Has your child learned to swim without lessons?

[Quiver0f10]

A few of my younger children can't swim yet. I was thinking of visiting the pool once or twice a week over summer and trying to teach them myself. Do you think this would work or do they need formal lessons? There are a few places here offering lessons but it's pricey with multiple kids needing lessons.

[Anita in NC]

I taught all three of my boys to swim myself.

 

My eldest son did take one group lesson at the YMCA but did not learn to swim. With only 1 teacher for every 6 students the kids were getting less than 10 minutes of one-on-one time per class. They spent most of the time sitting on the edge watching the other kids.

 

I found it much better to teach them myself.

[Parrothead]

I taught dd how to swim when she was 2.5. My mom taught my brother to swim when he was about 8. It can be done. It helps if the child has little fear of the water and a great trust in you.

[TxMama]

All four of my kids learned to swim without formal lessons.

 

We visit a pool several times a week each summer and when they were ready they start swimming.

[LidiyaDawn]

I doubt there's anything that a 15 year old summer swim instructor can teach them that you can't, assuming that you have basic swimming skills yourself. :)

[SailorMom]

We taught our two boys ourselves.

However, when they got older, and we wanted them to learn proper form for things like the breast stroke or the butterfly, we did enroll them in lessons.

[gingersmom]

I would sign them up for lessons.

 

The lifeguards at my town pool give lessons for $10/lesson.

 

If you know how to swim really really well I could see teaching your kids. The parents I always see trying to teach their kids are the ones who need lessons themselves.

[ktgrok]

Yup. I tried to teach my son but he wouldn't listen to me, he kept going underwater so he couldn't hear me. I was mad until i realized he had taught himself to swim. He did it all on his own, practicing in the bathtub at first, then figuring it out himself. Now, at 11, he will listen when i give him advice about side breathing, but the rest he learned on his own.

[petepie2]

I would at least try to do it yourself and see what happens.....if you can just get them comfortable in the water, you've won half the battle.....if you want them to develop proper stroke technique later, you can sign them up for lessons (assuming you can't teach them that)......

[NanceXToo]

Well, *I* never had lessons. I can move around in the water but never did learn how to really swim well. I can doggie paddle and I can swim underwater pretty well but to do an actual proper stroke about the water? Never did learn that all that well.

 

So my kids all take swimming lessons each summer.

[In The Great White North]

I doubt there's anything that a 15 year old summer swim instructor can teach them that you can't, assuming that you have basic swimming skills yourself. :)

 

Hopefully, they are 16 and have had WSI, but in general, :iagree:.

 

I had friends (20 odd years ago) whose two year olds learned to swim by hanging out all day in the apartment complex (kidney shaped) pool. There was nothing normal about their strokes, but they weren't drowning.

 

Mine OTOH, hung on the wall for swim lessons while all the other kids learned to swim. :confused:

 

How old are they?

 

I would get a season pass and go every day (cool everyone off right before bed) and let them get lots of practice. Buy them goggles, throw coins on the bottom, do somersaults in the water, etc.

[chiguirre]

My oldest taught himself to swim.

 

We found this out as a total surprise. He kept sneaking away from the shallow end to the deep end. Since you can't really explain the danger of drowning to him verbally, we decided to let him jump in when I was already in to help him get to the side. We thought that would scare him into obeying. We were completely shocked when he jumped in and swam the length of the pool next to the wall but without touching. We learned that ds1 is a] a whole lot more athletic than we'd thought and b] much more cautious and sensible than we thought.

 

Ds2 and dd both took lessons, a couple of beginning classes and now private lessons to learn the correct strokes. I do think you can teach your own children the basics if you know the way to teach. If you've already watched plenty of swimming classes you're probably good to go. If you don't remember what they do, I'd enroll one kid and watch closely to see the sequence of exercises and then have mom class with the crew. It would be a lot harder to teach proper strokes, but you can get your kids swimming the length of the pool using doggy paddle on your own. And you never know, one of them might surprise you and swim on their own.

[blessedwith7]

One year we decided to use the money that we would have had to spend on lessons to buy one of those pop top pools - they all taught themselves to swim that summer in that little pool - just our experience, but worth a thought.

