HOME

Our family was staying at a hotel and enjoying the indoor swimming pool, when I began to observe a father who was trying to teach his daughters to swim. The youngest girl decided to take a break and came over to where I was. She looked at me and said, “I just can’t put my face in the water.” I asked her, “Do you know how to hum?” “Yes,” she replied. I explained, “All you have to do is hum when you put your face in the water and you will never get water up your nose!” She tried it and in a matter of a few seconds was able to put her face in the water.

It’s well known that a parent is a child’s first teacher. Chances are that you will be the first person to introduce your child to the exciting world of water. The E-Book, "Teach Your Child to Swim" is not intended to be a complete substitute for swim lessons, but is simply an aid to help parents know what they can do when they take their children swimming. After all, water activities are Americans #1 source of recreation (American Red Cross). Chances are you will be in the water more with your child than any swim teacher. It is surprising that there are so few resources to help parents know what they can do to help their children learn to swim. If parents will simply help their child learn water confidence, breath control, floating and kicking, they will progress through any swim class much faster than children whose parents have not worked with their children on these basic swimming skills. You don't even have to be a great swimmer yourself to help your child learn these basic skills and be well on their way to becoming a fantastic swimmer.

Parents have many important things to teach their children, and swimming is definitely one of the most important! I hope through this website you will find the tools you need for fun and success in this wonderful effort of teaching your child to swim!

Should I Teach My Child to Swim? One Mom's Opinion

Written by octopusmom http://www.octopusmom.com/

There aren’t too many things we don’t teach our children. We teach them to walk, to talk, and even to ride a bike. Yet most of us pay top dollar to have someone else teach them how to swim. When I was a teenager, I got a summer job teaching 3 year olds how to swim. They sat there on the edge of the pool, terrified to enter the water. In reality, I don’t know who was scared the most..them or me. When I had my own children I listened to countless friends and family members ask me each summer if I was putting them in swimming lessons. My answer was always a defiant “NO”. It’s not that I don’t want to pay for them to take classes or go to fun camps. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The simple fact was that I didn’t want to pay someone to teach them something that I so easily could. Karate?? Now that was a different story.
If you can swim, then chances are you can teach your children how to. The benefit to teaching your children how to swim, is that it builds up their confidence in you. YOU are their teacher, their mentor, their playmate…not some gawky teenager at the local country club masquerading as an instructor. They take their cues from YOU. When you make swimming fun and exciting, they will follow. But there are a few simple tips to helping you achieve swimming success.

First: DO NOT PUSH THEM: If they are uncomfortable, respect that and focus on gaining their trust. Don’t let them go in the water, force them to jump in, or do anything that will make that trust in you diminished. They have to know that when they expect you to be there to catch them..you will.

Second: GET FRIENDS: Children do best by role modeling..hence all the fuss over swim lessons.. You can gain all the benefits to this by inviting some other friends over to the pool to play. Seeing other children playing in the water and having fun usually relaxes even the most reluctant swimmer.

Third: START EARLY: If you wait to introduce swimming and wait to get their faces wet until they are 2 or 3 then you will have an uphill battle. Swimming or at least getting their faces wet should be something they are familiar with at an early age. Let your little ones splash in the bathtub and if they get upset when water hits their face…try to ease their fears. Let them know that water isn’t scary and that it can be fun. Always remember though, never leave and infant or toddler alone in a bathtub or a swimming pool..even when they are wearing flotation devices. Nothing is 100 % safe and you should always be watching them no matter what.