8 y/o Prince shows you the skills required to pass Basic 1 in the học to skate Trượt băng basic skills development program called Aussie Skate. Hopefully it'll solve a few mysteries for newbie skaters and parents who are wondering what on earth swizzles and rocking horses are. Basic 1 is the starting point for beginner skaters aged 7 and up. Basic 2 is the next level in the Aussie Skate program.
Children under 7 do Tiny Tots 1, 2, and 3 instead of Basic 1. That's to ensure they don't have to wait too long before they experience success in passing levels, getting badges, and moving up. But the skills are the same, then they move up to Basic 2 regardless of their age.
I've never seen any stats published on average times taken to pass this level (or any other). But I've been hanging around the rink for 3 years now so my observations are probably as good a guesstimate as you'll get. I'd say the majority of children pass at the end of their first term, with around 10-15% passing faster than that. The fastest I can recall is passing 2 levels per term (so passing in around 3-4 weeks) like the Prince did. [NB: He's not the only child I've seen pass at that rate!!]. Generally grown ups tend to be among the ones that take a second term or more to pass. Younger children mostly seem to take a good year to get through the Tiny Tots levels, with older ones mostly progressing faster than younger ones. I'm actually tempted to think there's not much advantage for most children in starting skating before age 6 or 7 - given that older starters almost always seem to catch up.
Click here for the other videos in this series:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKyUcNgr2R7PpQz4xNO8FD8Lmy6UquP74&feature=edit_ok
7th October, 2013