MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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So, my 2 1/2 year old has decided the swimming pool is a good place after 18 months of on/off hating it. I realise this may change by next time we go...
So, we go every Friday morning. Anyone suggest any good books/websites/resources for teaching him how to swim?
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Not sure where you're based, but my 9 month old had been to this since being 2 months old and is coming on really well
http://www.swimbabeslessons.co.uk/
Lessons +1
Nothing round here on a suitable day and I already go to the pool with him on a Friday morning...
Found a few interesting tips online so I'll keep looking.
Its all about being comfortable in water. Floating is the natural state. Relax and have a laugh. Gradually remove flotation. Build up distance, between partners is good, up to a point.
Then, unless you know swimming, book lessons
Don't do "lessons" do "play" The more you play, the more you learn. Play chase, play how long can you stay underwater, play shouting underwater, play sharks and fishes. play regularly.
Confidence and familiarity will do far more than 1 teacher and 10 toddlers.
( I have 4 kids, all older, all swim well, never had armbands, oh and I used to teach swimming..)
my girls have had lessons with the same person since before they could walk.. now 8 and 11 they swim better than fish.. timmer i m afraid your wrong,,Karen at Tod baths is the business
I'm with timmer on this one. At that age, confidence is the main thing. Once you get confidence, the rest of swimming comes a lot easier as you don't need to deal with fears about head under the water etc.
al
(Also a swimming teacher)
Lessons are good. Ours has been going since he was 18 months. It's a big deal here in Oz all kids learn from an early age. A good tip is when doing bath time play with putting water on his/her head to get them used to being covered. Take a small toy they like to the pool and get them to throw it (or throw it for them) and swim towards it. I loved going to lessons with my little dude. He just loved getting ice cream after a good session.
Our wee girl started with all the 'toddler' lessons, but I quickly realised that the teachers we're doing nothing I couldn't do! She wears a swimming vest that for want of a better description looks like a suicide bomber jacket (cylindrical floats all around torso)! She's now 19 months and I've removed 4 of the floats from the vest-the idea is to remove them all by the time she's 2 n half. She's coming on great guns and is really enjoying her swimming-and much cheaper than lessons!
Our son had lessons at about six months, but as eat_more_cheese says, we realised that they weren't doing anything we couldn't do ourselves. At that age they're not doing lessons anyway, it's just about getting them used to the water.
We started up again at about 2 ½ years and things were a bit more structured. He's not learning how to swim so much as how to survive in water. Things like how to get to the surface if you're at the bottom of a pool, how to hold on to the side and make your way round to a ladder, how to climb out unassisted. Plus general confidence in water. None of the above is overt though, they just do a series of games and exercises and the skills are picked up along the way.
Plus, our son - now 2 ¾ - can be a bit, err... strong-willed, for want of a better word. Definitely gets it from his mother :twisted:. So the environment of being in a small group and having to pay attention and respond to a (non-friend/family) teacher without us is good for him as far as we're concerned.
timmer - Member
Don't do "lessons" do "play" The more you play, the more you learn. Play chase, play how long can you stay underwater, play shouting underwater, play sharks and fishes. play regularly.
Confidence and familiarity will do far more than 1 teacher and 10 toddlers.
( I have 4 kids, all older, all swim well, never had armbands, oh and I used to teach swimming..)
All of this + there are lots of toys(Zoggs)nowadays to help.
The only thing I would say is that you need to be confident in the water. Kids can pick up on your lack of confidence 💡
Just last week I offered some advice to someone and his child. He was giving all the wrong advice to his child and within a few minutes his child was smiling and improving their stroke & speed.
Another qualified teacher, 2 kids and 4 grand kids 💡
1 to 1 lessons with a qualified teacher will do the play and the structured stuff.
Both ours 10 & 7 are excellent swimmers. Both did surf camps in Portugal earlier this year, both graduated from the 8 level group classes before they were 7 and a half.
Look into getting a swimfin:
Brilliant, my 2 year old loves his as he can be independent with it in the pool.