Swim lessons, weekly or daily?

[Tohru]

Would weekly or daily swim lessons be better for a new swimmer?

[Rachel]

I've heard kids progress more quickly with daily lessons. We do twice a week and that has worked well for us. The daily lessons in my town are not at convenient times for us and it would be a major inconvenience.

[bettyandbob]

Once a week will not result in much progress, unless the child goes swimming with mom or dad a couple times a week between lessons.

 

No matter which approach is chosen, you should expect to take more than one set of lessons.

[Gil]

I would do multiple sessions of the daily lessons. I taught the boys water safety and how to swim when they were 2-4 years old and when they were old enough I put them into tri-weekly lessons and I still took them swimming on the off days as often as I could. Swimming is a vital skill in my book and worth investing in properly.

[twoxcell]

My kids have always done swim lessons that met twice a week, so I voted other. Twice a week has worked well for them, and I can't imagine doing more than two days. I had all of my kids in swimming last month and I was at the Y for about 3 hours. We do swim lessons year round not just during the summer. In fact we are actually taking the summer off from lessons this year.

[MysteryJen]

Once a week lessons without any other swim time is wasting your money. Getting in the water every day, with a lesson or playing (reinforcing the lesson) is the fastest way to swimming. 

 

And once they can get across the pool on their own, a summer swim league or developmental swim team is the fastest way to swimming well.

[Kerileanne99]

I would do multiple sessions of the daily lessons. I taught the boys water safety and how to swim when they were 2-4 years old and when they were old enough I put them into tri-weekly lessons and I still took them swimming on the off days as often as I could. Swimming is a vital skill in my book and worth investing in properly.

This.

We did water safety classes first.

 

There was a period of time when dd did not swim for several months. We arranged for a week of daily lessons (as they really don't make tremendous progress if otherwise, at least for MOST kids). After that she now goes 2 times per week.

If you have a child that is fearful o water or reluctant to put their face in the water, I would definitely go for daily for a bit. So many kids in the classes where we go seem to have to start over after the long weekend without lessons:(

[Stratford]

We've done weekly lessons with practice time in between.  I have at least one kid that would have balked at daily lessons.  I think it depends on the age, as well.  In our family, I think my older kids could do daily lessons just fine.  

[Sabah]

I voted daily, but weekly could be a good option IF you will also be taking your child(ren) to the pool for family swim times on other days of those weeks. I know that my oldest only made progress once we did a a few sessions of 4 days per week lessons back to back. 

[shawthorne44]

The one with the most highly segregated levels. 

 

In my area that means that the daily are better.  Even though they offer one "preschool" class, there are several teachers and they subdivide on the first day by swimming level.  Which we really like because DD matches the worst swimmer in the class, which annoys the heck out of us.  One class she went from swimming across the pool on her own, to merely bobbing up and down during class.  

[zoobie]

My kids have always done swim lessons that met twice a week, so I voted other. Twice a week has worked well for them, and I can't imagine doing more than two days. I had all of my kids in swimming last month and I was at the Y for about 3 hours. We do swim lessons year round not just during the summer. In fact we are actually taking the summer off from lessons this year.

 

Twice a week has worked really well for my older kids to learn real strokes. It would have been even better if it overlapped summer where they'd get daily practice in our backyard, but that isn't possible this summer.

[MotherGoose]

After trying lessons for 2 weeks at a time, then nothing, for several years, and no progress, we are probably going to join a country club that has daily lessons all summer. NOT looking forward to this, but it must be done. Once a week is wasting your time, and 4 straight days with nothing else probably is too. Now if it's all you can manage currently, then go for it, just realize your child isn't going to be swimming at the end of it.

[Unicorn.]

Once a week lessons without any other swim time is wasting your money. Getting in the water every day, with a lesson or playing (reinforcing the lesson) is the fastest way to swimming. 

 

And once they can get across the pool on their own, a summer swim league or developmental swim team is the fastest way to swimming well.

This. And do back to back lessons. Don't think one week of lessons will be enough. If you can do them for a month, that would be better. Get them to the pool as much as possible. Just going for the lesson won't be enough. They need lots of practice.

[Wilma]

I voted for the daily, but mainly because I am not the owner of a pool.  If I had a pool and were able to be building on what the lessons had already established, I'd pick weekly.

[ScoutTN]

We found once or twice a week lessons to be great in the summer when my kids are at the pool 4 or 5 days a week. When the session is eight weeks long, they get make so much more progress than they would in a concentrated set of lessons at the beginning of the summer. This has been our

experience in a SwimAmerica program, which is not designed like typical swimming lessons, like the ones at the Y or offered through the Red Cross.

