Teach Your Child How to Ski

The crackle and squeak of the bottom of a smooth ski sliding through the crisp cool mountain snow is more exhilarating than any other winter sport, although you personally might enjoy other winter sports just as well. But there is a certain feeling of freedom when you are flying down mountain peak, a feeling of complete serenity and joy.

Giving your child the gift of learning how to ski will last them a lifetime. As with anything you teach them now in their youth they will thank you for the lessons learned, more latter than sooner though.

Preschool
Teaching your child to ski early on will make the rest of the lessons much easier in their latter years. The first step to teaching your child how to ski is to get them familiar with and comfortable with their ski boots, as these will be on of the hardest tasks to learn. In fact, many adults who don’t ski are turned off because they cannot maneuver their boots.

Have your children ski around the grass in the yard or sand on the beach or a flat snow-filled yard, with you close by and assisting your child. Show them how to move their legs and arms to help them maneuver themselves down hill. Make skiing lessons fun, instead of a lesson they HAVE to learn.

Main points to address:

• Allow your child to walk around the house in the ski boots.
• Put the skies on the boots and allow them to ski around their backyard.

Grades K-3rd
Once your children have learned how to walk in boots and ski’s you can begin to find a hill that is small enough that will not hurt them, yet tall enough to give him or her a real skiing experience.

Before they head down that small hill go down first showing your child how to maneuver their feet and hands properly for a successful ski run. It’s important for your child to do this on their own, don’t sky with your child in front of you or between your legs. This will only teach them how to allow others to do the work for them. Let them know that it’s okay to fall down and eat the snow. Everyone does when they begin anything, practice makes perfect.

Main points to address:

• Take your child down a small hill to get the hang of skiing.
• Show them how to maneuver their feet properly.

Grades 4th-6th
When your children get a little older and it’s time to take that long dash down a real mountain, try using a harness for you and your child. Take a step further with your child with mountains that challenge them a little more each time. Don’t go from a small hill to a large mountain, as this should be done gradually.

If your child is still having problems getting down a hill, experts say you can buy a sky harness for you and your child to help them feel safer and more comfortable going down the hill. They say that fear is the biggest reason why children have a problem going down any mountain.

Main points to address:

• Go down larger mountains.
• Purchase a ski harness for you and your child.

Resources
Resources that can help you in your venture include:

• Rocky Mountains News – http://www.rockymountainnews.com
• About Skiing – http://skiing.about.com
• Skiing – http://www.skiing.com/
• Ski Central – http://www.skicentral.com

Posted in Leisure.

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