Get the most out of your child’s swimming lessons.

“There’s no way to be a perfect mother
and a million ways to be a good one.”
---- Jill Churchill

With summer just around the corner we have put together some parental advice on how to be the perfect mother or father, if there is such a thing.

To be a good parent before lessons start: -

Make sure your child is in the right group. Nothing is more distressing to children than being put into a class too advanced for them. The most common mistake parents make is to place their pre-school child in a class with older children. This never works. If you are in doubt as to which level is suitable for your child please contact the office.

Arrive Early. Children, especially pre-school children, often get upset if they are late and see that the lesson has started without them. They can even refuse to participate. Children also need time to wake up from the soporific effect of a car ride. Being late for swimming lessons for young children is a bit like rushing your partner in the mornings. You are going to make someone very grumpy.

Make sure your child is warm and dry at the start of a lesson. Children loose body heat twenty times faster in water than out of it. It is impossible to effectively teach a cold and tired child.
Arrive with goggles adjusted. Teachers spend too much of their time adjusting goggles when they ought to be teaching swimming.

Encourage children to visit the loo before lesson and blow their noses if necessary. A child’s physiological needs must be satisfied before any effective learning can take place. For optimum learning the child must also feel safe, secure, wanted and loved.

At all costs avoid promises of ice creams and sweats as a reward. Using food as source of comfort or reward is the rocky road to obesity and eating disorders.

For parents in pre-school lessons never move backwards if a child is swimming towards you. You will loose your toddler’s trust if you move while he is learning to swim, doing this is distressing and upsetting for the child.

Let the teacher give the teaching points. A good swimming teacher is adept at giving one or two of the most pertinent teaching points. Avoid getting involved in the issuing of instructions. Too much information causes confusion for the child.

During dinner or during the ride home in the car make a fuss over the new things your child has learned. Nothing is more motivational for a child than positive reinforcement from a parent. Praise should be liberal yet deserving.