Swim lessons

[Elizabeth86]

How long do swim lessons last where you live?

[Carrie12345]

I’ve seen 30 minutes and 60 minutes.  Usually with recreational pool time before or after, but not always.

[Hilltopmom]

30 minutes, once a week

[Clemsondana]

When I was a kid, it was an 50 minutes-1 hr, every day for a week.  Locally, I've seen 30 minutes-1 hr, and I've seen different schedules.  Some are week-long intensives, others are twice a week for a month, and some are scheduled as desired (you pay per lesson, or get 5 lessons but not on a schedule).  They are usually either before the pool opens to the public (like at 9 am), they use a section/a few lanes of the pool, or they are in a private pool (like the local swim school that only teaches swimming).  

[kristin0713]

I took my kids to a survival swim course which was 20 min/day for two weeks straight (M-F). It was incredibly efficient, worth every penny and worth the two week commitment. 

[MEmama]

DS teaches swimming. Classes are 30 minutes twice/week for 3 weeks; typically there are two sessions (for a total of 6 weeks) per summer. 

[Elizabeth86]

Also, for how many weeks are they?

[Elizabeth86]

1 hour ago, Hilltopmom said:

30 minutes, once a week

For how many weeks?

[Acorn]

During the school year, several indoor pools offer lessons 30 minutes a week for 4-6 week sessions. I think my children improved faster with the summer lessons at a outdoor pool with 30-40 minutes a day Mon-Thur for 2 week sessions. 

[gardenmom5]

average is 30 minutes 2x per week for five weeks during the school year. (sometimes three weeks around holidays). 

in the summer it is 30 minutes daily for two weeks.

 

I have occasionally seen options for 45 minutes.

[SKL]

It varies by level.  I think the lower levels are 30 minutes and the higher ones 45-60 minutes, once or twice a week.  If you want more time for kids who can swim some, swim team is a good option as they meet more often.

[Elizabeth86]

9 minutes ago, SKL said:

It varies by level.  I think the lower levels are 30 minutes and the higher ones 45-60 minutes, once or twice a week.  If you want more time for kids who can swim some, swim team is a good option as they meet more often.

I just wasn’t sure. My kid is attending a beginner class and it meets for an hour (but they have a few kids to rotate through so it’s not all for him for the hour) for 5 days and my sil was concerned that wasn’t long enough. 🤷‍♀️I mean that’s the only option within an hour of me, so what do you do ya know?

[Terabith]

We had summer intensives of 30 minutes every day for 1-2 weeks and school year lessons with the top notch teacher were once a week for 30 minutes.  The top notch teacher capped lessons at four kids.  The Y lessons were 30-45 minutes (depending on age) twice a week, but they had more kids per teacher.  

[KSera]

37 minutes ago, Elizabeth86 said:

I just wasn’t sure. My kid is attending a beginner class and it meets for an hour (but they have a few kids to rotate through so it’s not all for him for the hour) for 5 days and my sil was concerned that wasn’t long enough. 🤷‍♀️I mean that’s the only option within an hour of me, so what do you do ya know?

I cant imagine having kids do it for more than an hour when they’re just learning. My kids mostly had half hour lessons and they were usually freezing by the end. That was worse when their were more kids in class, because then they would  be spending more time waiting for their turn, which meant they weren’t swimming around, which means cold. The best ones we had were half hour lessons with just two kids. 

[Elizabeth86]

6 minutes ago, KSera said:

I cant imagine having kids do it for more than an hour when they’re just learning. My kids mostly had half hour lessons and they were usually freezing by the end. That was worse when their were more kids in class, because then they would  be spending more time waiting for their turn, which meant they weren’t swimming around, which means cold. The best ones we had were half hour lessons with just two kids. 

The 1 hour isn’t much of an issue because they do a lot of waiting while the instructor works with each kid. He wasn’t cold. It was pretty hot out.

[Hilltopmom]

3 hours ago, Elizabeth86 said:

For how many weeks?

Sessions are 8 weeks long. Summer, fall, winter, spring sessions 

[Hilltopmom]

Only doing One session is obviously not long enough to actually learn to swim. Kids take them over the course of a few years usually.

