Back to School Swimming
By Lisa Cook
LA is one of those confusing places sometimes. It’s definitely the end of Summer, almost Labor Day and by now, everyone is back in school. But we’re having another heat wave and it still feels very much like summer weather and swimming lessons are still going on. As well as other more ‘fall-like’ activities such as soccer; which I know started this week because my son plays. Truthfully, its great to take advantage of these remaining weeks of warm weather because for many children you can really see the progress towards the end of summer when everything clicks and having those extra weeks keeps the skills fresh and consistent. If schedules are becoming more challenging, once a week lessons are fine! At some point you’ll of course stop swimming for the winter and the holidays.
Here are some tips to keep your children from forgetting all that they learned (this by the way stops when they’re about 5 but before that, its very common for children to forget that they know how to swim when they have a break for longer than 2-3 months)
Practice when you get the chance! If the weather is nice and your pool heats up quickly, turn it on for a couple of days and jump in with your kids on the weekend or go night swimming. Kids LOVE night swimming - to them it’s a huge treat. If you don’t feel like heating the pool, maybe just turn on the jacuzzi and get in there. This is a great place to practice face-in, bubbles and small glides; even floating (no jumps into a jacuzzi! It’s too dangerous).
Vacation! it’s always a great time and a great excuse to get in the pool and swim. Plus, most hotels that are kid friendly have small kiddie pools that are shallow enough for your children to stand in. Bring a few of their favorite diving or pool toys and don’t forget goggles if they use them.
Show your kids a few of the pictures and/or videos you took of them over the summer. Remind them of how well they swim and ask them to talk about what they remember about their swimming lessons, (I bet they’ll say the eggs!)
Start lessons early in the Spring. Believe it or not, this is such a great time to get some lessons in. It gives them a head start before summer and they’ll progress even faster. Also, Spring break is often another time for family vacations in and around pools and water. It’s great to have them start off prepared with their swim skills fresh in their minds; then lots of vacation practice too!
Don’t panic!! If none of these things happen and your child seems to forget everything, I promise that about 2 weeks into next season, it’ll all come back! After about a month of swimming again, there’s usually a huge jump forward in accomplishments.
As always, we thank you so much for trusting our team with the very important task of teaching your child to swim and be safe!