Kids swim crash courses

[focuspocus]

My DS 9 is very behind on swimming. Not comfortable in the water at all, has been having weekly lessons for a few years and is still in the second stage. He's very tall for his age and the other kids in his class are all far younger and half his height. I'm feeling bad for him but want to persevere so that he becomes a stronger swimmer and more confident in the water but won't make him go all the way though the stages.

There are crash courses available in the summer holidays which are an hour every day for a week Mon- Fri. There is one crash course at this stage each week for 5 weeks. 9 kids can be enrolled in each course.

Would it be unreasonable to book him on more than one of these over the summer holidays?

My two kids are in a weekly 30 min lesson with a max of 4, instructor is in the pool. In two months they’ve gone from wearing pool noodles to being independent swimmers. I also get 1 or 2 sessions in the pool with them. I was so worried as they are not babies and definitely at an age they need to be able to stay safe in water. Definitely try find an alternative lesson provider. One of my kids gets lessons through the school / local authority and they are rubbish - she’d never learn to swim if we were relying on that.

our lessons are horribly expensive but once I know they’re safe in water it’ll be worth it.

Our boy was like yours - we put him in a week of 1-2-1 intensive an hour a day and it made all the difference. His confidence soared and he went back to grp lessons for a year and now as a 12 year old he has great technique and can swim further, stronger and longer than any of us.

We also moved to 1-2-1 weekly 30 min lessons for his younger sister. Expensive but within a few months she was also swimming like a fish. We live in a seaside town close to the water, so consider it money we’ll spent for the peace of mind, knowing that the children are strong swimmers.

@Pigsears thank you. I used to get in the pool around their weekend lessons pre pandemic but couldn't fit more in due to working ft with long commute and wraparound childcare. My DH would try to come too and learned as an adult for the sake of the kids, he's not a great swimmer but can have fun in the pool with them. I am now able to go on weekdays with them so will make it a regular thing.

My dad (pe teacher) taught this age group to swim for years and always said they made more progress going every morning for a week rather than a lessons a week when they forgot what they’d done from one week to the next

@Meadowbreeze thank you. I am hoping for a turning point. It's great that your DD now wants to join a club. The leisure centre we currently use has crash courses up to stage 4 but does also offer a rookie lifeguard one so may look into that for DD who is stage 6.

The crash courses are brilliant. We done them last summer only two of them and it made my daughter jump up a level in September. It was a turning point for her.

@focuspocus I think DD really changed once she did rookie lifeguard, I think it improved her strength a lot. I was a little embarrassed sometimes watching her swim. She would swim like a barrell lol her while body would turn and she'd just flop. She looks so graceful in the water now. Core strength training makes a massive difference.

@RandomQuest he's not said anything himself yet about being the oldest and tallest but I just feel it won't be nice for him. You've prompted me to check about the ages though, if all the other kids are 4 I'll feel awful! I've just found somewhere that I didn't know about with a private pool and it's only a few minutes away so going to look into that.

@FishcakesWithTooMuchCoriander thank you

@Anyfeckinusername yes I did balk at the cost of private / smaller classes but definitely going to do it now. It will be worth it and wish I'd realised that a bit earlier!

@Ahgoonyegirlye thank you it's so good to hear about kids who aren't just swimming well but are confident and happy in the water. It's nice to see DD running towards the sea and sad to see DS hang back in just a few inches. Hopefully this will change and they will be stronger and safer in the water like yours.