We only have one option here too- so we took it.

Edited July 26, 2022 by Hilltopmom

[mommyoffive]

We did do the ones that were 30 or 45 mins once or 2-3 times a week.  But we have we loved the ones that were everyday.  Around us the park and rec in another town, summer school, or swim team do them this way.  That is when we saw the most improvement.  Going once a week is slow.

[Elizabeth86]

3 minutes ago, Hilltopmom said:

Only doing One session is obviously not long enough to actually learn to swim. Kids take them over the course of a few years usually.

We only have one option here too- so we took it.

It’s 5 1-hour classes.

[barnwife]

Our pool used to do 30 minutes, 5 times a week, for 2 week sessions. They had 3 sessions available each summer. (Not all of the highest levels were offered all 3 sessions.)

That pool has changed management and now does 30 minutes once a week for 6 weeks (I think). 

We have joined a new pool, which offeres no lessons. It's in a super small town. I am impressed they have a pool at all. 

We no longer enroll our kids in lessons. I don't think once a week is all that great for retention. Thankfully, the oldest 3 can swim, although they aren't great divers. The 5 yo and toddler will have to make do with mom teaching them and plenty of free swim time.

Especially with gas the way it is, we can't afford to drive an hour (or more) for swim lessons.

[lulalu]

1 hour long for 8 classes in a level. During summer the 8 classes are done in 2 weeks, during the school year the options are twice a week for a month or once a week for two months. 

[Tanaqui]

The Y nearer to us offered, when we went, 45 minute classes for kids and teens, and 30 minute classes for preschoolers without a parent. I don't know how long the classes with a parent for preschoolers were, but probably 30 minutes. IIRC there was a small discount for signing up for two days a week instead of one, but they didn't do anything to encourage MORE than two days a week. I dragged my two there twice a week for years, except during the summer when they took their lessons at the public pool.

The Y further from us offered 45 or 60 minute classes for kids and teens, and 30 minute classes for preschoolers. I didn't realize until the kids were about to enter high school that it was actually faster to get there than the other Y because I could've taken the train down instead of the bus, also, the train is free on Staten Island and the bus isn't. Well, we live and we learn.

The NYC public pools are not offering swim classes this year because of the lifeguard shortage, but in previous years it was 45 minutes twice a week for kids and teens, and 30 minutes three times a week for preschoolers with parents. They also offered adult swim classes which I think were an hour.

[Bootsie]

My kids did:

30 minute daily lessons for a week (private or semi-private)

45-60 minute daily (weekday) group lessons for two weeks

45-60 minute group lessons twice per week for four weeks in indoor pool during winter

[Pamela H in Texas]

First we did ISR when they were 1-3 years old.  That was 10 minutes five days per week for about 7 weeks each of the first two years and only 2-3 weeks the final year.

Then we did regular swim lessons.  We did 30 minutes four days per week for two weeks. That was enough to get a four year old jumping off the diving board and swimming across a small/medium pool.  Each child has done it twice now.  The one didn't need it this year.  The 5yo will do it next year also.  Different kiddos.

I wish I had done these things with the older five (or at least the middle three).

 

[Clarita]

The current one I'm doing with my kids is 30mins 4 kids at once. It lasts for 2 weeks 4 days/week. It's for kids 3-5. We did it last year too so my kids still can't swim. I'm still at the get them comfortable in the water stage and I'm not particularly worried about retention. My goal is only for them to be proficient enough to have fun in the water and have some ability to keep themselves from drowning before middle school or high school. 

[Ausmumof3]

30 minutes to an hour. Usually term by term or alternatively a holiday intensive that goes for 5-8 days. The government co-finances summer swimming lessons once a year to keep them affordable and reduce drowning. They focus more on survival techniques than stroke speed etc

[cajunmom3]

An hour every day for two weeks.

[Selkie]

Ours were one hour per day Monday - Thursday for two weeks. Fridays were used as a make-up day for any lessons that were canceled due to weather. At the end of the two weeks, they tested to see if they could progress to the next level.

