Goldfish swim school worth the $$$ ?

[Anonymous]

They seem to be priced higher than other swim places. Has anyone enrolled?

[Anonymous]

So we did kids first not Goldfish but had friends that did Goldfish. Both places keep the water at 90 degrees which in itself is huge for younger kids imo. You can see the swim lessons at the rec centers and the little kids spend most of the class shivering. Kids first was 6 week sessions and you stay in whatever level you’re at til the next session. My understanding of Goldfish is that they can move kids up as soon as they’re ready. So may cost more per class but you’d kid keeps moving up based on ability so might save in the long run.

[Anonymous]

We had a better experience at Big Blue (formerly Tom Dolan Swim School).

[Anonymous]

Yes. Can't compare to other options but my kids both started there at three and are now good swimmers. I like the fact that their lessons are continuous and the pool is heated. They put four kids to a lane and seem to do a good job with the little ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So we did kids first not Goldfish but had friends that did Goldfish. Both places keep the water at 90 degrees which in itself is huge for younger kids imo. You can see the swim lessons at the rec centers and the little kids spend most of the class shivering. Kids first was 6 week sessions and you stay in whatever level you’re at til the next session. My understanding of Goldfish is that they can move kids up as soon as they’re ready. So may cost more per class but you’d kid keeps moving up based on ability so might save in the long run.

Yes, this is correct. My kids went all the way from "junior one" to swim force, which is like swim team but without the meets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. Can't compare to other options but my kids both started there at three and are now good swimmers. I like the fact that their lessons are continuous and the pool is heated. They put four kids to a lane and seem to do a good job with the little ones.

How old are they now? How long did it take for them to swim well?

[Anonymous]

if the goal is being able to swim, a rec center will get them there too. If the goal is club swim, a rec center followed by stroke school will get them there. If the goal is summer swim, the pool will end up teaching them how to swim as long as the meet the minimum standard for 6 year olds. I'd sure there is some outcome where goldfish is better, but for the majority of people it's an unnecessary expense

[Anonymous]

My son enrolled for a few months for weekend classes when he was 3-4, we quit after he made no progress. This summer he's five, we signed him up for daily classes, and he graduated from glider one after just one week. I see most of his classmates could graduate in one week too.

Of course the best option would be sign up for a community pool and take the class there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:if the goal is being able to swim, a rec center will get them there too. If the goal is club swim, a rec center followed by stroke school will get them there. If the goal is summer swim, the pool will end up teaching them how to swim as long as the meet the minimum standard for 6 year olds. I'd sure there is some outcome where goldfish is better, but for the majority of people it's an unnecessary expense

disagree with this. For young kids the temp of the water matters, and the class size matters to in a 30 min class. 2 or 3 kids less means more actual swim time for your kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:if the goal is being able to swim, a rec center will get them there too. If the goal is club swim, a rec center followed by stroke school will get them there. If the goal is summer swim, the pool will end up teaching them how to swim as long as the meet the minimum standard for 6 year olds. I'd sure there is some outcome where goldfish is better, but for the majority of people it's an unnecessary expense

I really disagree with this. Swimming is the one activity where I push and start them young. Swim team is too large to teach them.
I’ve been happy with Swim Labs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if the goal is being able to swim, a rec center will get them there too. If the goal is club swim, a rec center followed by stroke school will get them there. If the goal is summer swim, the pool will end up teaching them how to swim as long as the meet the minimum standard for 6 year olds. I'd sure there is some outcome where goldfish is better, but for the majority of people it's an unnecessary expense

I really disagree with this. Swimming is the one activity where I push and start them young. Swim team is too large to teach them.
I’ve been happy with Swim Labs.

my kids are on a very large summer swim team. They did the toddler rec programs and joined the team when they were 6 and learned that way. They do club swim now

[Anonymous]

My son is at Goldfish. I've been really happy with how amazingly fast he's progressed. He went from not swimming at all and totally unwilling to get his face wet to swimming very happily (going down water slides, treading water, jumping into the pool, and starting both the crawl and the backstroke).

Once the child has mastered all the skills for his current level and has been approved to level up, it's super easy (via their app) to get him into the next-higher class. I really appreciate the convenience of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if the goal is being able to swim, a rec center will get them there too. If the goal is club swim, a rec center followed by stroke school will get them there. If the goal is summer swim, the pool will end up teaching them how to swim as long as the meet the minimum standard for 6 year olds. I'd sure there is some outcome where goldfish is better, but for the majority of people it's an unnecessary expense

I really disagree with this. Swimming is the one activity where I push and start them young. Swim team is too large to teach them.
I’ve been happy with Swim Labs.

my kids are on a very large summer swim team. They did the toddler rec programs and joined the team when they were 6 and learned that way. They do club swim now

My kids would never have been able to meet the minimum standard to join without swim lessons. My 7 year old still can’t. I don’t think your advice applies to most/many kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if the goal is being able to swim, a rec center will get them there too. If the goal is club swim, a rec center followed by stroke school will get them there. If the goal is summer swim, the pool will end up teaching them how to swim as long as the meet the minimum standard for 6 year olds. I'd sure there is some outcome where goldfish is better, but for the majority of people it's an unnecessary expense

I really disagree with this. Swimming is the one activity where I push and start them young. Swim team is too large to teach them.
I’ve been happy with Swim Labs.

my kids are on a very large summer swim team. They did the toddler rec programs and joined the team when they were 6 and learned that way. They do club swim now

My kids would never have been able to meet the minimum standard to join without swim lessons. My 7 year old still can’t. I don’t think your advice applies to most/many kids.

I agree. I am the kids first poster. My now 9yo started at 3.5 and was swimming well by 5. She did their little swim team. Well this past summer she did summer swim at our pool for the first time and then had to try out for year round swim. Had to swim several laps of backstroke, free a d breaststroke. She got in, the team is not one of the super competitive ones but she still had to show skill and stamina to get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if the goal is being able to swim, a rec center will get them there too. If the goal is club swim, a rec center followed by stroke school will get them there. If the goal is summer swim, the pool will end up teaching them how to swim as long as the meet the minimum standard for 6 year olds. I'd sure there is some outcome where goldfish is better, but for the majority of people it's an unnecessary expense

I really disagree with this. Swimming is the one activity where I push and start them young. Swim team is too large to teach them.
I’ve been happy with Swim Labs.

my kids are on a very large summer swim team. They did the toddler rec programs and joined the team when they were 6 and learned that way. They do club swim now

My kids would never have been able to meet the minimum standard to join without swim lessons. My 7 year old still can’t. I don’t think your advice applies to most/many kids.

our minimum is an unassisted 25 meter swim. A rec center will get a 6 year old to that point. We're a large NVSL team in division 2