Ever since we signed Red up for home swimming lessons, he’s been improving his swimming, breathing, and retaining those skills for his next lesson. Each time Red hits the pool this summer, he’s been remembering what his coach taught him: straight legs, scooping hands, blowing bubbles and side breaths. Our set of three hour-long lessons finished up last week, and I’m so proud of my little guy! His home swimming lessons were taught in our neighborhood pool, so it was easy to get to, and customized to Red’s learning level.
So why didn’t I just teach Red to swim myself? Well, I tried. But the excitement of the pool and the casual handling of our loving relationship (read: Mama doesn’t always have the authority on new disciplines) meant that Red needed someone apart from me to help him out with this necessary skill. With all the bodies of water in our lives, from pools, rivers streams and more, learning to swim can save a life! Year round, drowning is the leading cause of death for children under the age of five and 75% of these children are missing for only 5 minutes or less. The vast majority of these tragedies can be prevented by implementing simple safety measures and properly educating both parents and children. Alone, swim instruction reduces a child’s risk of drowning by 88%! The Sunsational Swim School in Atlanta offered us three lessons free of charge to try, as they help families keep their children safe by making learning to swim convenient, and even offer a Learn to Swim Guarantee for kids 3 and up!
We met Coach Lalia in our neighborhood pool for lessons #2 and #3. Our lessons were one hour long, and while a tween, teen or adult could handle that amount of time, my five-year-old would have had better focus and even more success with shorter more frequent lessons. If you’re considering a package, I highly recommend the six 30-minute lessons for your swimmer. Coach Laila continued to evaluate Red’s swimming skills, and then started on the Swimsational swimming chart, ticking off his mastered skills and focusing on those that needed improvement or introduction.
I was really impressed that through her calm manner, she showed Red how to side breath, extend his reach and blow bubbles at the same time. He was really showing a great amount of improvement by lesson #3, finishing up Tadpole, Starfish, Goldfish and some Jellyfish skills. There were even a few seahorse skills he had naturally. Seeing that chart gave us a plan to continue using Coach Laila’s teachings and sustain Red’s success in the pool. By the time the summer ends, I hope that he will be able to cross the pool by himself!
When our set of 3 lessons was over, Coach Laila awarded Red his skill sheet. He was so proud to have finished a new skill set for the summer! I’ve been working with Red in the pool this week, remembering what she taught him and enriching his exercise sessions. I would absolutely recommend getting some private home swimming lessons for your budding tadpole, and if you’re in the Atlanta area, look into Swimsational Swim School. You’ll get a one-on-one session like we did and your child will really improve.
I wish we had access to a pool so that we could do this! So awesome.
I definitely prefer one on one lessons, too. I can see how an hour would be long. E did 30 minute lessons and she was pooped after them.
I think home swimming lessons are a fantastic idea. I totally agree with you about the importance of teaching kids how to swim early, it certainly can save a life. With lessons at home the instructor can focus on one or just a few kids.