Teach your child to swim

Written by Irene Bouette

For a variety of reasons, every parent wants their child to learn to swim, the main one being that they want their child to be able to get out of trouble if they find themselves in the water. This is why swimming lessons for children are so important to the parent.

Teaching children to swim is a challenging task unless the child is a 'natural in the water'.   Unfortunately for the parents children are not always at ease in the water from the first time.

When giving swimming lessons, to help the child to understand the techniques, it needs a softly, softly approach,  together with play, to give the child the understanding that the water will carry them.  It is not always possible to explain a technique to children, so the art of play is important so they get the message and realise what you are trying to get them to achieve.

This can be done in various ways during the lessons, playing with them in the water or using objects that they find fun so the water will not seem too daunting.

Usually the attention span is small. Half an hour is the maximum and the whole time should be in an upbeat manner, never shouting or making the child feel that he/she is a failure.

I find that one to one in the water is valuable because the child will not feel embarrassed if he feels scared.

My private pool is available for your child and they will be the only child in the pool.  This way your child knows that his/her swimming lesson is important  to them, to you and their instructor whilst at the same time the pool is small enough not to be intimidating.