Swimming lessons or swim as family

[Happinessischeeseontoast]

Help me decide whether to start swimming lessons for the 6yo or start a gym membership and swim as a family twice per week. 6yo loves the water but needs arm bands but I just can't be arsed with the running round for 30 minute lessons on the other side of town on an inconvenient day.

On the other hand swimming as a family twice per week (with older dc) could be a nice bit of fun in the dark winter months. It includes gym membership so I could take myself off to the gym once a week too.

Second option works out about £20 more over 3 months and sounds SO much more fun but I'd be locked into it for 3 months and there's no guarantees DC wouldnt just dick about and not learn anything.

I took mine to half hour private lessons, she had him swimming by the end of the first lesson. We weren’t tied to a course, once the basics were sorted we reverted to family swim. Could you do that?

Hmm not a bad idea. I've a feeling she will pick it up quickly with the right teacher.

Sceptical that there's availability for it though. Seems to be a high demand for swimming lessons all the time around here!

Can you do both? Not sure how that works financially. I think proper swimming lessons are invaluable for life, but I also think swimming as a family is also invaluable as it’s making exercise fun and showing your Dc this as a family unit.

Just go swimming as a family. It's far more enjoyable, and your children will pick it up.

You need lessons if you want them to actually learn how to swim rather than play in the water.

And surely a gym swimming pool is a far more expensive way of taking your kids swimming than just going to the local leisure centre?

What arrangements does your daughter's school make for swimming? I'd check before making any decision.

Assuming they don't offer it until year 5 or 6, I'd definitely go for private lessons until she was a confident swimmer.

At that point, you could swap to gym membership so that you could enjoy swimming together.

Live rurally so local leisure centre is a long drive away and unfortunately school doesn't offer swimming until 9/10.

I think she'll pick it up quickly but not necessarily with us, so will just stay on the waiting list for now. Once she's learned the basics we could change to family swimming for stamina/fitness/fun for all of us!

Would go as a family. We did that rather than lessons and both mine are good swimmers though I am also a strong swimmer so could teach them myself.

My DCs had years of swimming lessons and am glad, they are both really good swimmers now. DC1 is about to do swim teacher training, it pays a relative fortune as a part time job.

I would do six months of lessons then switch to the gym. Kids need to know how to swim.