How Often Should Your Child Take Lessons?
Age Matters!
How to decide how often to attend with lessons with Coach Jenny!
When people ask me this I let them know there are many contributing factors.
What are your goals? How open is your schedule?
Do your kids love swimming is it fun? (or a chore)
How much do you wish to spend or how much do you value knowing your child is water safe?
How much value are you are receiving with each lesson?
Perhaps the biggest factors to think about is your keiki's unique needs. Every child has its own skill level, pace of learning, level of interest, and innate ability. What works for one child won’t necessarily make sense for another. Nevertheless, some general guidelines can help you determine how often you want to visit the pool. If you are able Coach Jenny often recommends one lesson per week be private and one group class per week when getting started.
Again: What Are Your Goals?
To evaluate what makes sense for you and your family, you should consider what your swim goals are.
Do you want your kids to progress from one level to the next in a certain amount of time?
Do you want your kids to get acquainted with water safety skills before a certain age?
Starting with these questions can help you figure out how many times a week to meet with a professional swimming instructor, like Coach Jenny.
The Most Important Goal: Learning the Essentials of Swim Safety
The first goal that every parent should prioritize is having their children learn the basics of swim safety and water competency. Too many children die of drowning each year due to unfamiliarity with how to react in the water. Knowing the basic skills that help a child remain calm and orient themselves in the water can be lifesaving. Ie. does your child freak out when their googles fill with water? Or do they ignore it and keep swimming to safety to fix the situation?
Some of the basics of skills of safe swimming and water competency include the following:
Submerging and resurfacing in the water.
Turning over (flipping) to float on one’s back
Breath control underwater
Turning around
Moving forward (swimming to safety)
Getting familiar with each of these can begin very young. Infants can learn to float on their back before they are twelve months old. Other skills like moving and turning around can be learned once sufficient motor development skills have occurred.
Goals to Consider by Age:
What kinds of skills can be learned at each age may be helpful in deciding how often to take swim lessons. Here are some benchmarks that can be reached at different ages.
Infants
Infants can learn very basic safety skills like remaining calm and splashing and getting water in their face in a water environment. Infants are capable of submerging and resurfacing, and turning onto their back. Many people don’t realize that babies can learn to float before they turn 1. Our parent tot classes prove that is possible!
Age 1
After turning 1, some children can learn how to use their legs for brief propulsion while being held by an adult; but for the most part, children at this age are just getting familiar with the water and having fun with toys and or their parents. This is a great bonding activity! Playing games and splashing around in the water helps to develop a sense of comfort with being in the water.
Age 2
2 year olds can start to learn the safety skill of moving toward the nearest wall while they are in the water. They can begin practicing splashy kicks and using their arms, which they will start to associate with sustained forward motion. More advanced children at this age can swim 5 feet independently and submerge underwater comfortably.
Age 3
Practicing breath control is something that can start at this age as kids learn to count while holding their breath. Other breathing exercises like bobbing (sinking and exhaling) as well as blowing bubbles can become more of a focus. Learning to jump into the water and get back to the wall can begin for some. More advanced swimmers can swim 7 to 15 feet on their own. Kids at this age can jump in the water and flip to their back for air before swimming to safety source- wall, stairs, or adult.
Ages 4-6
Children at this age can begin to swim in a more coordinated manner using their arms and legs. They should know how to swim freestyle comfortably and be ready to learn other strokes! If they join the pre-swim team prep classes they will be introduced to the competitive strokes such as butterfly, backstroke, and breastroke. They may be able to swim for 15 to 20 feet. (Jenny’s Pool is 20feet) They can begin to use the kickboard to swim independently.
Ages 5-12
At 5 years old, children can start to learn how to breathe while swimming by turning their head to the side. (Side breathing) From 5 years onward, they can advance their skill with the various styles and strokes. The less advanced may be able to reach distances of 20 to 40 feet. Our Kona Community pool is 25 yards. In order for keiki to join the swim teams they must be able to swim all 25 yards without stopping to hold the wall. The more advanced will begin to swim medley and transition between different strokes.
Minimum Recommendation: Once a Week
Having swim lessons at least once a week is a good way to avoid your kids forgetting what they have learned. Since repetition and reinforcement are essential components of childhood learning experiences, having a weekly visit to the pool with Coach Jenny can ensure proper uptake of skills and techniques.
For More Consistency: 2-3 Times a Week
You may want to bring your kids in for instruction a few times a week if they are eager to learn. Multiple visits in a week may also be a great way for kids to get comfortable more quickly. The more they come the easier swimming becomes because their cardiovascular strength improves. If they attend 2x per week, kids will see their abilities advance more quickly.
Goals Should Be Built Around Your Child’s Unique Needs
Some kids don’t like the idea of pool time. Other kids seem ready to jump in immediately. Coach Jenny offers swim classes for every skill level and age group so that your child gets the right attention for their situation. Sometimes, a child just needs encouragement to learn to have fun in the water. This is something Coach Jenny is always prioritizing.