Is there much point to a 6-year-old having swimming lessons?

[Thesnailonthewhale]

My 6-year-old can swim maybe around 8 to 10. M in a sort of recognised stroke. She's currently in stage 3 lessons . I'm just thinking of taking an eight of lessons because she isn't getting that much from them and spending a lot of time standing around, waiting for her turn to go up and down the pool etc. we swim at least one other time apart from the lessons and would replace the swimming lesson with a family swim where I'd make her practise. We do the practise anyway on our weekend swim. So should be practising at least twice a week, about 10 to 15 minutes each time, which is probably more that she gets out of the 25-minute lesson anyway.

Am I missing something?

I don't need her to be able to do butterfly or breaststroke or anything. Just be able to swim across the pool and then naturally grow her stamina as she gets older. She's a million % confident in the water but also safe. she'll dive down to the bottom of the two to three metre pool to collect weights etc.

I'm just thinking I could save myself 40 odd pound a month

DD9 has just stopped swimming having completed stage 8. Probably could’ve stopped at stage 7. She can swim about 800m.

I never had swimming lessons and was just taught by my parents and it’s annoyed me my whole adult life how shit at swimming I am. My parents got me to the point where I could do a couple of lengths of front crawl, very inefficiently. I had to teach myself breaststroke so I could get the lengths in when I wanted to swim for exercise for eg. I ended up using the techniques my children were taught to refine it. It’s so much harder to swim without knowing how to coordinate your movements with your breathing.

only being able to do 8-10m isn’t really being able to swim at all, and would prevent her from attending swimming/aquadash birthday parties for example.

if your daughter is getting very little time in the water despite only 4-6 in the class I’d look for other lessons rather than quitting.

I think you could go swimming for an hour once a week eithout so much emphasis on technique and "learning to swim". He will pick it up by being in the water with you

Ideally they need to get to the end of stage 5. Swimming regularly helps but it can be painful watching as it takes forever to complete a stage.

I hated taking mine to swimming lessons. Older 2 got to stage 5, DC3 stopped at the beginning of stage 5.

That’s how I learnt to swim but my technique is woeful.

DS2 is 6 and also in stage 3 - he has his 15m badge and can occasionally nearly do a whole length of backstroke but I'd still class him as a non swimmer.

We live on the coast so I think that probably skews things but parents tend to make the DC go all the way to level 7/swimming in clothes stage before they stop lessons (DS1 is nearly 10 and has just finished level 6, I think he's about average amongst his friends)

Confidence isnt enough.

being able to swim a width isnt enough.

You need to be able to swim technically competently as preserves energy and what gives you confidence of in trouble in water.

If the lessons aren’t great find a place with smaller class sizes where they get more swim time per lesson but please don’t take her out of formal learning - especially if your a family that does use water activities a lot.

@Thesnailonthewhale My dd just turned 8 and in stage 3 too but going up to stage 4 soon. Many of her class at school have never even had swimming lessons! Of the ones that are having them they range from stage 2-4 so I’d say your child is expected level.

Agree with pps who said their children came on loads swimming every day on holiday as my dd is the same but I cannot replicate that level of exposure to swimming at home.

I plan to keep my Dd in lessons until she can swim at least 25 metres confidently on front and back. Former GB Olympic swimmer recommends this as minimum for children and strongly campaigns for this and more swimming on school curriculum - I agree with this as one term of swimming lessons in year 5 is simply not enough for those families who can’t afford swimming lessons or even to take their children swimming. It is such an important life skill.

If she’s in stage 3 she’s still a way off the minimum swim England recommendation of being able to swim 50m to allow swim to safety if she gets into trouble.
it might not be an issue now but as she gets older she’ll need that if she wants to do outdoor inflatables or water sports, or w en just to be able to swim competently with friends.

My 6 year old is in group lessons and I don’t think they’re a waste of time. Currently swims 25m but will need to build up quite a bit of stamina to get to 50m

I will keep her in, and look at 1 to 1s I think.

DD is actually good on her back and can do 25m but only when out of her depth... otherwise she will put her feet down instead of just going and resetting to a flat position which she will do in the deep end.

Her front crawl is only good at 8-10m, she ends up turning into her back.

Swim teacher here.

Firstly - what youre going through is very common, I see a lot of kids drop out at stage 3 as they feel confident but dont see the point ib going further.

Without judgement - id advise you consider the following two key points:

1. whether she is genuinely safe and competent - can she swim 100m continuously, can she tread water for 60 seconds, can she swim in clothing etc. Typically stages 4-6 is where i see most of my swimmers starting to manage themselves competently in the water. If you were to compare it to cycling - your child can ride with their stabilisers off around a playground, but a stage 4-6 can ride safely on the road. Yet unlike cycling, you need lessons to get those skills.

2. Swimming is a technique first sport - it requires practice to get good and discipline. Would you consider keeping them in lessons to help them learn greater discipline and focus? yes - many hobbies will teach you that but the later stages of swimming lessons teach them to stay calm, follow instructions and keep going even when tired — its a discipline that could actually save their life.

Good luck with your decision. Its a really common discussion I have with stage 3 parents so wanted to share my experience.

It is also worth remembering that they don't learn to swim in a regularly improving pattern. It really is very normal to plateau, then have a spurt, then plateau for a while.

That said, I wouldn't be impressed by the standing about, 'waiting for a turn'.
Obviously, I don't know about where you live, but it might be worth seeing if you can find better lessons for her.