[Pretty in Pink]

My husband taught our three oldest how not to drown, but they have all perfected their techniques and strengthened their skills through professional lessons.

[lllll]

...

[Julie Smith]

Mine figured how to swim without lessons. Well my youngest still appears as if he is drowning but can do a length of the pool.

 

When they were younger we went swimming once to twice a week from the ages of about 2 months to 3 years old. We have only gone about every other week in the past year since the swimming near our new house is much more expensive.

[Plagefille]

yes mine learned how to swim without lessons from me or anyone else. We just play at the pool all summer and they figure it out. I even can get free swim lessons if I want b/c my husband works at a pool. Swim lessons are just not needed unless you want to learn proper stroke technique.

[In The Great White North]

Swim lessons are just not needed unless you want to learn proper stroke technique.

 

You can (and should) teach them proper stroke technique (free and breast). It really improves endurance, their ability to save themselves in an emergency and their ability to save their future children.

[jenL]

We had my son in lessons at 4, and he HATED them. They ended up making him fearful of the water. Last summer, with lots of encouragement, he finally learned how to swim; dh & I taught him. We're going to allow our 2nd son to learn at his own pace as well. We have discussed formal lessons at this point to make sure they get the strokes correct. Our neighborhood also has a swim team where they can learn the proper strokes, so that is another option on the table.

[Hedgehog]

I took swimming lessons myself, and did quite well at it. I put my two oldest into swimming lessons when they were young, but the teachers were useless (think unobservant and uncommitted) and they got totally switched off, so I pulled them from the programs and taught them myself. Nowadays, Hoglet 1 is very water-confident and has a good breast-stroke and back-stroke but has no interest in actual lessons; Hoglet 2 is in Club lessons and progressing well; Hoglet 3 has just started Beginner lessons - he can already swim half a width, but his technique wants work; and I'm teaching Hoglet 4.. she's young yet. ;)

[Hedgehog]

Just another thought.. unlike ballet, it's not critical, IMO, that kids learn to swim young. My dad started swimming lessons at 11yo, and within 7yrs he was a qualified teacher and lifeguard.

[gingersmom]

You can (and should) teach them proper stroke technique (free and breast). It really improves endurance, their ability to save themselves in an emergency and their ability to save their future children.

 

 

:iagree:

[mytwomonkeys]

both of my children learned to swim in a pool without lessons. honestly, they didn't even learn from me (or my husband). they both taught themselves through a lot of practice and just learning to push through their own insecurities and fears. i always sat very close by though and would cheer them along, and they knew i'd jump in quickly had they needed me. they swim great now.

[Mejane]

My daughter who had lessons is a much, much stronger swimmer than my son who was taught by us. Ymmv.

[MamaT]

All 6 of mine learned very early with our "help." I have to say, we did live in Florida, have a pool at home, and swam every day. I can see how having limited access to a pool to practice in would make it harder to learn without lessons.

[JennyD]

I used to teach swimming and actually think that at the outset -- i.e., getting a kid paddling around and going under water -- you're often better off concentrating money and time on just going to the pool and playing as much as possible rather than doing formal lessons once a week for 9 weeks or whatever. The big caveat here being that if you yourself are afraid of the water, then just go straight to lessons.

 

Once the kid is comfortable in the water and going under, etc, I think lessons can be very helpful for teaching strokes.

[My3Monkeys]

If your kids are similar in current skill levels, maybe you could see about arranging a semi-private lesson for them together. It might work out to be cheaper than group classes and they'd get more one on one attention and learn faster.

[RanchGirl]

Swim lessons are just not needed unless you want to learn proper stroke technique.

 

this is my opinion as well. We tried lessons and they hurt more than they helped. Just spending time with the kids in water was much more useful, and more fun.

[yellowperch]

I taught swimming for years, but I have my children enrolled in lessons, practice swim team, etc. year round.

 

My children could swim before they were old enough to enroll in lessons, but they went through/go through all the Red Cross levels. There's a lot to learn, and a science to it.

