When children are learning to swim, should the teacher be in the pool?

[Pernickety]

Dd2 is nearly 5 and she's in beginners swimming lessons. She can't yet swim without aids. She had a week of intensive lessons in August and on the back of how good those were, we rebooked for a whole term, once per week. The intensive course had teachers who were in the water and very hands on. The teacher she now has - which is supposedly for the same stage lessons - doesn't get in the water.

Some things - like hold one float and use one arm - DD2 just can't do. Instead of being helped, she's just allowed to walk across the pool!

Teacher in the water with pupils would be unusual around here at that age.
At nearly 5yo the lesson should be about water confidence, things they can prove to themselves that they can do on their own and building those activities up slowly into proper swimming. As long as your child can stand up, what's the problem?

DD goes to two different swimming lessons, in one the teacher is on the side and there are helpers in the pool with the children, her other lesson yesterday had the teacher in the pool with them but that is not mormal.

at that age our are mostly out of the pool but sometimes get in to help with specific things. Depends a bit on the class size as well - I've noticed that they get in more on weeks when they have fewer kids as the 'in-the-pool' things tend to be more one-to-one.

sounds like she is being asked to do some quite hard things.. is there a big range of abilities within the class?

I think being in the water is really important right up to when they are doing lengths, and even then is useful.

We're no longer with these people - we moved away, but they teach to a really high standard, and teachers are in the pool till they children are really very advanced, to make sure strokes are as good as they can be.

www.springboardswimmers.com/1.html

DDs teacher gets in some weeks but not always. Once, when she was meant to be swimming a width in deep water but got very nervous so wouldn't let go of the side, he jumped in and swam backwards, encouraging her across the pool. She loves him.

Where DD swims the teacher is int he pool with Level 1 and Level 2 swimmers, and sometimes with level 3 but not every week.

In her previous lessons the teacher never got in.

I, and DD, much preferred it when teacher was in the pool. Seemed far more effective and seems to get better results quicker.

the teachers are in the pool with ds (nearly 4) but when he moves to the next class at age 4 they are mainly out of the pool.

I think it's really important that the teachers are in the pool and am suprised to hear how many aren't. It gives the children much more confidence to have the teachers right down at their level and - as someone mentioned - on hand to help with strokes etc.

Dd1 learnt to swim properly at 4 and is doing lengths etc now at just turned 5. Her coach has always been in the pool with her.

At this age the teachers for my kids were mostly out of the water but would have got in to help a particular child who was struggling - then get out again. So pretty normal to have them poolside.

We were very lucky once with DD1 - she was in an improvers class with only 3 other kids, one day none of them turned up so the teacher used the opportunity to get in the pool with her and work on some more advanced stuff. A good teacher will adapt to what the children in the group need.

In my sons class (with children between 6 and 8) the ratio is 1 teacher for 3 children, maximum 9 children in the pool. All the instructors are in the pool. We pay £80 for 12 sessions.

We have the main teacher on the poolside and the assistant instructor in the pool.

Thanks for your replies. The classes are small. There are 4 children to one teacher.

I have two children and my experience of small group lessons has always been the teacher in the water.

Even for my DD1's intensive week in August, the teacher was in the water, and she is a good swimmer who was working on stroke technique.

I'm just starting to get a bit irritated by the lack of consistency from teacher to teacher. We wasted a term of swimming lessons for DD2 between April and Summer when she was put up a group into too high a group. After swapping venues (but the same swim school), and the successful week of intensive lessons, I was sure this term was going to be more successful but now I feel like I am wasting my money again.

At our pool, teachers in the pool in the 3 to school age lessons. Sometimes the teacher get's in with the school age beginners and sometimes not.

Depnds on the swim school round here. There's a municipal one where they fend for themselves in a shallower pool or a private one with instructors in for beginner classes.

Having experienced both, the latter works far better.

These are private (not council run) lessons.

I think it says a lot about me that I thought this was going to be about the instructor being a potential paedophile!

This thread has surprised me, I had assumed it was usual for swimming teachers to be in the pool for lessons. I have very little experience with actual lessons (dd has had one so far) but I take my children swimming a lot and it seems to me that it must be very hard to teach proper stroke technique without being in the pool with the children. At dd's lessons they have 4 or 5 small groups at different levels in the pool at once. The instructors for every level are in the pool.

I don't necessarily agree alarkaspree. It's harder to demonstrate the stroke in the water as the kids can't actually see what is happening underwater. The worst teaching my ds every had was when he was in the water with a helper, but that was only one term and I moved him back to his old lessons. Both my dcs have beautiful strokes and have been taught by the teachers on the side.
I also have advanced swimming lesson and the teachers come into the water with us, but a lot of their demonstrating is still done from the side.