I think I might quit on swim lessons

[Deleted User]

They suck.  Maybe I'm being unreasonable, but we don't do anything!  It's a 30 minute class, we do 2 or 3 songs in that time.  She gives us 1 or 2 "skills" to work on.  That's it. Oh, and she does NOT come around and talk to anyone.  Just sits there. 

Are my standards too high?  I thought we were supposed to have more than free time in the pool. 

[Deleted User]

justAphase:

That sucks. I keep forgetting to look into this for M. 

30 minutes seems really short though, is that typical?

Is it possible to get your money back? Maybe there's a different place you could try? 

I think 30 minutes is a fine length for younger kids.  Imma call next week to talk to them about the lameness, but I wanted to know how right or off base I am about it. 

grr_aargh

Any lessons we've had for the under 3 crowd have been "water comfort" lessons and not swim lessons.  So, I think that sounds pretty normal. 

[Deleted User]

grr_aargh:

Any lessons we've had for the under 3 crowd have been "water comfort" lessons and not swim lessons.  So, I think that sounds pretty normal. 

Yeah, I get that.  However, can't we do more songs or activities?  I don't have dreams of her being in the next Olympics or anything.  But sitting in the water doing nothing is boring as helll.

grr_aargh

Scout2005:

cannonsmommy:

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought it was suggested to wait until the age of 4 to start swimming lessons for LO's???

 

No.

Why would that be? 

Maybe for actual lessons, strokes, etc., though I'm loathe to put an actual number on it because it's different for every kid.

Our local place offers water comfort classes for ages 6 mos to 3 (with a parent in the water).  From 3 to 6 they have swim lessons that focus on basic front float, back float, etc. skills.  From 6 up they have more focused swim lessons that focus on strokes, breathing during a crawl stroke, etc..

If you have a child outside of those ages, you can hire private lessons - while they were twice the cost, we've had about 10 times the luck with them.  My children have all done much better with private instruction.

We'll put the Honey Badger in swim lessons early - by age 3 - because she's VERY interested.  We may even do a set of private lessons before then we just have to speak with our instructor first.  

earmuffs03

Scout2005:

cannonsmommy:

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought it was suggested to wait until the age of 4 to start swimming lessons for LO's???

 

No.

Why would that be? 

I read it somewhere...just can't remember where. So I googled it. And this is what I found. So I guess I'll get him in swim lessons. 

The American Academy of Pediatrics has a position statement on drowning prevention and swim lessons for kids. Their previous position was that children should wait until they are 4-years old before starting swim lessons. The position statement (as of May 2010) is that children as young as 1-year old can benefit from swim lessons, decreasing the odds of drowning deaths. The position statement also says that research does not show that children under 1-year old benefit from swim lessons in terms of water survival skill.

grr_aargh

sofamonkey:

grr_aargh:

Any lessons we've had for the under 3 crowd have been "water comfort" lessons and not swim lessons.  So, I think that sounds pretty normal. 

Yeah, I get that.  However, can't we do more songs or activities?  I don't have dreams of her being in the next Olympics or anything.  But sitting in the water doing nothing is boring as helll.

Yeah, that kind of sucks.  Maybe you can ask the teacher for more guidance or ideas?

Maybe the teacher just sucks donkey balls.

My favorite song is:  I had a little turtle, his name was Tiny Tim. I put him in the bathtub to see if he could swim.  He drank up all the water, he ate up all the soap. And now he's at home sick in bed. . . . wiiiiiiiiith bubbles in his throat! 

gimmietimmies

cannonsmommy:

Scout2005:

cannonsmommy:

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought it was suggested to wait until the age of 4 to start swimming lessons for LO's???

 

No.

Why would that be? 

I read it somewhere...just can't remember where. So I googled it. And this is what I found. So I guess I'll get him in swim lessons. 

The American Academy of Pediatrics has a position statement on drowning prevention and swim lessons for kids. Their previous position was that children should wait until they are 4-years old before starting swim lessons. The position statement (as of May 2010) is that children as young as 1-year old can benefit from swim lessons, decreasing the odds of drowning deaths. The position statement also says that research does not show that children under 1-year old benefit from swim lessons in terms of water survival skill.

