Swimming lessons for 4 year old.

[EezyOozy]

My 4 year old is a total non-swimmer. We've been to the pool a few times and she splashes about a bit in the shallows mostly. I've tried to get a feel for swimming by getting her too hold on to the side and kick, or kick while I support her, but I've no idea what I'm doing.

She didn't go swimming due to Covid then we relocated and she's been on a waiting list for months.

Finally at the top of the list. She has a place in a preschooler class for 3-4 year olds. It's in the "small" pool, which is very shallow at one end and up to my shoulders at the deep end. The pool is divided in two for lessons and her class is in the deeper half.

I'm not allowed poolside, I know this is normal and the reasons for this, don't really like it though! The first battle will be actually having her be willing to go in, she won't know anyone . Anyway I'm trying to make her feel excited and grown up.

No arm bands are used. Don't like this either for a total non swimmer in the deeper half of the pool, but I know the reasons for this.

There is a ratio of 8 children to 1 teacher. So there will be 16 children in the pool with 2 teachers and 2 lifeguard watching. I don't like this either ! It seems too many kids!

I've spoken to the teacher about my concerns and she's lovely and I'm sure a great teacher... but I still feel uneasy about it.

I tend to be an anxious parent.... I know this. And I know she needs to learn to swim.

If I could find private lessons with a much smaller child ratio I would , but there doesn't seem to be anything around !

Would you all be ok with these lessons ? Am I being silly?

My daughter is around 90-95cm tall.

Thanks @AlmostAlwyn that was helpful!

Are you sure she's only 90cm that's very small for a 4 year old , even if that's accurate it means she's only slightly out of her depth and will have a noodle/float

I signed my son up. 4-1 ratio. Thought It would be fine. He was 3 when he started. And the first lesson he let go of the side and fell in the water and the teacher was away with another kid and another member of staff had to jump in to pull him out. My worst nightmare came true.
I swapped him to the very expensive 2:1 class in a smaller private pool.
He lost confidence after falling in. But he’s now much more confident and actually starting to swim!

I don’t think the ratio sounds right. I’m sure it was smaller for mine at that age. There was another swim thread similar to this in the last few days and I recall asking one of my kids who was a swim instructor while going through uni what the ratio was at 3yo and I wrote it there. I think it was 1:5 also with a supervisor looking over all lessons lanes (constantly observe instructor competency and that there wasn’t a kid on the bottom of the pool), but they are out and about atm so I can’t check.

Not your fault at all OP, but yet another hidden Covid casualty - 4yo’s that have missed a few years already and just starting to learn. Kids have been the real victims of Covid in so many ways.

I think the depth and you not being pool side is ok. Very normal for lessons around here.
But my daughters lessons are 1 instructor to 3 children so 1:8 seems a bit crap in terms of individual time per child, but maybe we're just lucky and 1:8 is the norm.

Ultimately though OP, at 4 I would just give it a go and try and get her swimming.

My nearly 4 yo daughter is confident in the water and goes to lessons on her own but would not like to not touch the bottom, that seems really weird! My local pool won't even do lessons for under 8s as they haven't got a shallow enough pool so we have to take her further away for her lessons. She is in a preschool group and is 4 kids to 1 instructor. I definitely wouldn't be happy with your child's set up. Is there somewhere else you can enroll her, or someone who does 1 on 1 lessons maybe? In the first instance, I'd be taking my daughter once a week myself to get her used to the water, and the pool noodles so she gets a bit more confident!

@RewildingAmbridge yes she is small!

Thanks everyone, fairly balanced / mixed responses which tells me I'm not being totally unreasonable . The point about minimal learning time per child is also a good one. I'll keep looking for something better (and probably costly)... I may have to send her. Still not 100% sure it's a great idea.

And the first lesson he let go of the side and fell in the water and the teacher was away with another kid and another member of staff had to jump in to pull him out. My worst nightmare came true.

Sorry this happened, it's dreadful. This is my nightmare to... 8 kids per teacher, 16 kids in the pool, 1 lifeguard....

We did one to one classes, with the teachers in the water. It’s very expensive, but they come on so, so much.

The swimming lessons I take my children to dont switch by age but by ability. So my 3 year old is in a parent and child class with a 5 year old who is in my eldest reception class. He can't touch the floor, and he does wear armbands even though I'm in the pool with him.

On the other hand my reception child (5) has moved up from "parent with child", "beginner", "beginner with confidence" and is now in an improver class where she is learning strokes and diving with 5-7 year olds. She swims without armbands or a parent in 3 metre deep water in a class of 8.

I'd feel unsettled at the blanket "no parents, no armbands rule" personally.

@Meatshake Good point about classes being by ability not by age… I did raise this and I was told that since she was four she needs to go into the class I've described, she would in fact be much better off in a younger class/less able with more attention.

Our DS is 4.5 and is only about 96cms at last measure, so we have a "little one" as well.

We luckily dropped upon a class that was 4 children to one instructor in a private pool, but lesson locally are so hard to find, if we wouldn't have found her we would still be on a waiting list for all the others.

Providing they meet the legal criteria for ratio, i would give it a try and see how they get on. If they hate it after a couple of lessons bring them out.
They will deal with non swimmers all the time, especially after lock down and kids missing out
They should know how to make the children feel comfortable.