[rebcoola]

30 minutes to 1hr.  Wide variety of options 2 a week for a quarter, 4 days a week for 2 weeks seem to be the most common.

[kiwik]

On 7/26/2022 at 11:49 PM, kristin0713 said:

I took my kids to a survival swim course which was 20 min/day for two weeks straight (M-F). It was incredibly efficient, worth every penny and worth the two week commitment. 

That is the most common here too.  Not wealthy people like me do one 2 week session a year if they can.  Another kid in my oldest son's class had already done two lots of 2 weeks and a couple of weeks of private lessons that summer.  Apparently he had been doing that every year since he was about 5 and before that preschool stuff. He wasn't that much better at swimming.

[kiwik]

10 hours ago, cajunmom3 said:

An hour every day for two weeks.

Wow.  I assume the reason they are only 30 minutes here is people in my city struggle to pay and very few people would put their kids in lessons if it cost 3 times as much.

[kristin0713]

21 minutes ago, kiwik said:

That is the most common here too.  Not wealthy people like me do one 2 week session a year if they can.  Another kid in my oldest son's class had already done two lots of 2 weeks and a couple of weeks of private lessons that summer.  Apparently he had been doing that every year since he was about 5 and before that preschool stuff. He wasn't that much better at swimming.

We first did it one summer for the two weeks. At that time, DS was 2.5 and DD was 4.5. DS learned how to get on his back immediately and swim to the side, which was my goal for him since we were living in a house with an in-ground pool. I was amazed at how well he could do this at the end of the two weeks when they did a simulated fall (i.e. pushed him in when he wasn't expecting it 😮) and it gave me great peace of mind.  DD learned to swim independently but still couldn't reach the bottom of the low end and didn't have a ton of endurance so she still preferred to swim with a foam block on her back. But if she had fallen in, she could definitely tread water and/or get to the side.  The next summer, I did two, two week, back-to-back sessions. DD was 5.5 by then and learned to swim really well and dive. DS was only 3.5 and he did learn to swim on his back well and across the pool freestyle but it didn't benefit him much more because he still didn't have the endurance to swim that long on his own. And he definitely couldn't reach in the low end. So, again, he was "pool safe" if he had ever fallen in without someone around but couldn't play in the pool on his own without some type of flotation device. 

[theelfqueen]

My youngest did round after round of group swim lessons - we tried on base, the Y, the city pool.... zero progress. We put him in private lessons and he made rapid progress. He's a lifeguard now so it worked out lol. 

[skimomma]

We only have one pool within a one hour radius and they have had the same programming since the beginning of time.  Two options:

1.  One hour, Saturday morning lessons, for 6 week sessions (school year only)

2. One hour, 5-days a week, for two week sessions (summer only)

We did both.  We found the every day summer session to be the most effective.  They were group classes so kids could be waiting their turn for a significant portion of the hour long session.  They have since corrected the problem, but when we were involved, the pool was FREEZING cold and the kids were blue by the 30 minute mark.  I am a lap swimmer and even I could not worm up even after 1.5 miles of swimming.  Parents frequently pulled kids out before the end of the session when kids were visibly shivering or crying.  The effectiveness of either option was highly dependent on how many kids were in the group.  We experienced sessions in which there were only 2-3 kids in a group and others where there were 10.  The latter was almost a waste of time, IMO.

All that said, if you have more than one kid, private lessons might be more cost effective.  They might look more expensive on paper but you might find that proficiency can be achieved in far fewer sessions with an instructor that knows each kid's progress well.

[Soror]

14 hours ago, Selkie said:

Ours were one hour per day Monday - Thursday for two weeks. Fridays were used as a make-up day for any lessons that were canceled due to weather. At the end of the two weeks, they tested to see if they could progress to the next level.

This is how it has been done here with the last 10 minutes being playtime in the pool. There are 3 sessions per summer. 

But this summer I noticed it looked like they cut the time down to 30 or 45 minutes per session. I was disappointed to see that it was shortened. We weren't able to make any of the sessions this summer.

When I did private lessons it was once a week.