to wonder about swimming lessons

[badger2005]

Just wondering whether to get on the swimming lesson bandwaggon. Sounds like kids go for years and years and make slow but steady progress. Would they progress okay without the lessons? I don't remember having weekly out-of-school lessons for ages and ages as a child, and I can swim. Is it that hard?

I guess the swimming pools etc really benefit from this idea that you need weekly lessons for ages and ages to make even slow progress...

What do you think?

We've tried group lessons and 1:1. It's taken years for one of mine to be able to swim a length - four I think.

They enjoy it though so we carry on.

What I didn't anticipate is that the quality of swimming lessons varies greatly. It's well worth checking them out before you sign up.

You can always tell children who dont have lessons, they do not know how to breath properly and have no style at all.
My DS 18 and DD 16 had swimming lessons from 1yr and 6mos respectively until they passed their bronze medallion. I don't regret a penny of it. DS is now a qualified lifeguard and earns good money on a casual basis at the local sport centre and has done so for nearly 2 years.

If you were learning a musical instrument and you only did the lessons once a week, with no practice in between progress would be really painfully slow.

Judging by the amount of people we pull out of the sea each year, I would say the british don't take swimming very seriously.

Most people end up at a remedial standard at best, which doesn't really give them a fighting chance, and certainly means a whole host of water sports are not going to be accessible to them.

We live on a planet with about 74% water, at some point you will really wish you were a stronger swimmer, it's hard to avoid.

start swimming lessons and keep going, and then add a swimming club, make your children swim laps at least twice a week, from about 9, one day they will thank you,

get them sea and river smart, make sure they do courses on the sea (kayak,surf,sail), learn about rips, tides.

I've lost count of the amount of people I have gone in for, I've lost count of the amount of children I have pulled out who's parents were not able to rescue them themselves.

rnli.org/aboutus/lifeguardsandbeaches/Pages/Lifeguards.aspx

join the RNLI, rase money for the RNLI, save your own life.

What does everyone think about swimming lessons for toddlers? I'm trying to sign my dd (2) up for lessons at the moment but everywhere is full! Enrolement for the council lessons was a couple of weeks ago, I turned up an hour after enrolment started and was told all lessons were full. By then term had already started for private lessons so I've not found anywhere so far.
After reading this thread it looks like most people don't start lessons until their children are older, so I was wondering whether lessons aged 2 are worth doing or not? I do take dd swimming with me occasionally but often find an excuse not to go, also I'm a weak swimmer myself so not really able to teach her much!

OP your children will probably make more progress with lessons than without lessons. If they have reached the point where they are happy in the water than they really need coaching to build confidence in strokes and breathing. My DCs just want to play when I take them swimming and never do any actual swimming so lessons are a necessity.

You do not need to lessons or instruction to learn to swim. We have a pool and live in Oz and my kids could swim by age 2 - we didn't 'teach' them, they taught themselves just by playing in the water with us. Lessons are completely unnecessary IMO - just take them to the pool and play in the water with them once a week.

DS11 recently did a trial for a swimming squad - the teacher really thought he was great and wanted him on the team. He commented on how fast he was and how great his technique was and how he must have a great teacher - I don't think he believed us when we said he had never had a swimming lesson.

Non swimmers miss out on so much fun on holidays. It should be compulsory to learn. However all lessons are not equal and if you are not seeing progress then definitely go and watch some different teachers.

We've just started a second term (bb is 10 months old now) and, well, it's a bit difficult. The lessons are extremely expensive (£15 p half hour), however after visiting the location and speaking to other parents we felt confident that trying out a term was a good waste of money :) And it was - the instructor was amazing and every week we came I felt like it was expensive but worth it. She was clear, confident and authoritative - i swear babies would stop crying when she held them. Really - that good.
Then we had a break and when it came to renewing I asked whether the instructor is staying on. Sure, they said, that's what we have here. . .
but by the time the second term started, thats not what they had. The new instructor may be lovely but it feels like madness in the pool. Absolute shambles. What also annoys my is that other parents have had lessons already - they should also know the drill: get out of the way once your turn is done!

I guess my advice is: check out the pool and the instructor. Give it a go for one term, that will give you some confidence in the pool with your little one and you can then have activities you feel confident doing in the pool on your own.

They might go 'years and years with slow progress' but the thing is, they're learning to swim with professional help.
My eldest has had weekly swimming lessons from the age of 5 until the age of ten, and is now arguably a better swimmer than myself.
My youngest at the age of 6 has just started swimming lessons, and in the space of a few months has learnt how to jump into the pool unaided (which he would never have done before) and do a few strokes on his back without the aid of any floats.
I'm of the opinion that swimming is a life skill. You need it to be able to survive. I could try to teach mine myself, but I'm definitely no expert.
That much is shown by my eldest who can now swim fantastically on his back and I can't!