Swimming lessons - does every child do it?

[middleagedandinarage]

How important does everyone think child swimming lessons are? Does everyone put their children? DD's 6 and 4, both currently go to council run lessons, half an hour once a week. They both hate it, have done since day one, don't hold a carry on when actually in the pool and do as they're asked but it's a fight getting them to go every week and the fight is draining! I've always said it's none negotiable, swimming lessons are a must but are they? Is it worth the fight?

I would give it a break for awhile and just do swimming for fun.

I hated swimming lessons when I was tiny but developed a lot more confidence one summer on holiday. I enjoyed lessons when I was bit older. Also make sure they are not tired or hungry at the lesson time.

Being able to swim is important, swimming lessons are not. I took my son swimming for fun often then most weekends for about a year (he was about 7 ish) & he was soon swimming and doing a bit more each week e.g jumping in the pool out of his depth etc.

Mine did the intensive course in the holidays and were swimming by day 2. Always been a non negotiable for me as I can’t swim at all.

I think it’s an important skill which could be lifesaving.
They will benefit from throughout their lives - our junior schools do swimming sessions, on holidays (as a family but also when they are old enough to go on their own). Lessons when they are younger is easier than as an older teenager or adult.

Mine also made a drama about going so I rewarded them with a little treat afterwards and they admitted that they liked it when they were there just hated the fuss of getting ready so I moved lessons to either the start of the day (between 9-10) or after school (and went straight from school pick up.

Essential to be able to swim, not necessarily essential to have swimming lessons.

My son hated going in the swimming pool at age 3 and was less confident in the water than his 18 month old sister.

I signed him up to small group classes which he's been doing for about 6 months now. They're expensive, but he's come on so much, and at (just turned) 4 he can now swim about 7-8 metres unaided, jump in from the side, get in and out safely, submerge his head completely and pick rings up from the bottom of the pool at a depth of 0.8 metres. We've also been going to the pool as a family outside of lessons so he's been swimming twice most weeks, sometimes more.

He now has two more lessons and then we plan to spend as much time as possible at the pool over the summer, and I'll sign him up for council lessons in September. The combination of small group lessons and lots of family fun time at the pool has completely transformed his mindset and I'm confident that when he joins normal group lessons he'll be happy to participate properly now.

I’m one of those (apparently rare) people who don’t think swimming is an essential life skill. I’ve managed to survive nearly 60 years without managing to fall in a river and I’m sure swimming lessons wouldn’t save me if I did as the current, cold or submerged crap would be my undoing.

BTW I can swim but I don’t like it.

My son (now in his 20s) did the swimming lessons with school, played in the pool on holidays when he was a child but has never had any formal lessons.

He has also managed to avoid falling in any rivers or being swept away in a flood! he never missed out on “swimming with friends” or any of those supposed benefits either because that’s not something that happens in our world.

If your kids hate it I can’t see the point, you presumably wouldn’t keep forcing them to do some other sport if it caused so much stress so why is swimming different.

Mine have never had them. There's a massive wait list since covid in my area, so I started taking them swimming regularly myself ½ hour of lessons to swim ½ hour of having fun and not actually realising they're still learning to swim.
Now they can swim well enough that they can swim lengths. Their technique might not be the best and they'll never win any races but they can swim!

Because what other sport can save your life?

Just because you never got swept out in a river doesn’t mean someone else won’t

extremely hungover (or drunk from the night before) in Benidorm age 26, me and my friend swam out in the rough sea further than we realised. The waves were huge.
ex competitive swimmer, lifeguard trainer, swimming teacher, (the poster who said lessons are con needs to give their head a wobble) I managed to get us both out of the deep rough water, by holding her above the water so she could breathe and I held myself underwater and went for it, she was a bit shaken up as she wasn’t a strong swimmer. Yes stupid of us but everyone does something stupid. If I couldn’t swim, we’d be dead

Thanks, yes this is exactly what I want. I don't think either will persue swimming as a hobby, I just need to get them to the point of being safe in water.

