Last summer, the American Academy of Pediatrics made the important decision to change the age in which they recommend swimming lessons for young children. Since drowning continues to be the leading cause of unintentional death in children from the ages of 1 to 4 throughout the United States, they updated their guidelines to recommend children around the age of 1 learn how to swim.
While even the best swimming lessons cannot drown-proof a child, they can give children an extra layer of protection that’s needed when in or near the water. Many schools throughout the country tout their ability to teach proper skills to children through fun lessons, but the reality is quality swimming lessons are not always delivered.
When investing in your child’s safety, it’s imperative to be proactive in finding a swim school that is dedicated to teaching water safety through quality lessons. So what do quality swimming lessons really look like?
Proper Instructor Training
A successful swimming lesson curriculum begins with the right instructor. More than that, the right instructor training. Some things you should consider when choosing a swim school are finding out the following about its instructors and their required training. Specifically, get answers to the following questions:
- What swim certifications do your instructors hold?
- What did their training entail?
- How long has the instructor been teaching?
- Are instructors CPR certified?
Believe it or not, while these seem like standard requirements of swim instructors, that’s not always the case. Knowing who your instructors are and the training they’ve had to go through to teach effective swimming lessons is an important part of getting results that last and giving your kids that extra layer of protection they need.
At Texas Swim Academy, our instructors are trained through the Survival Swim Development Network and other recognized survival swim curriculums. They also go through over 100 hours of hands-on in-water practice training, as well as partake in an academic study in child development, behavioral psychology, and infant physiology to better understand and engage with their students at any age and with any ability.
Proper Skills Being Taught
When it comes to the skills a child needs to learn during their swimming lesson, different swim schools may have different goals. But at Texas Swim Academy our goal is always the same — to be safe in the water. Successful lessons show results in 4 to 6 weeks, and if you aren’t seeing growth within that time period, then the skills aren’t being properly taught.
You may be wondering how you can measure your child’s success in the water. A proper skillset includes the following without the use of any floaties, puddle jumpers or swimming assistance, (all of which hinder a child’s growth and put them at risk of a false sense of security in the water):
- Teach a child to hold their breath underwater.
- Teach a child to propel themselves with their face in the water.
- Teach a child to roll on their back and float independently.
- When age-appropriate, teach a child to be able to pull themselves up the wall or onto the stairs.
Another way to determine if the proper skills are being taught is how the lessons are taught. In this age group, children learn better in short, repetitive doses. Therefore, daily 15-minute lessons with children as young as 6 months old are proven effective when in the right environment.
You and your child should feel safe and secure at your swim school. At Texas Swim Academy, our students are our family, and we treat them as such. While we’ve been a part of the Katy community since 1997, we’ve been teaching survival swimming lessons since 2004. And we are the original survival swim school in Texas that has been family-owned and operated since opening.
Katy Swim School
When it comes to your child’s safety and success in the water, we want you to be aware, informed and resourceful. Stop by our facility and see what we’re all about and why we’re so dedicated to equipping children with the skills they need. Pediatric drowning is a true epidemic, and if we arm families with the proper layers of protection to keep everyone as safe as can be in and around the water, then we’re doing what we set out to do so many years ago — lower the pediatric drowning rates throughout the state.
SWIM SCHOOL IN KATY
Texas Swim Academy is a state-of-the-art swimming facility offering water safety, survival swim, and kids swimming lessons in Katy, Texas. Owners Kathleen and Bruce McMordie, alongside our certified staff, help parents introduce children to water at an early age through the Infant Survival Swim Program , teaching life-saving techniques and basic swimming skills.
Our Stroke Development Program offers six different levels to help students progress in their swimming skills at his or her own pace. Our Adaptive Aquatics Program was created specifically for children with special abilities. Find swimming class registration information here. By subscribing to Texas Swim Academy’s blog , you can stay current on valuable water safety resources such as survival swim, health and wellness, Texas Swim Academy news and more. Follow our Facebook , Twitter, and YouTube pages for even more news, updates, and tips!
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