DD not pasisng wimming stage 2 at 6 despite many many lessons Advice pls

[Lymmmummy]

My DD has just (again) failed to pass stage 2 swimming - it has taken a long time for DD to become more competent in the water as it's not her natural talent - though she is very talented at other sports requiring coordination.

we have paid for 18 months of lessons and we did really think this time she had done it. I say this not because of wishful thinking on our part - it was based on the swim teacher telling DD "if you carry on like this I think you will pass" aside from the fact it is unhelpful of swim coaches to raise young children's expectations I am really at my wits ends . I watch DD swim and her swimming is of a high quality for stage 2 - though I accept that she may have rightly been failed on a particular element she got wrong on the day of the assessment - but I am now wondering if these stages are just tick box exercises and what is the value in terms of competency to swim in real life

We have asked for feedback

But would most people

1. carry on with lessons 2. take a break 3. look for another teacher -
   

the class is a general one with approx 5-6 kids in class

Any thoughts advice welcome

[Scabbersley]

Get feedback and practice yourself with her.

[scurryfunge]

If she can swim competently and enjoys it enough to carry on with it for fun and fitness in the future I wouldn't push for any more testing.

[thecanaries]

You sound a bit pushy - how old is DD?

Swimming should
Be enjoyed and confidence built up slowly if needed. Maybe she doesn't like it or have the passion?

[Lymmmummy]

I am not pushy at all and DD is 6 as per title of thread

My issue is are what is the general consensus on the value of the lessons relating to the staged system or whether to do something else to encourage more general swimming technique

[Scabbersley]

Private one to one lessons

[G1raffe]

We aren't made of money but we did private lessons for a term and skipped a couple of stages. It got my child over the hump she had and was so worth it.

Otherwise if she isn't enjoying it is stop. Or try a different teacher.

Do you swim with her for fun?

[scurryfunge]

The staged system is easy to teach and assess so is well structured. If you want her to show progression in a discipline then she could continue. However what do you want her to achieve by learning to swim -is it purely survival, fun, fitness, necessary for another sport (sailing?)?
I wouldn't place too much weight on the standards she can achieve especially if she has many other sporting interests.

[WildRosesGrow]

1. Take a break
   

I don't remember my children passing particular 'stages' at swimming but I know my son moved up classes more quickly than my daughter (in fact he 'caught her up' at one point, much to her horror when her little brother was moved into her class!). My son won some swimming competitions with school but decided to give up lessons in the end too, as most of his friends had stopped.

They are both confident swimmers now and both had swimming lessons on and off, depending on their other interests. I'd leave swimming lessons for now and let your daughter concentrate on other activities. There is no rush and as long as children learn to swim, then passing tests is pretty irrelevant.

[Lymmmummy]

Yes we swim for fun and I think stage 2 does seem to be ia bit of a "hump" for DD

I just want her to enjoy swimming and be ok at it

[BastardTart]

Do they do private lessons in the holiday ? So 1 week of 1-1 every day.

Learning to swim is a bit like learning the piano,you have lessons but progress far quicker if you practice a bit every day. So could you take her at the weekends maybe?

We moved our daughter to shared private lessons (£12 a week per child as opposed too £7 a week) and her swimming improved rapidly as she was swimming the while half hour (as opposed to doing half a length and then waiting for 5 others to have a turn at swimming their half a length). Maybe see if one of the other parents fancies doing that with you

[FanSpamTastic]

I think some kids just do not have the physique for swimming! We struggled for ages with DS - he is skinny and just does not float. He can swim under the water but struggles to swim on top of the water! We gave up on lessons - but he swims a lot with his sisters and is competent in the water. He would not win any prizes for style!

Discuss with her swimming teacher where she is not passing then maybe take a break for a term and work on those areas.

[theancientmarinader]

Not even close to being a problem.

Dd1 couldn't swim a stroke at 6, despite having been in lessons since was 3.

She's now 17 and has been working as a lifeguard and swim instructor for two years and has thousands in the bank to go to uni with from this pt job.

If you'd asked me when she was 6, I was equally frustrated, but now I'm able to laugh about how high maintenance I was, and how pointless it was to keep throwing money into lessons when she clearly (for whatever reason) just wasn't ready to swim. We took the stress right off. By 8, she was taking part in distance challenges.

Take 6 months off lessons, save your money, and just go to the pool with her and have fun. It's not even close to being any sort of problem that she's had 18 mos of lessons and not swimming. She's just not ready to swim yet. She will be. Soon-ish. With my three I have found 7/8 to be the magic ages, and it having had no bearing at all on how much money I have spent on years of lessons before that.

[Lymmmummy]

FanSpam - DD is v slim and I suspected for a while this was the reason why swimming was not easy for her

However recently her swimming has become much stronger and this along with the coaches words just encouraged me to think this time it would be a pass

I am just confused as to whether to carry on and get the stage somehow or just try other more general ways of encouraging competency in the water

We could all swim as kids and none of us had lessons I just feel we are pushed down the lessons route and am really wondering if it's necessary or even helpful

[theancientmarinader]

Oh, in response to someone else - don't do private lessons at 6. Really. There is absolutely no need. Save that until a few years down the road if necessary. Private swimming lessons at 6 for a child who doesn't have a disability is a complete waste of money. Patience would have a better effect and be less painful on your wallet...

[RB68]

I would chill out and back off and go for fun - we had lessons at 6mths for a while but other than that just from me and DD is a good swimmer - although am tempted to do mre with her for fitness more than anything at the moment

[FanSpamTastic]

I agree - DS is our 3rd and to be honest I had had enough of years of swimming lessons!

We went on holiday one summer to a Eurocamp with a pool when he was about 7 and he learned more that week from his older sisters than he had in the previous year. So when we came back we decided to give up on formal lessons for him. Instead we put the money we had been spending towards joining a nice gym with a pool and just took the kids there instead.

[G1raffe]

theancient- private lessons were worth every penny here!

First child spent ages in stage 2 just not quite getting it. For the same cost child 2 learnt 1-1 in a couple of months and went into stage 3.

The lessons at stage 1 and 2 so much time is spent waiting while each child goes across the pool. From stage 3 up the children are swimming in groups independently . My child had such a good start as the 1-1 lessons for her swimming front and back and within a year was stage 5

It's so much faster progress it saved us a fortune and would SO recommend that route now!

[Lymmmummy]

Thanks all for your input really appreciate it 😄

[ferrier]

Agree with FanSpam. Had the same with my dc. One just floated naturally and swam early. The others were about 8 before they had the physical strength to keep themselves afloat. Swimmer dc has a very different physique to the others - just lies on the water like it's a sunbed.

[ineedamoreadultieradult]

I don't think one to one lessons at 6 is a waste of time unlike a PP. My son is 7 and got stuck at level 4 for over a year. He has been having one to one lessons for approx 8 weeks and honestly the improvement is phenomenal. It is expensive but by the end of the term I can't see us having to continue with the one to ones if he Carey's on improving at this rate.

[Mrscog]

Another vote for a burst of private lessons. 5Yo DS went from nothing to being able to swim a width in 8 lessons. We've switched to group lessons now and really regret it - the do a width, wait 4 mins over and over again is really rubbish value compared to a 1:1.

I'm considering switching back.

[Didiplanthis]

My ds 5 has just taken 14 months to.pass stage 1 so I have much sympathy. However he is happy and confident and likes being with the other children so I'm taking the relaxed approach. My dd was in stage 4 at 5 but has now taken 18 months to reach stage 5 as she just didnt have the stamina or strength for multiple lengths so I guess they just get there in their own time.

[Witchend]

if you carry on like this I think you will pass is a perfectly reasonable thing to say to a child. I'd regard it as encouraging.

I'd back off and just take her swimming at the weekends.

[Lymmmummy]

Thanks again - I think my irritation was swim teacher said on week 7 oh if you swim like that next week (week 8 which was assessment week) then maybe you will pass - so I did think it unhelpful and a bit unprofessional.

DD is now at the point of being a bit more mature and I think she would benefit from 1-1 so am leaning towards this.

I am generally relaxed laid back type my concern I suppose was for DD not to be v far behind when they start school swimming lessons next year.

Agree with FanSpam and others on physical make up - DD body just doesn't float or hold itself in the water. She is generally v confident and naturally talented at other sports so I have nothing to complain about just wondering what is best and want to be sensitive and help her