Two parents I know (at different times) put their dc into a course during a half term holiday, where they had an hour's lesson every day, and it made a MASSIVE difference. One of them was in a class of 2 on the Monday, and then the other child never came back, so she ended up having tailored 1:1 lessons for the next 4 days, having paid for group sessions. Might be something to look into.

That isn't what OP is going through.

She is clear she thinks her DC need to swim better than they are - she just doesn't think that the swim lessons they are in are an effective way of getting there.

So basically she can’t swim if it’s 8-10 meters in a not properly defined stroke. Which is pretty poor actually for age 6 (it’s more that what I’d expect from a 4YO that has done maybe half a term of lessons…).

This isn’t my experience at all. My son is nearly 5 and has been swimming since September and none of the kids in his class can swim 8m. They’re all at about 1-2m max. I think it’s pretty unkind and unrealistic to suggest OPs daughter is pretty poor at swimming, all kids learn at different paces with swimming.

My DNephew is 7 and not a brilliant swimmer. He can swim with a float and did have lessons but not having those now. If his parents took him more he’d be better, but they also have a toddler.

It's okay, this is Mumsnet, that same child of PPs is 7 or thereabouts , and. they will be summer born, have read The BFG on their own when they were in Reception, and currently enjoying a little Brontë. They will have been able to complete 200 piece puzzles since they were 3, and enjoy a 1000 piece of an evening.

I agree some of the expectations on MN are quite off OP. My six year old is in stage 2, although close to moving up, and he certainly isn't the oldest (The youngest is 5)!
I hate swimming lessons. Takes up a whole evening as no time to do anything else before, and then it's only time for dinner and bed after. But I do think they are a non-negotiable for a good while yet!
I also find the same as you, there's quite a bit of waiting. I've looked into other options though and there's nothing I can get to on time.

There are some harsh responses here!

My kids are older now and none of them were naturals and never likely to progress to swim clubs. I made them keep doing lessons until they had their 200m badge (one of them chose to keep going and get 400m). This seems to have been enough to engrain technique, we don’t swim regularly but they are confident and safe on holidays.

However, as a parent, I found it incredibly frustrating that there seems to be one very fixed track for swimmers these days - focussed on perfect technique and including butterfly stroke. The vast majority just need good enough technique to be able to build up stamina and confidence.

There's two pools, so limited options.

School 1, stage 1 - used noodles. Teacher would just drag them round the small pool area, not teaching them - had a sub one week and he actually taught them... We moved pools, as she was in stage 1 for months and months and months (actually got a refund because the manager even admitted the teacher was shit and in the wrong group)... Swimming Pool 2, still stage 1.... Was like night and day. The kids used noodles, but only as an aid to get them learning arms and legs etc, quickly moved to floats.
She was in stage 2 for a year after that... Very slow progress, butwe made sure to practice more and after another 4-6 weeks, she moved to stage 3 around Christmas.

So, still early days in Stage 3, but it's just.... Slow. She is not a natural athlete, and is lowon coordination levels. I just watch her lessons,and it just seems to be a waste of time most of the time. She's standing around (in the pool) waiting for the kids and instructions etc. then she gets her go. I don't think it is the teaching to be fair.

It's probably her ability that's the limiting factor.... which is why I wonder about the lessons.

Yeah, the 1 to 1 sessions are at 6pm or later which is too late (she's in bed by 7!) or in the middle of the day on Saturday, which is a royal pain.

At the stage 3 stage I think the thing that makes the most difference is being comfortable underwater. When she swims is her head in the water and only coming up to breathe?

If she is very comfortable swimming underwater I would take her out of the swimming lessons, work on her stamina (assuming she will accept being taught by you) and then when she can comfortably swim 50m of any sort of stroke, get her back into lessons hopefully at stage 4 where the teaching should involve much more actual swimming.

If she isn’t swimming underwater or mainly with her head in, work on that.

What made the most difference to mine was a weeks holiday somewhere sunny, with one swimming lesson a day and the rest of the time spent in the pool.

That sounds rubbish. She shouldn’t be just standing around waiting for instructions.

Only 1 in 3 children can swim 25m by Y7 in high school.
We take our Y3s swimming (teacher) and the number of chn that can’t swim more than 10m so need armbands (because it’s a 1:17 ratio, not a private lesson) is increasing year on year. They are embarrassed.

My son is 6, he’s been swimming since birth, it’s hard to get them to that 25m stage, it’s like a constant slog but once they do they fly! My daughter did - she was 25m aged 6 and just turned 9 and doing 2500m and galas.

See if your local area has a swimming club- we found one and it’s ran by volunteers, in fact my son moved from a swim
school to the club and had the same teacher as she volunteers her time. It’s £4 a lesson.

To me, it’s a life saving skill and I will give up everything else before I stop their swimming. They need to build up stamina and strength as opposed to distance, really. The distance badges just help that along.

DS is dyspraxic and it took a long time to get going. Once he got to stage 4 it did speed up (other than 2020 when he passed in Jan, couldn't get into the next class by March... banned until Sept but transfers were frozen... banned again Nov... got a few weeks in in Dec and finally moved up ready for another ban Jan-April 🤦‍♀️)

Each stage did get quicker than the last other than that glitch.

Swimming being whole body movement has been good for him, and good for core strength. He's no great sportsman, but he's not laughably terrible like I was, and I think long term swimming (and karate) have helped with that.

We just have to make sure instructions don't have words like "left" or "right"

She prefers to swim along under the water.

She will rhythmically breathe, face very much in the water, and rotating head to breathes, but clearly struggles towards the end, rotates her whole body and is wanting to have her face out for longer (hence ending up upside down)

We practice I guess it's just time and patience.