Welcome to 2021-22! Mac is open and the programs are filling up! Coming with this next Sunday is our first Little Macs ("LM") program of the season. LM serves our younger students, 3-5 years old, with the three-year-olds specifically being in the LM Parent/Tot program. When teaching them how to slide, we follow the same general progression that you are already familiar with, with some minor modifications.
The most important things to remember when it comes to Little Macs versus Mighty Macs are that these guys cannot move the same way as us, and they get tired very quickly. Only a very small percentage of the LM group will be riding the chair or the 250 during the first two weeks, so today we'll focus on level 1.
In general, young children learn most effectively in a fun, play-based environment. As you are teaching them skills, trying to integrate those skills into something fun and attention-grabbing; turn drills into games. We have toys and props available to you; a ring can be a steering wheel, a tu-tu, a flying saucer, a dinner plate, a camera, or literally anything. The possibilities are endless! Get to know your students and learn what their interests are. How can you turn those interests and activities into games that help their skiing and snowboarding skills?
At this age, spatial awareness and depth perception is particularly undeveloped. Keep this in mind when you give them instructions; stopping "right there" is not good enough, you need to point out a specific visual target, whether that is a frisbee on the snow, a carrot, or another person. Give them specific tracks to follow when turning, or objects to turn around.
As an instructor, you have to tailor your lesson to the age of the student. Remember, these kids are 4 and 5 years old. Let's look at this from their perspective for a moment: They are bundled up, wearing unfamiliar and uncomfortable footwear, in a cold strange place, around a bunch of strangers. Keep this in mind when you approach the cone to introduce yourself. Take a knee to get down to their level and take your goggles off for a minute. Be goofy. Be silly. If someone's particularly excited to be there, echo that, and encourage the whole group to be excited about the adventure you're all about to participate in.
More than every other age group, boot games are ESSENTIAL, especially with skiers. Get them comfortable with their boots, and used to rotating their feet stationary on the snow, so that they are as prepared as possible to make the same movement once they have skis on.
Once equipment is on, you will spend a little while getting them in the right standing position. Remember the athletic stance? Yeah, that doesn't really work with the munchkins. You want to get them standing tall and not leaning back. Most small children can't do much more than that, especially the skiers with their stiff plastic boots. Keep doing straight runs until they are standing correctly and are more comfortable with sliding.
For both disciplines, the next thing you're looking for some form of speed control. For skiers, that's the wedge; sliding their heels outward and pointing their toes toward each other. You'll get a lot of kids that can make this shape but have trouble holding it; you'll spend some time with them developing it. We don't need them to be able to come to an instant stop yet, just for them to be able to move and rotate the equipment on the snow. The goal is to slow down, and stop by turning if necessary. Nobody goes up the 170 until they can turn completely in at least one direction (easiest way to stop.)
Remember, kids move as one piece and lack the coordination that we have. Especially with skiers, they will ski in the direction they are looking. Walking down the hill in front of a skier and having them follow you is a really simple way to get them to make slight turns. Try to stay away from giving foot-specific movements, tell them to point their "feet" or "whole pizza" in a direction.
This whole process of learning the equipment and speed control takes a long time and often multiple weeks, so be patient, keep it fun and keep them moving!
On that note- little kids lose focus quickly and easily! Try to refrain from keeping them in one spot too long, rotate through the students quickly during all activities. During weekday LM, it is often helpful to combine classes that are at the same level in order to pool resources (that being instructors) and keep everyone moving and engaged. We try to have a few unassigned staff members out on the hill (called "floaters") to assist with this.
That about sums it up for now! There are many points that I did not touch on here, but Jill and I did on snow. I hope this was helpful. Any questions? Post a comment or ask any of the supervisors, any time. Now get out there and GO SKIIN'! See you on the hill!
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