Swim Lessons At Home serving San Fernano Valley, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, San Jose, Phoenix
THE SWIM LESSON BASICS teaching at the client’s home swimming pool:
Begin usually by re-affirming the basic safety rule: “Never go in the pool without mommy, daddy, or teacher. Do you know why?” Child usually responds: I could drown, or get a boo-boo…” I say, “Yes, and we don’t want that to happen do we?” Noooo, says the child. This brief safety principle is a beautiful reminder for the child right at the beginning.
Goggles are ok for 3 year olds and up during lessons—IF they fit well and don’t leak much. Encourage parents to get quality goggles, like Speedo’s for children, not the $1.50 pair from the drugstore which leak incessantly.
Bubbles practice.
Kicking seated on the steps focusing on keeping legs straight and toes pointed to the other side. Then flip over on stomach and repeat then in pool with swim instructor. Also, I encourage with the children to play “Red Light/Green Light” game whereby the kids and instructor hold onto the steps in the water, belly down, and first the instructor calls out “Green Light!” and everyone kicks, then instructor calls “red light” and all stop kicking….and this goes for a few cycles with maybe a yellow light, or a purple light thrown in for creativity…Then also I offer the child to call the light color and we follow. They like calling the shots of the game. It’s a good warm up for the session, and it builds kicking strength.
Hold the child, your hands to theirs and walk them around the shallow end of the pool kicking and then kicking and blowing bubbles simultaneously, face “in the sea” as much as possible.
Next, work on face in the water and “superman/woman glides” (arms in front and only kicking with face looking at bottom, no arm strokes.) Instructor is relatively close to the student, maybe 3-6 feet in front. (Child negotiation of comfort zone distance from instructor is normal here, and we need to honor their requests as much as possible here to foster trust. )
Speaking of trust, whenever the issue seems to present itself, I encourage you to say to the child, “I ‘ll never let go of you unless you say it’s ok…I promise… (and stick to that).” Even moving back while a child swims to you can erode that trust. Be careful of your word. Children remember everything!