 

Chosing a good program with great instructors is key. We've ended up with a few spacey college kids over the years, but I usually finagle things to get my children in lessons with the three adult teachers at our university pool. It's worth the scheduling hassles.

 

We live near the water and swimming is one of the sports I love. It is also a great skill to have when lookig for summer jobs--I think my kids would be so much happier life-guarding for the summer than bagging groceries. So far my oldest three have not opted to join swim team (a huge time commitment) but they will be able to slot in when/if they are.

 

If you are simply looking for them to be happy in the water then I'd say you could teach them, but if you want them to have real skills I'd go for the lessons.

[Donna]

My kids all learned to swim very young with help from my husband and I and their grandparents. I swam on a summer swim team when I was a kid and taught young kids how to swim as a teen so I knew how to do it.

[Elizabeth in WA]

In hindsight, swim team is the best bargain once you've taught them how to float and how to freestyle across the length of the pool.

 

This is true. Sadly none of my kids have the slightest interest in swimming laps even though I was on swim teams from around age 7 to 16. Breaks my heart, sniff. But the older ones are at least willing to learn proper stroke technique finally the odd times we get to the pool. There is an indoor one in our apartment complex, but what with ds13's gymnastics schedule ruling our lives we hardly ever get there. :glare:

 

Back to the topic at hand; I taught my kids to swim to the extent they can, but I did teach swimming lessons to other people's kids once upon a time and never could really interest mine in much more than enough skill to play in water without drowning. They just don't love it the way I did, sigh. Insisting they learn proper stroke technique just isn't something I'm willing to fight over. I save those arguments for academics and not-acting-like-were-raised-in-a-barn. :p

[JustGin]

A few of my younger children can't swim yet. I was thinking of visiting the pool once or twice a week over summer and trying to teach them myself. Do you think this would work or do they need formal lessons? There are a few places here offering lessons but it's pricey with multiple kids needing lessons.

 

I have three kids and they all learned how to swim without lessons, for the most part. Oldest dd did take two weeks of lessons at age 3. The biggest help to us was living in an apartment with a nice pool for 3 years. Each of those summers from Memorial Day to Labor day we were in the pool at least once and more often twice a day. Exposure to the water on a regular basis is really important. After we moved we continued going to the local pool as often as possible, including participating in homeschool swim time.

 

Something I did that may or may not work for you in terms of comfort level, is: I never used life vests or any flotation aids bigger then the little blow up arm things and with ds (my youngest, so at the beginning of this time, age 2) we had a little tube that was big enough to go over his head and around his waist, but very hard for him to slip out of unless he put his arms straight up and wiggled hard. When he was in this he was kept within arms reach of me. This allowed me to work with my two girls while he kicked around. The reason I didn't over-use the flotation stuff is because I wanted them to learn to swim, not to depend on something holding them up. My kids had to wear the arm floaties only until they were able to swim about 10-12 ft to me and then swim back to the steps or wall comfortably.

 

I didn't teach them the crawl stroke until they were able to front glide and kick under the water and above. After that the crawl stroke came very naturally.

 

HTH's and is an encouragement :)

 

ETA: Oldest dd, age 15, was able to pass lifeguard training with flying colors and was just hired to work at our local pool this summer and fwiw - I am an adequate swimmer but certainly not great, in fact I could not teach her the breaststroke as I don't know it - she learned that with some volunteered coaching while working out to get into the training. Also, she never completely conquered her "up periscope" head position until this same workout. LOL Somehow when she needed to, it all clicked. :)

Edited April 16, 2011 by JustGin

[justamouse]

Yes. My son's godfather tossed him into the deep end and while I screamed, he calmly said, "Don't worry, he'll figure it out."

 

And, he did. Swam like a flipping fish. I still want to kill his godfather.

[LaissezFaire]

I have found that teaching them myself has always worked better than paying for lessons.

[kamom]

Both my older dc did much better on there on then at lessons. I took them for I think two yrs and they didn't learn how to swim. DS learned on his own, once we got a pool and dd is still working on it. But the lessons just scared her even more. She has a real problem with not wanting her face wet.

