Teaching kids to swim

[MistyMountain]

My kids are getting old and still cannot swim. Two of them took lessons when they were much younger but they did not learn from them. My oldest took them for months and months but she was younger and they were not even really teaching her anything besides, head dunking, blowing bubbles and using a kick board because she would not jump in and that was required at the time to learn to progress to where they teach you to swim unaided. It is hard to get lessons here for the more affordable places and the schedules are not ideal. I think I would prefer them learning to swim and then taking lessons to learn better strokes. What is a good way to teach kids how to swim?

Edited August 16, 2016 by MistyMountain

[SKL]

I used to take them to the part of the pool where the water was over their heads but not over my head.  I would launch them in the direction of the side of the pool and tell them to swim.  If they started sinking, I would get my hand(s) under their shoulders or abdomen and lift up enough to keep them going as they kept swimming toward the side.  And then they could swim back to me, same idea.  We never used floaties.

 

It was kind of like teaching them how to ride a bike.  :)

 

We would go about once a week IIRC and spend 20-30 minutes practicing, then go play in the shallow part of the pool.

 

When I was 8 my neighbor (then about 11 herself) taught me to dog-paddle.  She explained it as moving your feet and hands as if you were pedaling a bike.  So that might be another way to approach it.  Dog-paddling is very easy to learn and once the kids get good at it, they can try adding strokes.  When they are ready for that, you might decide lessons are in order.  (In my case, I just figured it out myself, but I never became a particularly strong swimmer.)  Also, back stroke is a lot easier than the strokes with the chest down.

[gardenmom5]

it sounds like they were very small and doing "preswimming" activities.  kick boards also teach and give practice in how to kick -something beginning swimmers need to know.  some kids aren't ready when they're small, but will do better when they're a little older.  even  1ds wasn't initially ready and his teacher told me to just wait.  he'd sit on the bottom of the pool, and only come up for a breath  :toetap05: . . . . he swims fine now.

 

if it's a reputable place, they will use the red cross program or similar.   it has six levels and swimmers progress to the next level when they display mastery.  the facility will have a list of skills for each level, and they should let you know how the child is progressing at the end of each session.

[blondeviolin]

We tell our kids to put their face down and kick. If the chin is tucked and they're kicking hard, it's not as difficult as they think.

[bettyandbob]

So for practice with you I'd do some of the things SKL suggests. you will see the launching thing in many beginning classes. I call them blast offs and have the put her feet on my knees and reach out like Superman. Beginning adults launch themselves. Always start close to the wall and back away as the student gets comfortable.

 

Whether you do this on your own or through a rec center you will need to go to the pool a lot. I've found older dc can be more afraid and take a very long time to just get used to being in water. So it can take discipline not to give up when you don't see progress.

 

Before I go through a bunch of skills, are you intetested in trying to get into lessons at the "affordable places"? These are usually rec centers. Some they are fantastic. They usually pay better than the health clubs and have a more consistent staff. Obviously, some people are getting into lessons. You need to find out when registration starts and how to do it.

 

When my older kids were little you had to be physically in the minute registration opened. So my neighbor and I would go together with coffee and muffins at 4 am and wait until 8 when the doors opened. We were never first in line, but we did get classes.

 

Now registration is electronic at both the local community center and park authority. For both you need to know your account or set up an account ahead. You can do that by email. Once you set it up you practice logging in to make sure you got it before registration day. One place starts registration at 9 am on the first of the month 3 times a year. You must log in at 9 or you risk being shut out. I tell people schedule an "appointment" shut their office door if it's a work day. Once in you have to register for all classes that you want during that registration season. If there are three sessions from January to June you need to register for all if you want the child to continue-- register for all the same level and the center will promote and Mose the child as needed. At the other rec center near me registration is similar except it starts at 5 am online.

 

I'd talk to a lot of neighbors and find out if they really liked these places. Then I'd find out the trick to getting registered. I've never known a place where you call or go in after the initial registration period and get every class you wanted. There might be some classes here and there with openings, usually at the most inconvenient time. If you know you need a class and if you want to coordinate a schedule with other activities or children or both then you have to be aware of exact times registration opens and the method that gets a spot in class.

[HomeAgain]

Youtube.  Seriously.

 

My youngest balked hard at swim lessons.  We found a series on youtube that showed each step of the way.  He'd watch, then we'd go to the pool and practice until he was comfortable.  We'd watch another step, go back to the pool......repeat all through until he could doggy paddle comfortably.  Now, next year, I can start him in level 2, where he'll go over many of the same things and learn a basic stroke. 

[bettyandbob]

Youtube. Seriously.

 

My youngest balked hard at swim lessons. We found a series on youtube that showed each step of the way. He'd watch, then we'd go to the pool and practice until he was comfortable. We'd watch another step, go back to the pool......repeat all through until he could doggy paddle comfortably. Now, next year, I can start him in level 2, where he'll go over many of the same things and learn a basic stroke.

