Posting my post here for ease in case anyone else is also looking.
Hello!!
We went for the first time this year. We went to Rauris in Austria as it was recommended to us as somewhere that was perfect for families and beginners, which we were. And it was!
My children were 8 and 6 when we went. We opted to put them in all day ski school (930-12, meet for lunch wherever the instructor told us to at 12, lunch 12-1, then lesson 1-3). They loved it and only once did my 6 year old ask for the morning off as he was worn out - on the Thursday. On that day I left him in the apartment with DH, dropped DS1 at ski school, skiied alone for the morning, and then we all met for lunch and DS2 joined back in with the group for the afternoon.
My children have never wanted to go to kiss clubs or be away from us on holiday either, but skiing was do different. They were heading off up the ramp to the meeting point every morning miles ahead of me.
The group all started as beginners on the Sunday, and on the Friday, they went down two short red runs, thus surpassing DH and I who firmly stuck to blues!
DH and I opted for a private instructor rather than a group lesson. We paid for three mornings (2 hours each time) and it cost the same as a full weeks group lesson, but we had the focused attention of the instructor so we were able to progress faster. We would have a lesson with him 10-12, and once the DC went back to ski school we were able to practice what we'd learnt (and spend some time frequenting the bars on the slopes).
You can get family lessons, but I was advised on here, and subsequently found that the children thrived amongst their peers as they do make the kids lesson so much fun. Our private ones were more focused on learning as it was age appropriate.
If you haven't decided on a resort yet, then I can wholeheartedly recommend Rauris. We skiied with Adventure Rauris ski school and got our equipment from them too. Everyone spoke perfect English. My two were the only English speakers in their group so their instructor would give the instructions in German, and then repeat them in English. Their battle cry before setting off was in German, any by the end of the week, they had picked up a bit of German. The ski school and the resort itself was so friendly. As pathetic as it is, I cried when our taxi drove us away. I have never, ever cried leaving a holiday before. There's not much else there except the pool where we stayed, but we didn't need anything else, we were either on the mountain, in the apartment, or at the pool.
For the DC we paid for the lesson/equipment package. For DH and I we paid for 6 hours of private tuition and the equipment separately. We hired boots and skis each, plus DH and I had poles (children don't use poles as beginners). We bought our helmets and goggles before going out there, and got them from Decathlon in the sale so they were fairly inexpensive (about £15 per helmet for the DC and I and £20 for DH).
Gloves are a must and try to get some with wrist straps just for ease as they're on and off all the time and it saves worrying where they are. That said, only mine have wrist straps, no-one else seemed to care.
You will need lift passes, and these can be one of the most expensive things you buy. I think we paid about £600 for the week for the 4 of us. We definitely had the value of them though. We found a great discount website to buy them through before we went (saved us about £100).
If you can get to a snowdome beforehand and get a block of lessons, you'll be at an advantage when you go. However, if you can't, you do pick it up pretty swiftly once you're out there so don't worry too much. You will need more than one lesson before you go to get proficient. We had one on a dry slope which was useful so that we knew how to click in and out of the skis, but we still had to start at the basics once we got there.
You won't regret it, it's the best holiday ever.