Swimming is for everyone. It is one of the safest and most effective ways to exercise
your entire life.
Children
The American Pediatric Society recommends that children start formal lessons no earlier than six months of age.
For children, swimming is a developmental and cognitive skill. The younger the child, the more swimming is a motor development
skill.
Motor and coordination skills happen at a different
pace for each child so I like to keep classes small to allow for individual attention. I have found that children
younger than 5 years will learn better through play, games, songs, and water exploration.
After 5 years of age, kids are better able to follow instruction and participate in structured activity.
Their motor skills and coordination are maturing which allows children at this age to do drills and learn basic swimming skills.
About two years ago, I started working with a little girl who was five at the time.
After a few weeks of getting her used to working with me and being in the water, I started doing Total Immersion drills with
her. Between her sessions, she would watch the FreeStyle Made Easy DVD. Her grandmother and I became a team.
The grandmother would make sure she watched the DVD and I would work on the drills with our little swimmer during our sessions.
At 7 years old, this little girl is beautiful to watch. She has swimming skills that are very refined for her age and
she has a capability that will last her a lifetime.
Swim
Class Schedules (for children)
I teach swimming at the Skyline
Sport and Health Club. Whoever designed the pool probably wasn't designing it to be a teaching pool, but its long, rectangular
shape with plenty of deck space makes it a great teaching environment.
From the perspective of a small child, a large pool must look like an ocean. Skyline's pool is a single depth
(4 feet) pool and only three lanes. I think this makes it more accessible to children, not quite so overwhelming.
