This Is How We Learn To Swim

Hi All,

Drew and Bree successfully completed their first course in swimming lessons. We had four classes at the East Hills Athletic Club that wrapped up a week ago. We got Drew and Bree started as soon as they reached the lower age limit of 6 months. They were the youngest in the class, which included children up to three years of age.
We got some pictures and video of our second lesson, as my parents came along in Jim's absence. Thanks to my mom for doing such a good job documenting the class in pictures!

Getting Ready for Class

There were some common elements of the class that were repeated each time. These included:

• Wheels on the Bus - We sang "Wheels on the Bus" while we hung onto them in the water. We had various motions for each verse of the song, including popping up out of the water and back in, waving hands open and shut, and splashing the water with a free hand.



• I'm a Little Ducky - We sat the kids on the side of the pool while we remained in the water facing them and sang "I'm a little ducky yessiree, I jump in on one, two, three." We placed them in the pool and then pulled them through the water, encouraging them to kick their feet. We did three short laps of this.

I'm a Little Froggy - Same as little ducky, but upon placing them in the water, we then rolled them onto their backs for the laps.

Underwater - The dreaded unterwater exercises! At Drew and Bree's age, we had to dunk them underwater two times each lesson. The older kids did more underwater exercises. We held them in the pool while facing them and started moving backwards, counting down from three. Then, in a smooth motion while still pulling them forward, we pulled them under for a few seconds and then out again. The trick was to attempt to keep them moving smoothly in and out of the water while keeping forward motion so that water did not go up their noses.

Backfloat Practice - The backfloat is an important safety element, so we practiced it often.

Overall, we really enjoyed the lessons. We appreciated that our instructor was very focused on safety and spent a lot of time talking to us about safety techniques. She pointed out that learning the back float is key to safety, since they can breathe if they can get into that position. This is a link to a really interesting video demo of an infant that learned to literally save himself from accidental plunges into the water after a 3 week course - http://www.infantswim.com/isr-experience/Miles.html.

As far as the underwater exercises, it's a nerve wracking thing to dunk your precious little infant into the the water like that. And, boy did they ever hate it! Jim said Drew came up from the water and gave him the worst look he's ever seen the first time they did it. And they cried. Bree actually got the hang of it by the end and could complete it without crying. Drew is still not a fan.

Otherwise, the kids as well as Jim and I enjoyed the time in the water and hope to continue to introduce them to water activities as they grow. I'm sure we'll take more lessons, but probably not for a few months. We can practice the back floating in the tub.