[Audrey]

Ds could swim, if by "swim," I mean he could stay afloat and move himself from one point in the pool to another point in the pool with some semblance of purposefulness.

 

He couldn't "swim" in the sense of being able to front float, back float and do a basic crawl. He did need lessons for that. I tried showing him, but I honestly don't remember learning those things, so didn't have a decent enough framework to be able to explain it to him or demonstrate it effectively. If you can do that, though, your kids will probably be fine and learn well.

[Patches]

I taught swimming for many years and I believe parents can do a good job on their own. That being said, I would get some advice about how to go about teaching swimming. This is especially true if you want to eventually have your children swimming strokes correctly. It is very hard to break bad swimming habits when it comes to good strokes. If you are uncomfortable in the water you would most likely do better with swimming lessons.

 

I believe Red Cross Lessons (done well) a a great way to learn both strokes and water safety.

 

I also respectfully and gently disagree with the poster who stated that it does not matter how early a child learns to swim. I've taught from infants to older adults and once a child is a past the 4-6 window it is much harder to get them swimming ime. Also, water safety is a life skill... an important one. Children drown every year. Sometimes if they had known how to swim they would not have.

[GypsieFamily]

My older two used to do swimming lessons. Now they all just have a swim when we are near water. DH is a strong swimmer, so he just gives them pointers. Nothing formal or structured, but we aren't always in suitable locations for swimming lessons.

 

Why not give it a go? If it doesn't work, you can go back to plan A. If it does, you've probably saved yourself a lot of money.

[delaney]

We put on floaties and slowly make some of the air disappear;). When they seem to be more brave we suggest they try playing around the shallow end. When they are able to swim in the shallow end I drag them out into the deep end and PUSH! Off they go to the side in amazement that they didn't drowned! I did that with my now 5 year old and by the end of the week he was leaping off the diving board and going to the bottom of the 8 foot section!

[catz]

My daughter who had lessons is a much, much stronger swimmer than my son who was taught by us. Ymmv.

 

:iagree: I think early swimming stuff - getting comfortable in the water, doggie paddle, pushing off from the side, etc is easily learned by just getting into the water a bunch with a willing adult. Proficiency, good stroke skills, and the ability to swim a few pool lengths (really drown proof IMHO) are probably best taught by someone who knows what they're doing unless you have kids that are very natural swimmers or you really know what you're doing. My kids are very reluctant swimmers, but swimming is not an optional skill in the land of 10,000 lakes! :D

[Terabith]

One year we decided to use the money that we would have had to spend on lessons to buy one of those pop top pools - they all taught themselves to swim that summer in that little pool - just our experience, but worth a thought.

 

That would terrify me! You are a far braver woman than I! I would be terrified having a pool around with my nonswimming kids. Glad it worked. I totally agree though that regular exposure to the water in a nonformal environment works really well for general exposure. But, I do think that learning proper technique is very important. I want my kids to be able to eventually swim 1,000 meters without stopping, with good form, using front crawl, backstroke, and breast, as well as be able to tread water for a minute. That's my "rule" for water safety and ability to have that skill for fitness based lap swimming at some point.

[ZooRho]

does you pool have a summer rec swim team?

 

In our neighborhood swim team they will help the kids to learn.

 

But I would also say you can probably do it too.

[ZooRho]

I should also add, I would look for a teen that might do swim lessons, my son, who is a lifeguard has taught swim lessons for many years now. He is highly reccomended by parents, of all ages of children.

 

Private lessons will probably go quicker too.

[Peela]

Everyone swims here in Australia- usually from a young age. I took first child to baby swimming lessons and she could always swim and felt comfortable in the water- it was a gradual thing. 2nd child was more frightened and it wasn't till we moved into a house with a swimming pool when he was 6, that he learned to swim properly.

Basically, he taught himself. We just showed him a few things.

Both did end up having lessons later on but they really felt like a waste of time and we didn't follow through with them for very long. Once they could swim, they could swim.

[Desert Rat]

My dh worked with the kids in a friend's pool last summer. Formal lessons didn't work with our kids. They are more confident in the pool and I feel better that they at least know the basics. We don't have regular access to a pool so teaching them has proven difficult.