I've always thought this. I've taught mine to float from day one, and what to do in and around water. There are two types of lessons, they either have fun and familiar with water, or are taught what to do if they find themselves in water. My older three swim and K is learning to do her strokes. 4 isn't too young. Here's what the "drown proof" looks like:

nanabanana06

I took DD to our local YMCA for swim lessons. They were 30 minutes long. We do like 2 or 3 songs, but we do things in them. We work on getting them to blow bubbles in the water, sticking their legs out for swimming, swimming or floating on their back, getting them to jump into the water, dunking them, and a few other skills. I was shocked about the types of things they did. DD had a blast. We will do the next level up once this baby comes out. 

amykins1283

Our swim lessons were a bit more than that.  They were more "water acquisition" classes than swim lessons.  We would sing some songs, work on climbing in and out of the pool, work on using hands to move along the wall, use life jackets to get them used to the feeling, work on kicking and paddling and floating on the back, and then we did submersion.  The instructor was always in the water with us interacting with the kids. 

shakes

Scout2005:

cannonsmommy:

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought it was suggested to wait until the age of 4 to start swimming lessons for LO's???

 

No.

Why would that be? 

Yeah, why?

DS was in lessons at 7 months. LOVED it.

vlagrl29

DD goes once a week for 1/2 hour,,,honestly I can't imagine her going longer than that.  It's too much.  I teach young kids music and their attention span is just not there yet for longer than 1/2 hour.  We have gone twice and DD gets really cranky sometimes, I'm thinking of moving it up earlier in the morning hoping that will fix it.  I may be waiting too late and she is too tired for it.  We just get her used to the water, float on belly and back, blow bubbles in water, use a little kick board and try to get her to kick her feet and use water toys to make it fun. 

vlagrl29

ours are 1 on 1 lessons, not group, and we pay $10 a week for it.  

gimmietimmies

shakes:

Scout2005:

cannonsmommy:

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought it was suggested to wait until the age of 4 to start swimming lessons for LO's???

 

No.

Why would that be? 

Yeah, why?

DS was in lessons at 7 months. LOVED it.

I haven't been drinking THAT much yet, you totally changed your siggy pic. Cute!

kwitt22

i also quit ours (we went in the winter) bc of the reasons you listed. every week was the same then for 20 min she just left js to "practice". i was kinda pissed bc i thought there should be mire to them. she would also yell across the pool, "whats next" all the frickin time....really dude!

catycate

I love our swim lessons- they are only 30 minutes, too. We work on things like water comfort and creating muscle memory with songs like The Hokey Pokey. She also has the kids sit on the side and we pull them in and then tell them "Turn and reach" as we guide them back to the wall. It seems like we are really setting the stage for actual swimming. We float them on their bellies and backs and slowly lessen our hold (not as far as letting go, of course). Last week, DS learned how to blow bubbles. It's great.

Kelgina

Coming out of lurkdom to comment. In my earlier days, I was a swim teacher/life guard and often taught the water readiness class. It sounds like you have a bad teacher. The 30 min time frame is fine. Much longer and the attention span goes out the window. We used to do songs, blow bubbles, kick our legs, practice back floating, etc. I would introduce an activity and then spend a few mintues with each parent/child, then a new activity. 

I would recommend talking to the parents of older kids in other swim classes (we usually had many levels running at the same time) to get the lowdown on the teachers. Which were the best, which one's were phoning it in. etc. Good Luck! 

 

CarolinaDaisy

I think at that age, you can do any thing they would do in lessons on your own. Just take her to the pool and play. It's really mainly to get them comfortable in the water anyhow.

Or if you're really serious about it, find a place that offers Infant Swim Rescue lessons. The lessons are only 10 minutes long, but they'll learn to swim, float to get out of the pool safely. We have friends with 2 kids, ages 2 and 5 who just purchased a house with a pool. The kids are doing ISR lessons and seem to be doing well.

JenWen3

Nana_Osaki06:

I took DD to our local YMCA for swim lessons. They were 30 minutes long. We do like 2 or 3 songs, but we do things in them. We work on getting them to blow bubbles in the water, sticking their legs out for swimming, swimming or floating on their back, getting them to jump into the water, dunking them, and a few other skills. I was shocked about the types of things they did. DD had a blast. We will do the next level up once this baby comes out. 

This is what our lessons are like. They are 30 minutes but that is plenty. I think if the 30 minutes is full of activity, it's the right amount. I could barely keep my dd awake to get her changed afterwards. 

p1nklemonade

dd has done swimming for two sessions now at our ymca.  first teacher was awesome, sang for pretty much the whole 30 minute class except 3-5 minutes of free swim/kickboard time.  second teacher sucked majorly, the first two classes she only sang like three songs and gave them free swim time for about 20 minutes--absolutely not acceptable.  h called to complain, and they must have spoken to her because she learned some more songs after that and cut out the free time.  we took dd out for the summer because we'd wind up missing many classes for other plans, but intend to start again in the fall.   if you like the idea of the class but the teacher isn't teaching anything/actively trying to engage the kids, complain to the boss.