Swimming teacher struggling to teach my child to swim

[Mostpeopleonhereareniceitsok]

My dc is almost 5, keen to get them swimming. Second lesson today one on one with a swimming teacher. He wouldn’t go in the deep pool as was scared (teacher was holding him) and when in the very shallow pool, wouldn’t really listen or follow instructions, just wanted to play, lots of shouting etc.
He said he wants to continue the lessons, I asked the teacher and she seemed to be saying if he won’t go in the bigger pool, how could she reach him.
Is he just too young? Should I wait or tell him he has to listen to the teacher etc (have said this before)
Its a long drive and expensive, so I want it to be worth it.

*Teach him

I think you have very high expectations of a second lesson for a five year old unless he has been going for lots of fun family swims on a very regular basis.

It’s late to start lessons, best time is about 6 months old. But either way why won’t he listen? What does he do at school? Does he have SEN issues?

Five is a perfectly normal age to start swimming lessons, so don’t worry about that.

can you take him yourself and get him used to getting his face in, jumping in, generally feeling comfortable? Don’t use armbands, but maybe take a noodle to support under his arms so he can kick his legs a bit?

he does need to be able to listen and do as he’s asked, but if he can do this in school he can do it at a lesson. Getting over the fear factor will help most of all.

I think a better title for this thread would have been ‘my child doesn’t listen to the teacher’.

I agree with PP - he can’t really learn to swim u less he’s confident in the water, and that might be best in the baby pool.

How much experience has he had in a pool? Is it just excitement? My DD wouldn't let go of the side when she started. She's now swimming lengths. She started at 4 too.

Hi had lessons as a baby and then covid came. Has been in the pool a fair amount but never wanted to take arm bands off. He was in the big pool with no arm bands and floats but in her arms. I think that got him all excitable and then wouldn’t focus much in the small pool and kept asking to play
Listens well at school, no issues I don’t think.

Perfect age to learn is5 but most of stage1 is spent getting to used to the water, being in the water, playing, floating etc. if he hasn’t been to pool much before this will take a-lot longer than child whose done lots of water play. My eldest was a fish and spent years club competing at swimming and now teaches stage 1-2. My younger DD wouldn’t put her face in the water at all until she was 5, turned out she hated getting water in her ears, then suddenly it clicked. I’d take the child yourself weekly to play blow bubbles, float and hold a float to kick and happy in the water. The deep end can wait until the confidence is there .

Ok thank you. The teacher kept trying to take him back in the big pool, but he was saying he didn’t want to. I think she feels that he should be in there?
Should we leave lessons and just continue trying to get to the pool and playing each week, anyone taught your children to swim yourselves, Dh thinks he might be able to, I’m dubious. The teacher also said he might be better in group classes rather than one to one. I assumed the other way round would be better.

Baby swimming lessons here are £15/half hour..not everyone can afford that.

I'm a swimming teacher 4-5 is the average age ignore those who did waterbabies. They don't make the best swimmers trust me. I'm not sure why she is insisting on the deep end. For me it's about water confidence, learning to get themselves buoyant in the water with a woggle/floats, learning to stop, putting their face in, blowing bubbles.

I wouldn’t be that happy about them starting in the big pool/deep end. My boys started with parent & child classes then went on to ducklings then level 1. My 5.5 year old is now level 2 and he’s still in the teaching pool where he can touch the floor.

Its not late to start lessons at all. Waterbabies & the like teach a form of water survival skill, its separate to proper swimming strokes which babies & toddlers physiologically cannot do. The youngest a child can properlt start swimming is about 3.5 and some won't get until nearer 6.

Practise outside of lessons using a pool noodle instead of armbands. Start with both for confidence then remove the arm bands.

The teacher doesnt sound great. Try and avoid private swim schools where there's one owner & loads of 18/19 year old barely qualified staff.

How much swimming do you do outside lessons? If he only swims during lessons he will never learn.

My dad used to teach swimming. He would refuse to have anyone in his class before the age of 7. By all means get him confident in the water, not minding being splashed, putting his head under the water. And maybe hold off the formal lessons for a bit longer.

🤣 don’t be silly. Until baby swimming lessons became a heavily monetised fancy branded offering - and let’s face it, we all rushed to give Water Babies our money for the Nirvana photo not the swimming ability - generations of children learned perfectly well later. 5 is not late to learn.

My dad used to teach swimming. He would refuse to have anyone in his class before the age of 7.

Why though? My 6 year old could swim 25m front crawl or back stroke before his 6th birthday. Properly!

Why are you blaming the instructor op?
Perhaps take him to the pool as a regular thing so he gets to learn to enjoy the water and will see other children doing things that he can achieve if he pays attention.
But don't blame the instructor for your dcs behaviour.

Don't stop his lessons. Give him a few days to get to know the instructor. I would have a talk with the instructor and request if he could avoid the bigger pool just until he gets a bit confident in water.

Private lessons aren't always the best for kids like your son who would most likely do better with some positive peer pressure from peers. If other kids are going in the pool, he's more likely to. I'd try normal lessons first. 1:1 is better for SEN or once they kind of know how to swim so stage 2ish.

@KarmaStar I wasn’t.
I’m asking others advice as to if it’s too young.
He does go regularly, as stated.

Surely it should go without saying that the swimming is proper, otherwise they are just splashing/floating and somehow getting from side to side which isn’t swimming.

@Zebracrossings Yes, might be an idea, he kept asking her to play with him at the end, but obviously she had to go to other lessons. I’m wondering if we’re both expecting too much, too soon? Should he just play for a bit for the next few weeks. She was holding him the whole time in the water in the big pool, but dunked them both fully under and it was then he wanted to go in the small pool. Maybe he needs time to warm up a bit?

Sounds like my DD! She did much much better in small group so 1:2 or 1:3 as she’d conform to what the other kids were doing. And they were cheaper. So win-win.

DS had lessons for a year without even taking his feet off the bottom and swimming one stroke. I honestly thought he'd never learn. Then one day, the teacher tried him with goggles on and he was off and away within 10 mins! It was amazing.