Our coaches technically have a 24-hour cancellation policy. I say "technically" because they don't always enforce it with skaters they know well. They wouldn't enforce it if you woke up with a streaming cold, or whatever, but would if you just kept forgetting your lessons or otherwise messing them about. They might give you the benefit of the doubt the first time, but not much longer.

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Mrs Redboots
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Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

That's exactly the way I am. For those who don't cancel often, I've been very lenient. But with this particular student, I'm fed up and it's going to be enforced with her from here on out.

You've addressed the cancellation problem.....what are you going to do about the behavior problem?

Well, we actually made a little progress the other lesson. For starters, they showed up (ha!) and then I took the advice that some of you posted and stopped asking her to do things. Now it's 'go do your your crossovers' or 'You have to get you leg up on your spirals...' As usual, she did give me a bit of an attitude, but I think she was kind of surprised that I was actually putting my foot down with her. I flat out told her at the beginning of her lesson that I wasn't putting up with her whining and bickering today, which she tried keeping to a minimum, but I still get that annoyed look when I tell her to do something she doesn't want to do. I mean, the kid will just look at me like she's hoping that I change my mind or forget what I asked her to do. So, a little progress, but I'm still working on it...

Most coaches I know charge customers for late cancellation. You are a running a business.

>There is not one post here suggesting she yell at
>the student.

I give up . My example was over the top.

It's good she is responding well to what you are doing now. If you succeed, everyone there will give you kudos for dealing well with a student with issues, and you will have done her quite a favor too.

I wish you well on the harder people management issue - the parents.

How can anyone skate without a warm up, or remember lessons without practicing afterwards? Maybe it would help to tell the parents she will get early arthritus if she doesn't skate 0.5-1 hours before and after the lesson, using standard warm-up/cool-down protocal. Dull edges are sort of a safety issue too.

If the parents don't have enough time to ferry their kids to extra practice, maybe they can car pool with other parents - oops that cancellation thing would kill that.

Good for you!! And if she keeps rolling her eyes, you can ask her to give you a written plan of what she would like to practice this season and what goals she would like to achieve instead of doing what you're giving her to work on. If she doesn't have anything else she'd rather be working on, she needs to do what you tell her. And if the answer is "nothing" then that's even better; you can take her lesson fee and sit in the coffee shot while she goofs off either on or off the ice for your entire lesson time. Just make sure you let her parents know if that's what she decides.

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics