Swimming lessons - how long until no arm bands?

My nearly 3YO uses a noodle in his lessons sometimes but never armbands. I also don’t understand how you can have 3YOs in the same lesson with 7YOs, that’s the ages of my 2 kids and there’s such vast physical differences, stamina, body strength etc. not to mention understanding and concentration.

It might be worth waiting a year or two or paying for 1:1 My dc learned in a few weeks but were older, 6&8, due to house moves and medical issues. My 8 year old had to have 1:1 with instructor in the pool due to seizures (we only paid the group price thankfully) and learned within 8 weeks to swim lengths whereas the younger in group did 2 lots of 8 weeks and was only on a width, but was stroppy (too tired after school) so we rested the formal lessons and taught her ourselves then she had technique lessons as a teen

I should probably have said that at our local swimming school, the children wear arm discs (made of float material?) rather than inflatable armbands. I don’t know if that makes a difference.

Also, although DD took years to learn to swim, she did quickly learn other useful skills such as how to enter and exit the pool safely (including how to climb out of the pool over the side) and how to do star floats.

I removed my daughter from swimming lessons aged 4 in reception. When swimming with me she can move through the water for a short distance without arm bands, floats or noodles but at her lessons they have never let her swim with no aid. So always with arm band or noodle or both!
Looking at the other kids the set up seems to be timed so it's one year in each section and you wouldn't finish the scheme until year 6.

Ours didn't use armbands at all but I don't think the time they are taken off is really a measure of progress. Do you know what the next group up looks like? See if you can find out, and find out how long children usually spend in the first class.

Ours were in lessons for several years and are only middling. It was a long term project. If we had little ones again I would not get on that bandwagon but look for private lessons instead. I think it works out a lot cheaper in the long run.

Have you also looked at swimming clubs? They quite often have lessons for beginners too.

Yeah at my DDs pool they discourage armbands too (use floats and swim noodles).
She was quite nervous in the water and did an intensive 1:1 5 day course at age 5.5 and started in armbands but by the end of the week was swimming independently

Another one who hasn’t had arm bands while progressing through the stages. The only exception was when my youngest was 3 she tried a class somewhere that had the set up of deep pool, arm bands and one lane for 6 or 7 kids. She hated it as she’d done water babies and had never used arm bands. Even though we’d paid for a term, we didn’t go to all the classes as we’d got a leisure centre place in the teaching pool and it was much better.

My youngest is 5 and in a stage 3 class in the big pool learning all of the strokes doing 5-10m. Granted she’s been swimming since she was a baby so you’d expect her to be ahead of yours but she was happily swimming without floatation devices at 3.

They will be using floats to help with technique though for a long time so floats doesn’t necessary = bad. They’ll use woggles to help with breaststroke legs and lots of float work for front/back crawl.

You’ll be at it for years unfortunately. I don’t think they’re any good until at least stage 5. I reckon my 5yo could get herself out of trouble in a swimming pool but I don’t think she’d have a chance in open water.

But as others have said, it needs consistency at this age more than anything.

I personally found a lot of lessons a waste of time and the quality of teaching quite different depending on school. My ds was going for a year at that age and made virtually no progress, also using flotation devices and waiting around a lot. I took him out and taught him myself with the occasional intensive during the holidays which were vastly better. He is a very good swimmer now, far better than me, and swims competitively so it worked for him. I would either swap to a different school or just take her yourself regularly.

Move to a council leisure centre for lessons, you get a lot more lessons as most are 50 weeks a year, no floats as it's Swim England structure, very flexible, cheaper, usually includes free public swimming too for when you can fit that in and very easy to dip in and out if you need to stop/start lessons or move things around.

It takes quite a long time for them to be able to swim.

The standard that is often used (especially for if they do canoeing or kayaking or similar when older) is being able to swim 25 metres.

That'll take a while - years rather than months.

The noodles are standard and used pretty much everywhere. The arm bands are more controversial.

There's a curriculum that most swim schools follow:

www.swimming.org/swimengland/learn-to-swim-programme/

I got a groupon voucher for 1:1 6 sessions for my water terrified 10 year old after having wasted hundreds of pounds on council lessons in addition to school. He could swim after the 2nd lesson, was happy to do a 25m length by the last one and could tread water happily. The teacher said that he would now need to build stamina and get good form. It was absolutely brilliant. Now as an adult he hates swimming, but is ironically a strong swimmer.

My DS started lessons at 2, never used armbands and his instructors always recommended not to use them. He didnt actually "swim" properly til around 4 but could safely get in and out of the pool around 3 and could doggy paddle around the same age. I would look at another provider

To add, it does take years for them to be able to swim well, but our lessons were £80/term not £200

having ages from 3 years to 7 years old seems a very wide disparity in age and height, along with verbal instruction taking ability

Mine never used armbands in lessons, they used noodles for the first few less then had moved on to holding flotes by half term, and short distances without by the end of first term (putting feet down as needed). The lessons mine went to were 5+, so that might make a difference

In which case you may well be worth quitting the lessons and just taking her yourself weekly if possibly. Not sure why your husbands clashing schedule is an issue. Maybe just alternate?

plus I think all schools here (if you’re in England which it sounds like you might not be) must offer swimming in years 3 - 5 I think

What are you wanting out of the swimming lessons? I’m slightly worried you have too high expectations as you say you can’t afford to keep the lessons up for months and months. My kids have been learning to swim for years but I want them to be able to be strong swimmers with good technique.

but also as others have said our classes don’t use arm bands at all… just occasional noodles and floats. The teacher isn’t in the water post age 4 but the kids can touch the bottom of the pool.

My children’s teacher used a woggle at times and some times boards but never arm bands. Are the following swim England?

Especially in the early stages it’s important to take them swimming for fun too it increase their confidence in the water.

Our swimming lessons have never involved arm bands, not even at preschool level