This sounds great. Is there a name for the series on YouTube?

[Jan in SC]

My children learned to swim very young.  The best way to learn to swim is to have frequent access to a pool.  Taking a class is great, but what you do between classes is more important.  Just playing in the water several times a week makes it easier to learn to swim.  I do think classes, or a swim team (usually summer ones) that teaches one how to swim is important, but the children that have the ability to play, jump off the diving board and practice will swim much faster.

[horsellian]

This sounds great. Is there a name for the series on YouTube?

 

I don't know which ones the PP was talking about, but we've used the videos at www.uswim.com (the over 3s ones), which are great.

[Mama Geek]

I used swim to teach dd who I had swimming by the age of 2.  We did however spend a lot of time in the water.

[Homebody2]

 

 

I don't know which ones the PP was talking about, but we've used the videos at www.uswim.com (the over 3s ones), which are great.

 

I used these to teach both of my kids to swim. No lessons, just these videos. They are awesome!

[ScoutTN]

Here is a good chart for a swim skills progression. Better than the Red Cross' levels because there are just one or two skills per level.

 

for lessons, I would choose a swim school run by a competitive swimming program. They are efficient and thorough. Just do enough levels/classes to get to competent swimming and skip the stuff aimed only at swim team. Kids need to have a decent freestyle (able to swim 50-100 yards easily), be able to float on their backs, tread water for a couple minutes, dive and jump into water over their heads by several feet and know basic water safety rules. Breaststroke is good because it is a head-up stroke. Elementary backstroke (chicken, airplane, soldier with the arms) is a good safety stroke because it is easy and the swimmer's face is out of the water. 

 

Swimming is a major life skill and should not be skipped! 

Edited August 16, 2016 by ScoutTN

[wapiti]

My big kids all had lessons in the very cold, indoor community rec center when they were young.  It took forever, several seasons.  One of them still recalls how much he hated it, while my oldest thanked me recently because she's not sure how she'd have learned otherwise.  None of them use any proper stroke format that they were taught.

 

However, with my little kids, I was much to busy/lazy.  We just spent a whole lot of time at our neighborhood pool.  I'd try to teach them though it usually didn't do any good.  I'd occasionally offer suggestions.  Mostly, the desire to be able to go down the slide at the pool was the big motivator.  I told them they could go down as soon as they were able to swim from the slide to the shallow part, which isn't terribly far, though it does require being able to get across a few breaths' distance without touching the bottom.  In other words, they'd need to be "swimming," whatever that means.  My youngest two finally got that figured out this summer, at 7 and 8 y.o., and after spending the summer doing that, they're free to roam the deep end.  It took a lot of time, though for the most part I just had to sit and watch.  I also had them practice front and back floats.  Getting them away from the doggy paddle, into more of a breast-stroke arm movement (I called it "big arms"), was among the key things to get through to them.  Now, they could use proper stroke lessons and I love the idea of checking out what youtube has to offer and then we'll see about proper lessons another year.

[Ms Brooks]

Have them join a swim team at the beginning level. Swim lessons are OK, but swim team teaches kids how to swim. Whatever path you choose, they need to learn water safety. Every year 2-5 people drown in the river near by. They fall out of inner tubes or out of kayaks and drown.  

[Ailaena]

 

I take the baby to a competitive school where they do private lessons only until a certain level, and then do group lessons where they begin formal stroke training (babies have a baby class :p). I watched a 7-year-old boy start at the end of May and he would not even put his face in the water. He cried the first few times. But after 10 minutes, 1x/wk, he is actually, freaking swimming! He can now dive off of the side and stroke to the other side of the pool while resting when he needs to (maybe 25 feet). The other kids are mostly 3-5ish, and they take 6-12 months to get to that point because they push safety, safety, safety, and older kids get that quicker ;)

 

Anyways. Don't necessarily pooh-pooh private lessons!

[Ailaena]

With my older daughter, she HATED the water and I determined that as long as she can jump into a pool and make it to the edge, I was fine with that. Moving to Phoenix helped because we swam way more often, and it made her more comfortable in the water. So I guess really, your goals for your kids will dictate what they need.

[Mergath]

I'm going to check out the videos. Dd is eight now and is still terrified to even put her face in the water. Her best friend has a pool and I bring her over there so she can play in the water all the time. Still terrified to so much as get splashed.  :banghead:  

[Eagle]

I'm going to check out the videos. Dd is eight now and is still terrified to even put her face in the water. Her best friend has a pool and I bring her over there so she can play in the water all the time. Still terrified to so much as get splashed. :banghead:

Has she tried goggles? She may not want to put her face in the water with them for awhile, but it should help with her fear of splashing.

[Mergath]

Has she tried goggles? She may not want to put her face in the water with them for awhile, but it should help with her fear of splashing.

 

We've tried, but she has some mild sensory issues and she can't stand having the goggles tight enough to do any good. 

[lllll]

nm

Edited August 22, 2016 by Cathi