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Loveland's Family Private Age Requirement

coskigirl

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A dear friend of mine is looking to get her husband and 3 boys skiing finally. She skis some (and her technique is actually decent given how little she has skied as an adult) so she'd like to have them do the Family Private Lesson at Loveland. The boys are almost 9, almost 7 (will be 7 in time for the lesson), and 4. I wish I'd gotten a picture of the 4 year old yesterday when I pulled up to their house on my bike. He was riding his around in a ski helmet and my old goggles that I gifted to mom a couple years ago for the few times she's been skiing. Apparently all 3 boys wear them on a regular basis while riding their bikes. :roflmao:

The issue is that Loveland states that the kids must be 7+ for this program. Oddly, she and I both think that if any of the kids would have a melt down in the situation it's the 7 year old. The 4 year old bombs anything on a bike with seemingly no fear. Anything to follow his older brothers. He has managed to scare the crap out of me a time or two while watching him.

For the life of me I can't figure out why, if the child is emotionally and physically ready, they won't allow younger kids to participate. Any ideas? It's too early in the season for us to call the office so I thought I'd throw it out here for pondering. Anyone connected enough with LL's ski school to know if they ever make exceptions?
 

T-Square

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Most ski schools do have a lower age limit on programs. It’s to keep kids grouped together that are on similar developmental levels. It helps the kids when they are with their peers.

A friend of mine once had a kid in a group moping during lunch time. He was in a lesson group of 5 and 6 year olds. (The lower cut off for group lessons was 5.) So he talked to the kid.
"Johnny, what’s the matter?"
"It’s HARD to be five."​

Seems the kid was actually four and his parents were trying to get him to the group lessons. It was hard on the kid to be in the group with kids a year or two older.

Now, putting a four year old in with seven year olds, the age split is way too much. What works with siblings won’t necessarily work with others. The older kids won’t want to be with a "baby" and the four year old could be easily intimidated by the seven year olds.

I realize that every kid is different. However, these rules are used to cover the majority of situations. They can’t make exceptions or everyone will want to be an exception.

I’d recommend getting the four year old into an appropriate young group or with a private kid’s instructor.
 

Nancy Hummel

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I do not have any insight into Loveland’s program but have taught many family privates.
The age split is difficult. In general, the 3-4 year olds do not have the physical ability or attention spans to do a whole day.

Where people are willing to split up the day, it can work. Perhaps LL is trying to manage the expectations of participants.
 

pchewn

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This is going to be at Loveland Valley, not Loveland Basin, right? And if the kid needs a break, one of the family members is going to give him a rest while the others continue the lesson. If the rental shop has equipment for a 4yr old, then I see no problem. You should call Loveland and find out.

The group dynamics are completely different for a group family lesson than for a group of random people.....
 
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coskigirl

coskigirl

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Just to clarify, Loveland’s Family Private Lessons are 3 hours. It would be dad and 3 siblings together. No other kids. I would completely understand if we were talking about kids in a group lesson with other kids they don’t know why they wouldn’t want an age spread so that’s not in question here. I’ve coached situations with a 7 year old in a group with 5&6 year olds due to skills and it was very difficult. But the way it’s worded they wouldn’t even consider a family private of a parent and kids aged 4, 5, and 6 or even 5-7 so age spread doesn’t seem to be the issue. Since they do other lessons at 4 that include rental equipment it isn’t that.

That being said, your insights are helpful. We’ll give them a call once the school opens up.

https://skiloveland.com/rentals-lessons/family-private/
 

Slim

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yeah, it could be just more of a “suggestion’, that they are willing to deviate from, than an unbreakable rule.

Or it could be protecting themselves from this scenario:
Parent says(like your friend): “well my 4 year old does great, is mature and strong, can easily do it. Let’s have a lesson with my 8 year old and myself”
then posts a review online: “We only skied the bunny hill, my 8 year old was super bored! Can’t believe I spent all that money on a private lesson!
 

T-Square

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Had a family lesson like that once. Two families of kids, I think there were 6 kids with ages from 12 down to 4. Some could ski a bit and some were just starting. Two instructors and we had a blast teaching on the carpet and beginners J bar for about 2 to 2 1/2 hours. We got all the kids up the J bar even the 4 year old. So this sort of lesson can work well with the right group and right instructors.
 

Tori

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Yes, family privates can be done. But the reality is that it's often much less of a bonding experience than everyone thinks it will be going in. (I should know, I used to teach TONS of them). The reality is that an adult learns differently than a 7 or 9 year old, and they in turn learn differently than a 4 year old. In my experience it's way more constructive and fun for all involved to just sign up for group lessons or privates, depending on your budget. That way the instructor can really focus on achieving understanding the way it's best received based on development level. And you don't have to watch the instructor pretend to be a penguin for 98% of the time so your 4 yo has something to do.

On that note, not sure if you want to go the private route because of cost, but younger kids (5ish and under, obviously dependent upon the kid) actually tend to do best in a one-on-one environment, since they're often used to more of this kind of relationship with their caregiver and aren't often at a level of development where they play with and learn from other kids effectively. And if the ski school doesn't accept kids that young, they're almost always willing to make a compromise if you agree to a private lesson.
 

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