As a none swimming adult, swimming lessons were a must for my kids, I hate that I never learnt how to swim as a child.

Non-negotiable for us too. Both DDs had a mix of council pool lessons and much more expensive ones at a private pool but they started early as babies. I would start with private to build confidence and then move to council pool ones when they need to build up stamina.

Private 1:1 lessons have been the best money we've spent on our DC

Agree 1:1 or 1:2 lessons are worth the money and I also agree with getting them confident in the water with fun pool visits until about age 7. By this point mine were able to skip straight to stage 4 and quickly progress in just a couple of terms to stage 7. I wouldn’t fancy standing around in a cold pool waiting my turn in a group lesson.

Personally think its important for their own safety, but my daughter was the same. She went with the school and hated it then we finally got in to the local swimming classes (year and a half waiting list and other pools are an hours drive away so not really do able). Again she hated it especially putting her head underwater when she's normally pretty brave with things. I was starting to think it was an expensive waste of time, but all of a sudden she's like a fish and loves it! I'd definitely stick with it if you can even if the just get the basics

My DS8 was a late starter due to Covid and then a fear of getting water in his ears. He only started Sep last year. He goes to a private pool with a company called Swim Excellence, his lessons are 1/2hr every week and he LOVES them. He has come on so well, will now dive off the side (in a sitting position) to collect discs off the bottom of the pool. Maybe look at something like that. They are a bit more expensive but classes are small (2 teachers to max 5 kids) so they get lots of close attention.

People who can’t swim are less likely to drown - fact!

I think it’s really important. My daughter is only 2 years 7 months but she has been going to weekly swim lessons since she was 6 weeks old.

I never learnt to swim as a child and I would have to say, I made damn sure my children had lessons. It’s an essential life skill. It’s a life saving skill and they will be/feel left out of so many things in life if they can’t swim. Persevere with it.

I wish my parents had allowed me to take lessons.

I had lessons at school when I was about 10. I don't remember having lessons before that or when I actually learnt to swim - I assume my parents taught me before school.

I can swim, but I've hated it my whole life. I get cold in the water very quickly, even at centre parcs. I hate the faff and the chlorine and the wet face and hair. I find it boring. I hate shaving my bikini line.

But I'm glad I can swim as a life skill.

So as long as a child can swim, I don't think they need any more lessons tbh.

I think it’s important to teach children how to float, tread water and what to do if they fall into water or get into trouble while in water.
I don’t think being good at swimming in a pool necessarily means you are safe near water.

Several of the teens at DC’s swimming club struggled with the sea swimming at swim camp, these are kids who swim competitively training for hours in a pool every week. Obviously they were strictly supervised but you could see how they could quickly have tired and got into difficulty if they were in their own.

Absolutely! It’s a skill that one day might save their lives! Both of mine had swimming lessons when little. I told them as they got older, I don’t necessarily need them to bring home swim medals and trophies but they need to be able to at least swim to shore if a boat capsizes or at the very least, tread water and stay afloat!

My son also hated swimming lessons. I did a deal with him that as soon as he could swim a length he could quit. It worked - he got stuck in as he had a goal.
As he got older he appreciated that I’d made him stick at it as once he was ac teenager he wanted to go to the open air pool with his mates and mess around and also go to the water inflatable park so it’s worth sticking with it.

It's compulsory in year 4 anyway. However I'd look at lessons elsewhere. Public pools are busy, cold and noisy. Lots of private pools do kids lessons. Water is warm and pool is smaller. Some hotels and gyms, private schools have pools but in the west midlands there are numerous small pools run specifically for lessons. Other wise maybe do the lessons yourself?

Ou school does swimming lessons at the local leisure centre in year 3. - spring term for 10 weeks. An awful lot of children start off not being able to swim at all, but by the end most of the “non-swimmers” can, at the very least, float, particularly on their backs. Some children can already swim, and they are given more advanced instruction in the big pool. There are usually 3 groups, each with a qualified instructor- we ( the staff) just wander around and encourage!

I’ve never had a child not want to go in, they enjoy it!