I am begining to look for a coach for dd10. She has just about finished group lessons. She is going to be a recreational skater, work towards the tests and do no more than 1 competition a year. I can afford to have her take one 1/2 private lesson on contracted ice, 1 practice session on contracted ice , and probably practice on 1 public skating session. Given this information, how would a coach use the teaching time? How much time would or might be given to preparing for a test vs learning new things vs learning choreography for a routine? I understand that all three wont be worked on at one 1/2 hr session.
How does this all work?

It depends on what the short term goal is...

I only have a 45 minute lesson once a week and when I am getting close to a test, we definitely focus on that. When we were choreographing my program, we were focusing on freestyle, etc. If I ever pass my intermediate moves, we will start the next set and if I pass my pre-juv freestyle, we will start working on landing my axel and my layback spin for my juv freestyle test.

But, some of it also depends on how hard the skater practices outside of the lesson on improving their skills. If lesson time needs to be spent on practicing elements, then it's not really a productive lesson.... Or, in my case if coach and I start gabbing

I have several students in the same situation as you describe for your daughter. I try to use half the lesson to teach towards the first real USFS moves test (Pre Priliminary), knowing that it will be a long time before these students are ready, but that the skills they are learning are essential for further progress. After that I let the students choose a skill, which is often a jump or spin, but sometimes lunges, three turns, etc. Then we go on with my agenda, which is tailored to the particular student and the current goals. When preparing for a competition I spend more and more of the lesson time on the program as the competition draws near. The amount of time needed to learn a program and fine tune it depends on the student and the time available to practice, which in this case is only during the lesson.

__________________

Your daughter is lucky she is getting 1/2 hour private lesson and three freeskate sessions a week!

I have skaters in her age group that receive one 15-minute lesson a week and skate just that one 50-minute session! Since the skater has graduated out of the LTS system, they should know how to do 3's, mohawks, crosscuts, basic spins and jumps -- if they remember.

What I tend to do is spend a few lessons 'reminding' them of the basic skills (but now at the real figure skater standard ) like edges on a line, crosscuts on the circle, spirals, drags, mohawks and one foot spins plus waltz jumps. Then I add a jump a lesson if they are capable or work on the jump progressions. After a few weeks, if they seem to be stroking well - or if the spins and jumps aren't progressing very well - I start working on the Dutch Waltz sequences of progressives and chasses, then have them do it to the music with me hand-in-hand.

Dances are much easier to test once the skater figures out the progressions of the steps and often working on dances will result in a skater being a much stronger freeskater. Plus - you can test a couple of times a year in front of judges and get that 'competitive' experience without the same cost. Freeskate tests take a long time to get ready because of the skill learning curve.

Maybe you can break the 1/2 hour lesson into two 15-minute lessons - one for freeskate and one for dance? That will give your dd two things to look forward to.....

when I had just one coach and a half hour lesson, the first 15mins would be spent on moves and the second on jumps and spins. It would work that one week would be jumps and the next week spins. The jump / spin part could easily be swapped with dance.
I like that as it gives a balanced lesson. I'd get bored of 30mins of moves and feel frustrated I wasn't doing other stuff, but equally i'd get frustrated if all i was doing was jumping or spinning as I'd never learn how to skate.