move fast or slow down?

[felixdacat]

My DD just finished basic 4 and did not "pass". If I am agressive and do private lessons, I can probably get her in basic 5 for the next session mid Aug. The other option is to just have her repeat basic 4. I am probably going to the later; I dont think she cares either way, i.e. her ego is not hurt not moving up.

Just wondering what other opinions are. Since she loves to skate (but honestly is not a very athletic girl), I would assume that repeating stuff over and over again until she gets it, is better, even if its more boring, then moving up for new moves, working privately to get the old moves better.

She is 7 1/2 years old.

[dbny]

If she really does not care, then I see no harm in letting her repeat B4; but I'm wondering if there may be something specific holding her back. There are several factors that should be considered in addition to her level of natural ability (balance, muscle tone, level of fear, etc). Does she have her own skates and do they fit properly? She should be able to stand on top of her blades, not with ankles falling in all the time. This is something that can definitely hold a student back in B4. Also, are the skates laced properly, with enough room at the top to allow proper knee bend. How often does she get to skate? The more the better, but she should skate at least one other day a week in addition to the day of her lesson. Giving her a few private lessons might be a good idea in addition to continuing the groups, because that would give a coach a chance to look for particular problems like those I've mentioned. Choose an experienced coach, as the younger, teenaged ones often do not have the experience to look for these kinds of problems. You should let the coach know that is what you are interested in.

[Isk8NYC]

Basic 4 and 5 are usually the levels that students spend more time on; it's not unusual for kids to stay at the same level for more than one class session when they're working on B4 and B5. If the group lesson classes are less than 10 weeks, or if she missed a few classes, it's actually to be expected that a student stays at that level more than once.

One of my group lesson students registered for two group lessons each week. Same level, different day and instructor. She passed B4 in one 13-week session. (That added up to 13 hours of lessons and 13 hours of practice.) She kept telling me I taught things "differently" than her other teacher. She didn't mean it in a bad way, she just realized that instructors aren't robots, I guess. ;)

B4 introduces edges and turns, which take practice, practice, practice to master. It's important to build that foundation before she moves up to B5, because they don't use the B4 skills all that much in B5. For example, B4 teaches forward edges, yet B5 does the backward ones.

My rink will let me "move up" a student that has all but one or two elements in B4. They'll go into a group that's mixed: Basic 4/5.

My opinion is to let her take a few privates to master the elements in the level because these skills are so important. It would help if you knew which elements were holding her back and had her focus on practicing them.

Since it's the summer, maybe she could get some extra practice time as well?

[VegasGirl]

Since she doesn't care any way (but even if she did, concidering all things) I'd have her repeat Basic 4... no shame in it, quite the contrary it can only help her strengthen her skills!

[CanAmSk8ter]

Does the rink give her/you a "report card" that tells you what she's passed and what she needs work on? (I think most rinks that use the USFS program do this). I'd do two or three privates to work on that stuff (if the rink doesn't do report cards, the private coach should be able to run her through everything and pick out what her weakest elements are) but I'd also have her repeat Basic 4. It's better that she really have these elements down correctly, because while they're often not worked on in Basic 5-8 classes due to time constraints, they'll be important for her to have solidly in Freestyle 1.

[felixdacat]

I appreciate the input. I think for her its just an overall thing. But what I think is key here, is that basic 5 will not keep working on these skills but new ones. So I probably want to have her repeat it. She was going to get a private lesson yesterday, but her skates are too small right now and she refuses to wear them anymore; I have new ones on the way. I could have done rentals yesterday, but decided not to "push".