Swim lessons - every day, or once a week?

omurray

DS wants to take swim lessons so I've been looking into the options in our area.  Looks like we can choose a 2 or 3 week long class that meets 4 days a week.  Or, we can choose a class that meets once a week for a few months.  I'm thinking DS would rather go once a week, but wondering if the lessons would be more effective if we went every day.  Thoughts?

KoriBrett

once a week so it doesn't become a chore for him, it's still a treat.

shopgirl78

Ours are every day for a couple of weeks.   Not sure how its better to learn though.  

Hooray2005

We've been doing 1x/week lessons since last fall, and recently switched to 2x/week.  DS has made a lot more progress in the last three weeks - I think he was forgetting a lot between classes, and simply adding a second day during the week has made it a lot easier for him to remember what he's learning and to make strides toward actually learning to swim.

Think it depends a lot on child factors, though, too.  If your child is one who listens well to, follows (and remembers) instructions, then once a week is likely fine, and as pp said, keeps it a "treat".  We've never done every day lessons, but I can imagine that becoming tiresome if it lasts for longer than a week or two ...

gibs

if you're going to swim a lot after the 2-3 weeks, do the short class. If this is your summer swimming, do the once a week. Or pick whichever is more convenient for you.

mrshutch

I like the once a week b/c they last longer (longer period of time). DD would be disappointed if we went all the time for a few weeks and then stopped. But she also has a busy schedule w/ preschool and other activities, so it also just makes more sense for us.

Speaking of which, oops, I need to enroll her in the local class!

EMT

We just started swim and we are required to go at least twice a week. I think the repetition is important and they are learning fast because they go often. It's kind of a pain because the pool is far from us but thy LOVE it and are learning quickly.

Chrisy-Wyobride

If it's for fun & just an activity to do--once a week

if you actually are wanting your child to learn to swim--every day is much, much more effective.

We've done both & it makes a huge difference. 

Ilumine

Once a week.  It makes it easier for YOU to schedule things.  You are less likely to miss a lesson if its once a week, vs giving up 2+ hours a day for 2 whole weeks.

And as another poster said, it is a fun to look forward treat that makes the kid WANT to be there and DO everything.

 

jnicks19

We did this: www.infantswim.com

It was kind of a pain in the ass, 10mins a day for 5-7 weeks but the girls made such progress and at a young age.  My youngest was just under 2 and my oldest 3.5 and both were able to jump in and swim to the side and get out independently after this class.

Ciarrai

We've done both and DD#1 does wau better with once a week.  Every day for two weeks was exhausting for her and us.  We did it with the first class b/c it was more of a "getting used to the water/swimming lessons" type class than as much swimming.  She loved the water so we just needed to get her used to the classes and didn't want to spend all summer doing that.  She went once a week all last summer and started back up in January.  She love love loves it, but I don't think she would if it were every day.

hopefulmom

Because he is in preschool 3 times a week we go swimming once a week.  Here in Michigan he won't be getting into a pool for at least another 2-3 months so 8 weeks going once a week is great for us.  He'll be able to transition into a pool when he is done (or a lake).  If you live where it is hot now and have pool access I would go with every day (unless your DC already is in preschool - then it might be just too much).  I also understand the parents that say to go every day for 2 weeks and then suddenly stop will defintely be a blow if the child loves the swimming.  I know my DS would beg to go more if we did that.