 

 

During the school year, or any time kids are not swimming often, I still prefer the once or twice a week because the value of the concentrated lessons is down the drain when months and months with no swimming follow. My kids do not make huge progress with our once a week lessons throughout the year, but they do make some and they don't lose ground. Conditioning is the main issue.

 

I do think that a traditional two week lesson set in the late spring or early summer can be a good thing, especially for littles who are not really swimmers yet or for children who are afraid.

[catz]

We've done both and both are valuable.  There are so many factors in learning swimming for kids developmentally.  My kids are NOT natural swimmers.  There are those kids that take to it very naturally, and that was just not my kids at all.  They were both afraid of water at different points.  My 13 year old just passed red cross level 6 last fall and it was a LONG road.  We used a combo of lesson types.  The biggest leaps were made when we getting in the water regularly during the summer, but I found the weekly ones good at points too.  If daily lessons will fit into your schedule for a few weeks over the summer, I think they're a great idea. 

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

Both my boys did daily lessons for a week. Once a week for a month wouldn't have worked as well. We were overcoming fear if water and learning actual swimming basics.

 

Then I signed then up for a casual swim team, they mastered the skills there.

[Nart]

Depends on the age of the child and if the lessons are private or group. Can you do the first month of summer once a week for four weeks, go to the pool the other days and splash around, THEN do four straight days of lessons? 

[umsami]

In the past, my kids had weekly lessons at the YMCA or a similar organization.  Last summer, our local program had daily lessons for two weeks. The gains they made were amazing.  I'm now a big fan of daily lessons!

[nd293]

We've done a variety of swimming lesson formats. In South Africa it was common for teachers to teach swimming in their home pool. I found that much more effective than lessons in a public pool where they usually put the little ones in shallow water (that's been our experience in Australia) . They don't really learnt to swim quickly, as they keep putting their feet down. In South Africa dd had lessons twice a week for 15 minutes. In Australia ds had lessons once a week for 30 minutes. I think short-but-often was the better format.

 

From my experience the most important factor in learning to swim is lots of time in water where the child is out of their depth (once they've been taught how not to sink, of course!). If I had my own pool I'd be OK with weekly lessons, otherwise I'd opt for daily lessons with an extra couple of hours of 'free play' in deeper water each day.

 

Here in Australia swimming lessons are offered cheaply during the spring and summer school vacations. 2 weeks of daily lessons cost $10 at the beach, or $10 + pool entry at a public pool. So the lessons themselves cost $1 for 30 minutes. It's an enormous operation, so I am guessing the government has found it an effective way to teach swimming.

[LifeLovePassion]

Our pool does Mon to Thurs for 2 weeks. We are doing 2 sessions this year. On 2 weeks off 2 and then on 2 more. They had 1 session last year. We'll see how it goes.

[gardenmom5]

it depends upon the child.

 

daily lessons are only offered in the summer - we do during the school year when they are 2x per week for either a four week or three week session.

at one point the lessons may be 30 minutes or 45 minutes depending upon level - and cooperation level of the child.

[Tammi K]

It depends on whether the child has opportunity to practice regularly. Once a week would not be bad if there is ample opportunity to get in the pool between lessons. Otherwise, you will see more lost progress between lessons.

 

When I was teaching swimming, I was always amazed at the progress a child could make with a week ( or, preferably, two) of daily lessons.

[melmichigan]

My youngers all did twice a week, private lessons, and one day with Mom and Dad.  Group lessons weren't worthwhile until they swam well and were just working on strokes.  

[Gentlemommy]

Daily. With dd2, who seemed to have a death wish near the pool, I signed her up for daily lessons when she was 20 months. She had no fear. None. And we lived in FL. She already had decent breath control, and wouldn't swallow water when she went under. The problem was, she'd get under and just hang out down there, not knowing how to get her face back up. The classes were ten minutes long, with the same teacher, everyday of the week. By day 3, she was pushing off the wall, face down, and turning onto her back to float when she needed air. (I realize the survival classes are controversial, and actually I took my dd1 to observe them when she was little and thought they were horrific and swore them off. Until dd2 came along. ;) She was fine in the class, after the initial meeting of her teacher, she would run in happily.)

We continued daily lessons for two weeks, then we went to 3x a week for two weeks, then once a week for the rest of that summer. I'm confident now in the method, and I have used the same techniques to teach dd3, starting at about 20 months. She is 3.5 now, and since we haven't been to the pool in a few months, I'll do a refresher with her the first week the pool opens, and then she will be totally fine. Last year, by the end of summer, she was just shy of 3 and was able to swim/float the length of the pool, dive down to the bottom of the shallow end and retrieve toys, and jump into the pool and swim back to the edge.

[Cera]

I think it depends on how often you will have the child in the pool practicing between lessons.  I think the ideal plan would be one week of daily swimming lessons then a month of weekly swimming lessons with regular (at least 3x a week) practice in the pool between each lesson.