by Nelson Wingard
Children have the same basic needs as adults. However, kid’s emotions more quickly overwhelm their cognitive abilities, resulting in one of thousands of forms of crying. Spend some time with all the levels of Maslow’s mountain to discover the many reasons kids cry. It is crucial to your success as an instructor not to become frustrated, but instead react with compassion and care. That student is crying for a reason and it has nothing to do with making your life more difficult. They have a need that must be met in order for them to have a fun, safe and education mountain experience. Guess what? All of this applies to older students and even significant others as well.
In case you missed this whole article, it was printed in the Summer 2004 Issue. Hey! Guess what? You can read past and present issues of the NW Snowsports Instructor on-line at www.psia-nw.org. There are a ton of great articles for getting ideas about teaching kids and more!
Nelson Wingard is the Steamboat Ski & Snowboard School Director, former PSIA National Team member, former PSIA-NW Technical Team Member, and recent proud father of Lily in winter 2009.