At permanent courses, parents and group leaders can accompany children until they are competent to go alone or in pairs. They can also choose the standard of the courses to follow to provide a sensible progression of experience.
At competitive events, course standards usually encompass all abilities. There are often 'string' courses for very young children who simply follow the string and punch their cards at each control with no map reading involved. There are even courses for the 75+ age group.
Individuals can choose their own start time, length of course and degree of difficulty. This means one parent can compete while the other looks after children. They can then swap roles. Everyone can thus take part at their own standard without supervision problems.
