Are private swimming lessons worth the extra cost for a non-swimming 4 year old?

[Aderyn]

My dd1 is 4. We take her swimming and she moves about with arm bands on but she's nowhere near to being able to swim (keeo herself afloat) unaided.

I need to enrol her in lessons. We have a public leisure centre near us where the lessons are supposed to be good. But they make the enrolment process so bloody difficult. They run lessons in 14 week blocks. Enrolment takes place during one set week. If you're not already enrolled, you have to hope they have places and go through the enrolment process anyway, just to get on the waiting list.

Alternatively, there is a woman near to us who has a private pool who offers lessons in very small groups at £10 per week (half an hour)

It's more than I would like to pay but if it were only for a limited time, I wouldn't mind.

Would it be abnormal to use the private lessons to get dd1 swimming unaided. And then once she is swimming unaided, we would regularly go to the public swimming pool with her and dd2.

All advice and opinions welcome.

[mojosmum]

my dd goes to lessons at the public baths & has gone from being terified of the rain to jumping in the deep end & tuoching the floor yes its taken her 2yrs but im more than happy with them. we had togo through similar enrolment as you discribe.
friend takes her dd to private lessons her dd has alway been taken swimming from being tiny but 12mnth after starting lessons still cant swim. thats not to say it the intructor it how the child progresses so you could end up spending a forture.
my honest opinion is the all children should learn to swim as my xp nearly drown in the sea when he was little, i dont think it matters where they learn aslong as they do.

[paulaplumpbottom]

We decided on private lessons for my dd 3. We haven't regretted it. I think the one on one has benefited her greatly.

[skiwear]

wow some impressive sounding swimmers on here. Really need to get dd1 doing this but council ones are full! Waiting for them to open the waiting list for nest term!

[SofiaAmes]

Between my own kids and my stepkids I have had kids in first time swimming lessons at ages varying from 6 mo. to 6 years. In my experience, (apart from the infant lessons), small group (no more than 6) lessons are the most effective. I have found them much more effective than one on one with all my kids/stepkids and their varying personalities. The peer pressure/competition helps a lot. I too found that the cheaper council classes were way too cumbersome with their long terms and need to book too much in advance. In the end it was worth paying a little extra for private group lessons. Also, I found that the half term and summer crash courses were really good. And also, as soon as they can keep their head above water, it's really important that they do their lessons in a pool where they can't touch the bottom or it will take them way longer to learn (most kids just can't resist touching the bottom if it's possible).

[Swimmingqueen]

I have been teaching swimming for 25 years and running my own swim school. I have written a blog about benefits of private lessons and when they are most beneficial- you find it useful.
www.bluewaveswim.co.uk/blog/private-versus-group-swimming-lessons