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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

DD, 4 this week, Just organised swimming lessons for her.......

36 replies

PinkChick · 16/04/2007 11:52

she is happy enough in water, we go to pool and lark about without her realising we are trying to teach her a bit, but as i am not confident in water myself, i want her to be super confident
lessons start a week on sat for 11 weeks, is there anything i can be doing to help in the way she would be taught?
and have you found lessons at this age to be any good?

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Clary · 16/04/2007 11:56

Yes, my ds2 staretd in January (he was 4 last week).

The teacher encouraged us to start him, earlier than our pool usually says, as he is really confident and has been going to pool with me and other 2 DCs since he was tiny. 4 is the normal start age here.

I think you can help by still taking her in the week for a fun session with maybe a sneaky bit of practice of what she's been doingin the lesson. I'm sure she'll be fine

Clary · 16/04/2007 11:57

Shd add that DS2 passed his 5m and is going up to level 2 tomorrow. He's so proud! (as am I of course)

Original poster

PinkChick · 16/04/2007 11:59

well we do/have started again to take her on a weekend, but could take her on the sat morning(lessons at 3.30pm)or sunday..she will jump in(sometimes needs persuasion) and let you pull her across whils kicking her legs or hold under her tummy..but shes very 'ill doo it if i want and if i dont i wont' with us..even bribing wont work now..she just says no i wont do it cos i dont want a biscuit/choc bar/toy/comic..little minx

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Original poster

PinkChick · 16/04/2007 12:01

they mentioned 5m to me early!!!!!!!!oh my god, that sounds so far!..do they do that when theyve got out of armbands ?would think so?..hes done really well then hasnt he

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Clary · 16/04/2007 12:02

Does she swim with floats or armbands? Or use a woggle (do you know what I mean - the floaty sausage things)?

Our teaching pool has these available at toddler sessions. Will she use these and swim unaided (by you I mean)?

I wouldn't go twice in one day btw. Is there no way to fit in a session in the week (after work for example?)

themoon66 · 16/04/2007 12:02

Swimming lessons were best money I ever spend. Once you have confident little swimmers that can dive and everything, holidays become so much more relaxing.

Clary · 16/04/2007 12:03

5m is no distance btw, only across the pool really.

Yes he has dropped his armbands about 6 mo ago, basically when he could stand on the bottom of the pool (before that he needed them for a bit of support as he had to spend the whole session swimming bless him.

Original poster

PinkChick · 16/04/2007 12:06

she has arm bands and splashes about and will 'swim' if i hold her hand/arm/tummy, she likes to take bands off in shallow water and splash about so is quite confident.
she has had floats and has used woggles yes..its just there will be no instructer in water with them (10 in class) and the no armbands thing sends shivers up my spine!!

i could take her after work sometimes but im a childminder and i may either have children late or overnight(eratic parent shifts) so couldnt 'set' a date for it really would only be weekend i gcould def set time., but i can see twice in one day or every day on weekend would become a 'chore' for her?

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Original poster

PinkChick · 16/04/2007 12:08

well dd can touch bottom of kids pool and would also jump in with no bands on (i think!) so has the confidense but cant actually swim so wouldnt be able to get anywhere without walking on bottom without them

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Clary · 16/04/2007 12:14

At level 1 in our pool they use arm rings, they can have as many on as they need (eg 4 on each arm) and then take them off as confidence increases.

DS2 was unusual in not having any armbands in January tbh.

Original poster

PinkChick · 16/04/2007 12:52

yeah, those rings sound good actually!, have heard of them bfore.

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emat · 16/04/2007 14:10

Lessons for this age are great. Does your dd put her face in the water yet? I think that if they can do that and keep their eyes open it's like a revelation. That's when swimming becomes like flying and they tend to come on very quickly after that.
I got the aquasphere masks for dd and then ds. They are very comfortable and don't leak.

Nemo2007 · 16/04/2007 14:19

My ds started lessons 2mths ago and he is 3.6yrs. He loves it and on saturday he swam with no armbands and is doing his 5metres next week. Really would recommend it. Only thing would say is a few weeks in she may go through a lack of confidence thing but you have to stick at it. DS has just had his but where he goes does little certificates and badges which really boost him along.

