Swimming lessons for a 4 year old?

[flowerfairy]

Didnt know if this was right place to put this or not?
How old were your kids when they started swimming lessons? MIL keeps saying ds should start going. Have made enquiries, it's £39 for 12 half hour sessions, and parent has to be in pool with them. Is this normal? I think i was about 5 or 6 when i started and i went in on own. Just wondered what other experiences/areas do or is this standard now?
TIA

Ours have no parents in the pool from the age of 3, so you can read a magazine sit and watch instead.

We've been taking her since the age of 3 (she is now 5) - she is EXTREMELY water-confident although not technically particularly great

Definitely worth it so I can read a magazine

My ds has just turned 5 and has started swimming lesson s - i don't have to go in the pool with him he has an instructor in with him. He wasn't keen as first but now he loves it - they don't wear armbands, last week he jumped into the deep end - scared me to death but he thought it was great. He did jump into a woggle and then swam upto the shallow end. He is a real water baby but take the woggle off and he sinks like a stone

Our local leisure centre does lessons from 4 without the parent having to go it.

Ours is parent free from 3 years. So I sit and chat while dd is in the water. She isn't especially confident and not technically very good either - tends to just lie there while the instructor pulls her along but she has become much more confident and really likes her instructor and the other 5 or 6 children in the class.
They started them in the baby pool, basically just sploshing around.

my dd (4 ) goes . She swims on her own. have just paid £56 for 12 weeks HTH

DD & DS both started at 3.5 - no parents in water, lasts for 20 mins.

At that age its more about building confidence rather than swimming. My DS is more of a sting ray than a dolphin and is constantly told to take a breath!

My Ds is 4 next month and we've been doing swimming lessons for about 6 months. Its the same price as yours and I had to go in with him too. Well, actually I had a choice about whether to put him in a class without me (ie just an instructor) or one where I went in too. I orginally booked the one where I didn't have to go but he refused to get in without me as he's not that confident. Now I go too and we have a great time . His confidence has really grown too so next term he'll be in the big boys class . HTH

It depends on the council policy as to whether you need to go in with them or not. In my local council you need to go in with them up to the age of 5 at which point they can go in by themselves. In my sisters local council they take them on their own from the age of 3 - I take dd to my sisters local pool as I have an 18 month old as well and couldnt take both of them to our pool at the same time.

p.s. it is £24.30 for 8 x 40 minute sessions

My ds started at 3. 2 instructors in the pool and up to 12 kids. (his current class has 7) Its £40 for 12 half hours. He swam on his back without floats today for the first time {proud mummy emotion) but sank like a stone after about 2m.

DD started swimming lessons alone at aged 3, we sit upstairs and watch. She is now working towards her level 3, has just achieved her 10m. The lessons cost about ?40 a month

Sorry that should have said 40 euros a month, lessons are once a week for 1 hour.

DS started swimming lessons at around 3.4yrs he is now 4.4yrs and stopped going abotu 3mths ago . However within the 9mths of lessons he went from swimming with armbands on to being able to do 25m unaided. He is extremely confident in the water so I take him swimming once a week while the girls are in nursery.