His board is a 123 CWB I picked up for about $100. And the binding are LF Micro's. Honestly, the board didn't seem to be as big a deal (so long as it was small
) as good bindings. Both boys are really picky about how the bindings feel on their feet and will play with them a couple of minutes to make certain they feel right. I got the bindings fairly inexpensively off eBay (the prev year's model) because at the time our shop didn't carry the smaller ones in stock.
As for starting out kids, here's a couple of thoughts (I hope I'm not imposing here).
I am in the water with the child (with my son for his first couple of rides this year also), it makes them feel safer. They leave me, but it's OK.
Most kids (and adults I have taught for that matter) can only get up directly behind the boat (ideal) or on one side (if the current it pushing the boat around sometimes it's hard to keep them perfectly behind the boat), depending on which foot they ride. For instance, the boy above is goofy footed so he couldn't get up on the right side of the boat (looking off the swim platform), so you can try a different side if it doesn't happen right away.
We only use about 12 - 15' of rope from the swim platform to the child (25 - 30' total on my boat) so that they feel they are near the boat, plus it lifts them out of the water so much easier. It's OK to use a barefoot boom to start out too, that's what my son started on at 4. I don't think it helped much, my husband thought it worked wonders.
My hubby drives pretty slow, they are so light that they don't need the boat going very fast (12 - 14 mph). Once they are used to it, you can sort of "read their face" to see the right speed, I think my son could go as slow as 10 mph - he's only 40 lbs.
Make sure they don't stand up too fast or they will eat it. That's part of the reason I stay in the water, to remind them to take their time and relax. I usually have them put their head back, take a few relaxing breaths before giving the thumbs up to go.
Be prepared to help them flip the board if it gets turned over and tell them not to panick if it happens. If they know it might happen in advance, they are a lot less stressed when it really does happen.
For your piece of mind, you might want to remind them to use thumbs up and thumbs down right away. I feel much better when my little guy goes down and that thumb comes up if I ask if he is OK.
I hope that's not too much information and I hope something here helps!
The main thing to remember is they will go when they are ready. It really helps to have someone their age to go with. They get so much more excited!!
So if anyone comes to Florida for a visit (or lives her), we are available every weekend (and some week days if we have a little advance notice) to go out.
Lisa