Posted on by Sarah Suemnig

Kiddo wants to learn to skate: After the Winter Olympics

So…

Your kiddo watched the winter Olympics with great interest, and is now inspired to become a world-class ice skater. Welcome to the club!

But…

You, yourself, are not a one-time Olympic skater, nor has your child ever had skates on their feet. You don’t quite know where to start.

Group Lessons!

I’ve heard coaches say that kids really won’t get any further in the very beginning stages of learning to skate with private lessons than they will in a group lesson. And in fact, they often do better seeing that other kids are having the same challenges as they are. So go with the group option – it may be your last inexpensive choice! *kidding, not kidding*

My SkaterGirl watched the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics carefully, spinning and jumping in the living room as the Senior Ladies spun and jumped on TV. I believe it was during Gracie Gold’s “Sleeping Beauty” program that my 3 year-old SkaterGirl turned to me with stars in her eyes saying, “Mommy, it’s my dweam to be an ice skatewr!” (she didn’t get her “r”s quite right for another several months)

I remembered seeing the words “Skate School” in the local Parks & Rec winter/spring catalog. As soon as she was old enough (age 4 in this case), I tried to sign her up. The morning that parks & rec Fall registration opened, I made coffee and went online to sign my daughter up for her dream… Oops! The classes were already full. Registration had opened at midnight. Dweam deferred. For the following session registration, I was at my computer at 11:55pm, ready to go for my successful midnight registration. Step 1 (of 1,000,000,000) done! Dweam on!

Lessons learned:

  1. Similar to swimming lessons in the summer, beginning levels of skate classes tend to fill up quickly. Particularly the most desirable dates/times in the colder month sessions, and probably especially following the winter Olympics.
  2. Find out in advance what you will need to register for classes. You may be required to sign-up with the skate school before you’re allowed to register for classes.
  3. Be sure you know what time the online registration will “go live”, and then get there several minutes early.

I’d love to hear your first-time registration stories. Thanks for sharing them in the comments!

Next time: What to wear to that first lesson