But i would try this one out before travelling an hour for a lesson.

Hi. I understand your concerns but they have been doing this s as long time (I presume) so will know what they are doing. Mine were in a small private pool - probably about the width of a normal one but they couldn’t touch the bottom. I think arm bands aren’t a good teaching aid but they will have floats . They only go into the water 1 at a time.
Can you watch from a gallery? Also do they do a taster session before you commit? I would say as well that she will probably be fine with you not being there. They act totally differently when a parent is close by and are usually much braver for the instructor.
I am not dismissing your fears at all but give it a try if it doesn’t work out just work on confidence building yourself by taking her regularly. Good luck

There's no arm bands but they will probably all be on noodles for a chunk of it, thru can also push off the bottom easily enough if they do go under, they aren't just going to stand on the bottom, which is slightly over their head, and drown.

When was the last time a child drowned in the uk during such a lesson? I think it's never! And thousands are in these lessons every day.

I think one of the most important things you can do is take her "swimming" yourself as well as the lessons. She needs to get water confidence and practise the skills she has been taught. Realistically just being in the water, getting used to it rather than forcing her to swim.

It's not what I would choose but you can give it a go? Presumably all the children start as non-swimmers?

For the last 6 months I have taken my 4 year old to a Ducklings class, 6 children with parents in the water and a teacher and lifeguard.
My daughter is fairly tall for her age but can't really touch the bottom (just about on her tiptoes in the very shallowest edge!).
She uses an arm float or noodle for the lesson and has just started to swim a little under the water with no arm bands.

She's just about to move to the Stage 1 class - they have no parents on poolside, 4-6 children but they use arm floats or noodles until confident still.

If I had my time again I’d have got private lessons as I spent 4yrs per child (one year overlapped so 7yrs in total) after work sitting watching. Maybe mine are slow learners but once I started my second child with a private teacher she came on in leaps and bounds

My kid started lessons at 4 in a deep pool where he couldnt touch the bottom. No armbands. They use pool noodles which at that age work well. The children are taught to hold the side when waiting the turn or are often sat on the side.

Tbh tho - from watching DS lessons, the time the vast majority of kids make rapid progress is age 5/6. The kids who start at that age rapidly catch up with the kids who began much younger. If I had my time over I'd skip the first few months we did lessons and just have started DS at 5.

Tbh tho - from watching DS lessons, the time the vast majority of kids make rapid progress is age 5/6. The kids who start at that age rapidly catch up with the kids who began much younger. If I had my time over I'd skip the first few months we did lessons and just have started DS at 5.

That makes little sense. If they can’t swim by 5yo they have a much greater chance of drowning before 5yo iyswim. By 5yo they should already be swimming adequately across the width of an Olympic pool and gave the basics down pat and then it’s a matter of building on them, not starting. I’m not saying you can just leave a 5yo in a pool or at the beach and go off and have a coffee, you need to supervise, but if they fell into a pool/creek/dam (fully clothed and cold water), they should be able to have the skills not to panic and be confident enough to get themselves to the side. They should also be confident to swim recreationally in a pool and it be fun as opposed to being nervous and helped by a parent.

By 5yo they should already be swimming adequately across the width of an Olympic pool and gave the basics down pat and then it’s a matter of building on them, not starting.

Many many children retain reflexes that mean they can't lift their head out of the water to breathe and swim proper strokes.

My focus is on not on children being taught the water safety type "swimming" where they are taught to get onto their backs to float and breathe, but on swimming proper strokes.

I don't know any children who were swimming unaided across an Olympic size pool by age 5 and I live in an affluent area where most children do baby swimming followed by preschool classes etc.

My own DS was taken swimming weekly, classes etc, grandparents have a pool so swam through most of the Covid period too. He just couldn't float. When on his back he was constantly fighting the urge to arch his back etc. It just came around the age of 5 and there on in he made far more progress in swimming. Most in his class were like this.

I'm actually just laughing quietly at hoppingpavlova. Do you know an exceptional load of 5 yo? Are you in Australia where there are far far more swimming facilities available?

In UK few children can swim that distance unaided at only just 5 years old. Many learn it between 5 & 6 as I've said in my earlier post, but few have already learned it on reaching their 5th birthday.

Laugh quietly all you want but it’s a relief to have young kids that are water safe and can swim. Yes, am in Australia and our kids generally swim by 5yo - because if they don’t high chance they will drown so it’s a pretty big incentive. I personally don’t know of any 5yo that couldn’t do the width of an Olympic pool unaided but there would be some, particularly as the demographic is changing. Oddly, immigrants don’t tend to place store on water safety and swimming (which reflects in rescue and drowning numbers), but first gen tends to follow the traditional route of starting water familiarisation and safety as babies.

There were no swim schools around when I was young but there were always a few informal schools in each neighbourhood (known as a backyard pool where someone took some cash) and we had all learnt to swim by the time we started school. Those who were good at it and wanted to pursue it then had training at the Olympic pools (pretty much each metro council had one), but no learn to swim schools to get you to that point like there are now, just Marjorie over in the next street at number 12.

Should add its not just about being able to swim but the big part is how not to drown, as they are separate and distinct. So while young kids being able to swim is great, and plays a part in not drowning obviously the other water safety skills are vital and that starts from water comfort as babies.