Milestones are celebrated by parents all around the world, at different times and for different reasons. Maybe you are excited about your baby’s first smile or word. Maybe you are looking forward to their first step or first day of school. Other moms celebrate lesser-discussed milestones like kids getting themselves dressed or buckling themselves in their car seats. Whatever the milestone, kids need instruction and practice to reach some of these things. Swim lessons are one of those often-discussed milestones, but when should your children start? H2O Survival Swim School believes these lessons can start as early as six months of age, for many reasons.
Different Timing
It isn’t uncommon to see swim schools start children young. How many of us have treasured the idea of “Mommy and me” swim lessons to get kids comfortable in the water? The difference for H2O Survival Swim School is what is being introduced during that time. We discard the fun songs and splashing and focus on basic survival skills needed by children of all ages. At 6 months, a child is often mobile, which can lead to accidents. This age also means they can be taught to potentially move their body to help save themselves. Infant Swimming Resource has provided over 8 million safe and effective lessons since being founded, according to ISR Swim Babies, many of those being very young.
Difference in Lessons
H2O Survival Swim School has several differences in lessons to consider. For starters, we will target different survival skills at different ages. From 6-12 months, our students will practice rolling from front to back to float and waiting in this position until help arrives. Older children, up to the age of 6 years, will learn a sequence of activities: rolling from front to back to float, swimming with their head down, then rolling from front to back to float for rest as needed. The goal in these lessons would be getting to the side of the pool to exit or wait for help there. Additionally, our lessons are geared to provide maximum instruction for our students since we teach one-on-one, for ten to fifteen minutes at a time, five days a week. This repetition means we can effectively teach our students, at any age.
Difference in Goals
Another reminder, in regards to swim lessons starting this early, is that we are not teaching swim lessons in the traditional sense most parents were taught. Rather than practicing kicking and dunking our heads underwater for two weeks before getting a certificate, we are teaching survival skills for a child to save themselves in the event they fall into the water. This skill set is completely different, and children can learn this skill at a very young age.
If your child is between 6 months and 6 years old, we can begin the process of teaching them survival swim skills. We want to meet with you to discuss the approach we take to what we consider best practices. Reach out to us today. If your child has done lessons with us in the past and needs a little refresher before a big vacation or a trip to someone’s home with a pool, we can provide that too.
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