Swimming lessons

[MsMermaid]

I have a thread in behaviour/development too but thought I might get different people answering here.

I'm trying to be brief. Dd2 is 5yo, has never had swimming lessons before but has been swimming with me regularly so is water confident and can swim doggy paddle for a full length, not bothered about being out of her depth etc.

We booked her in for a 1 week crash course, were advised stage 3 based on what I said she can do.

The problem is that she's extremely shy, and has been terrified of the lessons, not of the water but of the teachers (3 different teachers in 3 days). She froze and took half the lesson just to get in on Monday, got better on Tuesday but still very anxious, better still today but today's teacher was very unsympathetic, seemed to think she's just being awkward, rather abrupt with her, etc. He now says that she should be in stage 1 for weekly lessons, which are for building water confidence before they start swimming. I'm happy to do that if it's the best thing for her, but it's not the water that's the problem it's all the different people, and if she goes to stage 1 then when she moves up it will be a different teacher again. The other option I can see is doing 1 to 1 lessons, which have the benefit of keeping the same teacher for a long time, but there is a ling waiting list and she won't learn to deal with other children in the class.

So if anyone has any advice I would be very grateful. Thanks.

bump.

I'm really hoping someone has some advice about which swimming lesson would be best for dd2.

Maybe a week's course was too much? How about a weekly lesson at a local pool, with the same teacher most weeks? She is very young and consistency is important.

Thanks.

I know that consistency is important, and if I had even considered that there would be different teachers every day I would never have booked her in. It's only half an hour lesson each day, it's not like it's full days sessions.

What I'm trying to book for her is weekly lessons, at the same local pool that she's been to this week (to try to keep something consistent) but I'm concerned that I may be putting her into lessons where she makes little progress with swimming because she's so stressed about the people, or where she's never allowed to move out of stage 1 because she's never going to be as confident as they think she needs to be.

I think that once she gets over the shyness and they see that she is water confident they will move her. They won't keep her back because she is shy, but as it is now, they can't see that her nerves have nothing to do with the water.

She froze and took half the lesson just to get in on Monday

The teacher won't know that this is due to her personality and not the water.

Out of curiosity, does the pool run the International Learn to Swim course, or their own course? Our local pool has just switched over to the above, and it seems much better for moving children on when they are ready. So if they are running that, you shouldn't worry about her being held back. My DC1 is being moved up a class despite still not being able to swim at all, but because she is water confident they are putting her in a class in the shallow end of the adult pool.

Thanks for the reassurance. I have no idea what scheme they do, I'm not even sure they know what scheme they do, the teacher didn't have time to speak to me properly and the person on reception couldn't tell me what they do in stage 1, just that it's water confidence stuff.

I do realise that the teacher doesn't know how much of this is the people rather than the water. You seem to have to sign up for 10 weeks at a time and I'm not sure if they are willing to move them partway through those 10 weeks. I'm also not sure that she'll overcome her shyness in 10 weeks of only half an hour a week, so it may be academic about whether they'll move her.

I don't actually think it matters massively what level she's in at this stage if the teachers are good, they'll still be starting to teach them breathing and stroke technique. Which if she's anything like my confident but self taught swimmer is what she'll need? Even dd in preschool level is learnng these things. DS was put in stage 3 but largely on grounds of confidence and cooperativeness (huh? Did dh steal someone else's child for the assessment?), he has some catching up to do on skills.
So I'd say your main problem is finding a teacher or a swim school who are good at dealing with confidence issues, water or otherwise. At DS swim school I once saw an extra teacher spend 25 minutes chatting to a parent and child on the edge of the pool, gradually getting his confidence to a stage where he would try getting in. I think several watching parents nearly fell off our chairs when the kid then jumped in and independently doggy paddled to the other side. I wonder if that was a child like yours op.

We had some rubbish lessons before we found a good teacher Ms. The local council run pools had about 18 kids in the water and someone shouting at them from the side - tried two of them.

By word of mouth we found our fab teacher and have been there almost 3 years (hard to believe) really, class of 6 max and she is in the water with them if she needs to be (like all the time for the first year), swimming alongside each one when they start lengths etc., etc..

We have almost outgrown the levels she teaches where we go but will drive 20 miles to join her club, probably after Christmas in the snow and cold.

Do you know anyone who can recommend a good teacher.

Ds(11) didn't start lessons until he was 7. We put him on waiting lists for group and 1-1. He started group on a Saturday then space came up in 1-1 on a Wednesday so we did both for 9 months.

He had to complete the 10 weeks of each group course before getting a badge and moving up, but he always moved up 2 levels after each 10 weeks (once 3 levels) and had completed all levels in a year. If you can do 1-1 it does speed things up considerably (saves money long term and keeps them motivated) and is much better at teaching a proper technique.

Meant to say 1-1 is great with the right teacher, ds had same one for 8 months, she was very experienced, but left and was replaced by a young boy who didn't have a clue ds didn't click with so we stopped going.

We are trying 1-2-1 lessons til she builds a relationship with the teacher, then hopefully move into group lessons with the same teacher. We've booked them til half term with the teacher she liked best from this week.

She had her first one today because amazingly there was a space that became free on Thursday. DD managed to do the whole lesson without crying, but did have a little bit of a sulk when she was asked to swim on her back with a float. She grinned at the teacher a few times, and by the end of the lesson she even laughed!!! No talking to the teacher, but its such an improvement from Monday she's like a different child!

This definitely feels like the right decision for the minute, even though it's more than twice the price of group lessons. We watched the stage 1 lesson directly before hers and none of them were anywhere near swimming independently, although they did do some breathing things that DD has never done.

Hi op swimming teacher here!

Having a teacher the same teacher every day on a crash course really makes all the difference - especially for nervous swimmers. Normally they are so its either bad management or stand ins.

We work with stages and they can be a bit confusing but if you ask at reception they should be able to give you a sheet with the requirements on to achieve the levels. There will be a mixture of skills and travel.

What I would recommend is waiting for a 1-2-1 teacher that also has their own classes that your dd can follow in to. It's not unusual for a nervous child to be kept back a stage as if they are pushed too forward it can really undo work they are actually capable of doing. A good teacher will be able to encourage dd whilst not holding her back eg doing appropriate skills/travel suited to her ability along side the lower stage.

Also when some children can already travel eg. Doggy paddle when they go in to stages that their parents assumed they can do (with out being properly assessed) it's not uncommon for them to not be able to complete or even keep up in that class. You would be hard pushed to find a teacher that teaches paddle any more as its not a recognised swim by the ASA.

She might have to go back to basics eg, learning to put face in water, blowing bubbles through mouth and nose while face is submerged, push and glide on front and back.

Go back to the center and ask to speak to the swimming co ordinator and ask for a assessment and a 1-2-1 teacher that has their own lessons. Talk about what teacher you think your dd would be suited to, which teachers are fun and do a lot of learning through play as that's what it Shoukd be focusing on rather than ploughing up and down.

Hope all goes well for her!