How come it’s important to finish the 10-session Swim Program for your child to progress. Such question is something we should be curious about and the same way in asking these questions about our children, “How fast will our child learn to walk? How soon will my child learn to talk? How quickly can my child learn to read?” Relating with the example questions, learning to swim is not much of a difference since, like all those other skills, swimming is a process and not an event. This is why it's important to give the same unconditional support and patience when your child is learning how to swim.
With swimming lessons for babies and older children, there can be a practice that a child will take some lessons, learn to swim and then be finished. Such an “event-based” mentality can be a dangerous assertion to make. A realistic way to approach swimming lessons is to have a long-term process in mind.
Attending lessons as a regular part of a child’s weekly routine through their young age is a great way to ensure proper development for their skills. A child should be allowed to learn at their own pace, practicing skills appropriate to their age. Usually, it takes most 3 to 5 year-old students 20 to 30 lessons to swim well enough to get across a small pool (15 feet wide) and perform basic safety swimming skills. For a 6 to 9 year-old, it usually takes anywhere from 8 to 20 lessons (Reiser, M.S., 2019).
So the real question is How often should I attend lessons each week? W hile progress may be achieved by attending short-term lessons, a regular and consistent practice will often give the best results. We recommend, attending once a week throughout the year would be better than attending everyday of the week for a month or two and then stopping for a long period of time. This is considering the way a children learn and how well they will retain skills. There won’t be an obvious progress every lesson or every week but having once a week class allows skills to be maintained and for progress to be made over time.
In thinking of when will a lesson should stop, it would be nice to consider that every program will have their own goals, a good idea for parents to consider is for a child to be capable of swimming 400 meters (with good technique, without stopping and without becoming exhausted). That skill may take time to reach, but it will establish a strong foundation. Children over 7 years should be able to maintain those skills. However, reaching this goal doesn’t mean a swimmer should leave the pool. It’s still important to keep up the skill, continue to improve and consider the wide range of aquatic sports that will be fun, challenging and beneficial to your child's future.
It’s also a good reminder that swimming lessons are not just another option to check out of the list of activities for children, along with other sports children may like to excel at. They are valuable life saving skills, offering many benefits for the child and for the adults who are more practiced swimmers.
Start by locating a nearby swimming pool, and sign up your child for lessons by clicking our Classes and select the course that fits your child's needs. Contact us to schedule your child's first lesson now!
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