for other ideas that they use.
5) Don't think of it as a "lesson plan", even though it is. Have a general idea of some games in your head, and do those that feel right. Young kids don't need to follow a rigid progression anyways.
6) You had some specifics, such as duck walking. Well, a game. Have them pair up, play follow the leader, one behind the other. I use that drill when coaching varsity soccer, the kids love it. I call it truck and trailer. Make sure they quack, then switch leader to follower after 30 seconds. That forces them to work on direction changes, and is much more fun than marching up a slope all in a line! You could also play duck duck goose. Not sitting though. Then after a few rounds, take the skis off and play "real" duck duck goose.
I used to use red light, green light for stopping. Have them line up at the top of a gentle slope, turn around, call green light. Then RED LIGHT, make sure not to turn around to quickly, cause most of them will take a little bit to stop!
For turns, just set up a little cone course. Kids love "racing" around cones, makes them feel like pros.
One important tip, perhaps you know this already. The attention span of that age group lasts about 3 minutes or so. Don't do any one activity for too long. That will take the fun out of it. Once you have a decent set of games put together, you can easily fill an hour or more, and those kids should be turning and stopping in a wedge in no time.
Hope those ideas helped. Just use your imagination. Remember when you were a kid, you wanted to play, and have fun. Well, it's the same with your "students".
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when i was learning how to ski, my dad taught me to make a pizza \/ when snow plowing down and that helped me go (slowly) down the hill w/o fallin! hope that that helps!Michigian high school wrestling champions 1985-1995?
all you do is teach them the tree or the pie thing to make them stop when-ever, then teach them the leg movements so they know how to stay up, that is all i know srry !What happened to Peekabo Street? Where is she now?
1st you have you get them comfortable on the skis. a lot of people think that means having them walk around and try to get places on their own, Wrong. Take them over to the rope tows and let them go up to the top, making them walk around on flat ground will make them frustrated before they even start. once you got them up the hill show them the basic snow plow, and let them go. Kids are pretty resilient and if you stay out of their way most of them will pick it up pretty quickly. For the ones who don't you may have to ski behind them straddling their legs for a few runs. Also remember no poles! they just get in the way and really aren't needed at this level. Make sure you're around to help them get up when they fall or if they need a little help getting back to the tow ropes, but for the most part let them go on their own. The only way to learn how to ski is to actually do it, so give them the basics and let them have FUN!What music did Federica Faiella & Massimo Scali dance/skate to at Skate Canada HomeSense 2006?
try holding onto them from behind (their waist) and guiding them down the bunny slope a couple of times. then move to holding their hands, and you go down backwards. eventually, try having them go down by themselves, starting at the middle of the bunny hill. im sure youll figure out somethiing.Do you like this skating music? Is it good?
Turning: Tell them to always face downhill, even when turning. They usually try to lead with their body when turning.More Questions & Answers...