Original poster

PinkChick · 16/04/2007 14:45

thats brillient..hope dd takes to it so well

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SofiaAmes · 16/04/2007 15:01

My dd started at 3.5 and now at 4.5 can swim the length of the pool unaided. She goes once a week for a 25 min. group (4 kids) lesson. In the summer she got extra practice because we have a pool at home, but in the winter she really didn't get anything other than her lessons.
I highly recommend goggles, since the thing little kids seem to like the least about swimming is getting water in their eyes. Also, it's important to move them into a pool where they can't touch the bottom as soon as they are managing to stay afloat themselves for a short period of time.

Original poster

PinkChick · 16/04/2007 17:08

thanks for the tips. She does have goggles, but although ive loosend them i think im still doing something wrong as they 'dig' in and leave big red marks round her eyes?????
when we take her ourselves this week, we'll go in big pool, we norm do if we go to different pool, but this is one were she#ll be taught so want her to gain confidense in place too

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christywhisty · 16/04/2007 17:53

Mine started lessons at 6 months (DD) and 1yr(DS). The lessons upto 3 were mother and baby with lots of nursery rhymes.

From 3 to 5 they went into the baby pool by themselves. The classes were tadpole and frogs for the more confident. Again lots of play (ring a ring a roses etc) and the teacher then takes them occassionally out of their depth.

At 5 they go into beginners and after that work their way up through Intermediate (still in shallow end but taken up to deep end to try and swim length (25m)
, Improver (deep end), Improver 2(refining stroke and stamina) then Advance and finally swim trainer.

DD is 9 and going up to Improver 2 tomorrow. She will start doing some work in pajamas and DS (11) has been in Advance for a while and is working on his Silver.He will go on to life saving rather than swim trainer as I think he would get bored of just swimming up and down for an hour.

I loved swimming when I was younger, but really felt it was important they were strong swimmers. They are now starting to do kayaking and sailing at our local mariners base .

Decided to start lessons for myself and now do a class once a week, which is so much fun and am redoing badges I did when I was DS age. I am also working on my silver, same as DS

pointydog · 16/04/2007 18:03

dd1 did water confidence classes at age and they were great for getting her used to being submerged

sunnysideup · 16/04/2007 18:37

I think swimming lessons are brilliant. They way we did it though was just to take ds swimming ourselves at least once a week and have a total free for all in the pool. DS' confidence in the water has always been very high.

We started one to one lessons with an instructor when he was four and he was swimming alone within a few weeks. Saved a helluva lot of money on lessons by delaying and starting later in my view! He's still only 4 and has lots to learn but I was amazed how quickly the swimming came; but I'm sure it's as a result of having been used to just splashing around and experimenting in the water. He would have hated formal lessons too, before now-ish.

Original poster

PinkChick · 16/04/2007 19:27

thanks for all your input, we also have a play in the pool and had dd throwing water at her face in bath tonight, so i know she will be ok really with the splashing(something i HATED as a kid!)..i am a very poor swimmer, so taking dd on morning and larking around suits me, i CAns wim but am not strong, so want her to be very confident and know what shes doing(i have a major fear of water and cannot go out of depth, the ocean terrifies me).
these also sound more like water confidence, well level one at least, they said they help the lay back/forward/submerge/float etc..am really glad ive booked them regardless of ridicluous cost as its something that she may well need one day!

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yogimum · 16/04/2007 19:57

i've just done a course with birthlight. They also were running the infant aquatics classes for teachers training. The babies were loving it. I wish I had my little one with me but as I was on another training course I left him at home with daddy. We took him swimming at approx 6 months, wish I'd taken him sooner as he loves the water.

Clary · 17/04/2007 00:32

Pinchick how much are they then? (actually we need one of those)

Original poster

PinkChick · 17/04/2007 13:02

its over £6 per hour, dont get me wrong i have happily paid it as it will highly benefit dd, but think there shouldbe more of an incentive for children/parents as its such an important thing

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Clary · 17/04/2007 13:41

Oh that's not much. At first I read £6 a lesson (usually half an hour).
we pay about £3.50 for each half hour lesson.

Are the lessons an hour long tho? That's too long IMHO esp at this age.

Gobbledigook · 17/04/2007 13:45

It's a no brainer. Swimming lessons are money well spent imo and ime. Good luck to your dd! My eldest two came on really quickly and are confident adn able swimmers at the ages of 6 and 4. Ds3 will start in Sept when he's 3.

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