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Swim Lesson Parent's Dos & Don'ts
Do ask questions
about the program and swim instructors
Don't
ask questions at the beginning or during the swim lesson
Do encourage
your swimmer
Don't criticize
your swimmer about slow progress or mistakes made at lessons
Do get your
swimmer a floatie or bubble to use when in the water outside of
lessons
Don't
have the first swim lesson be your child's first time in a pool
Do swim and play in
the water with your child
Don't expect
miracles
Do enroll your
child in swim lesson in the winter
Do
encourage your children to practice outside of swim lessons
Do ask questions about the program
and swim instructors
Make sure you are comfortable with the staff. Talk to other parents
and children involved in the program. The best report card a program
can get is that the parents are happy with the child's progress
and that the children are just happy about swimming.
Don't ask questions at the beginning
or during the swim lesson
This will delay the instruction as well as be a safety issue since
you are distracting the staff from watching your child
Do encourage your swimmer
Positive encouragement and questions about your swimmer's lessons
will let them know you think this is important and you are interested
in their progress
Don't criticize your swimmer about
slow progress or mistakes made at lessons
This will make your swimmer more anxious about the lessons
Do get your swimmer a floatie or
bubble to use when in the water outside of lessons
The swimmer should always use the flotation device until he/she
can float well. Even with a flotation device, the swimmer should
never be unsupervised. See the review of swim floats.
Don't have the first swim lesson
be your child's first time in a pool
Get them comfortable with water before starting lessons.
Do swim and play in the water with your
child
Showing your child that swimming is fun and something you like
will give them another reason to want to learn to swim. Have your
child show you some things they learned in lessons, but don't
turn it into another lesson.
Don't expect miracles
It may take years for your child to go from blowing bubbles to
butterfly. Don't get discouraged or anxious and give up on lessons,
Once your child learns to swim it will be a life long skill that
has great benefits.
Do enroll your child in swim lesson
in the winter
Most swim lesson programs run year round and there are several
reasons why the winter is a good time to start lessons.Winter
lessons will give your child several months to learn before summer
and classes may be smaller/easy to get in since winter is not
when people think of swimming. There is no reason not to. The
water is always the same temperature and your child will not catch
a cold from being in the pool in the winter.
Do encourage your children
to practice outside of swim lessons
This can be accomplished at a community swimming pool, a friend's
swimming pool or in the bath tub.
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