Swimming lessons break

[Anonymous]

For kid that is learning to swim, do you recommend to take a break for summer swimming classes or not? We do swimming lessons once a week for almost 2 years. One kid finally making some progress from level 1 to level 2. One kid will be still in level 1. They both will be in summer camps full day with almost daily pool access. Should everyone take a break during summer for classes? They make progress, but they make slow progress at their own pace.

[Anonymous]

How old and how well can they swim now? I would take a break and let them take advantage of the pool access to see if they develop on their own. They may gain a lot of confidence just by being in the pool, then can jump ahead in levels in the fall. But if they love it and would be sad to stop lessons, then can't hurt to keep them up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How old and how well can they swim now? I would take a break and let them take advantage of the pool access to see if they develop on their own. They may gain a lot of confidence just by being in the pool, then can jump ahead in levels in the fall. But if they love it and would be sad to stop lessons, then can't hurt to keep them up.

5 year old is a non swimmer without floatie. She will just splash water. It took her 1.5 years willing to get her head submerged in water. 8 year old can swim like 15 feet, but he does not know how to breathe. Both are not athletic, and the camp give them swim test to decide how far they can go in pool. They love swim lessons, but it is more like me the driver wanting to have a summer break. I feel a bit guilt because the older one just finally promoted to level 2, not sure if I should keep pursuing or else regressing.

[Anonymous]

Once a week swim lessons is very little and not that helpful. They need to do it a few times a week minimum to make real progress.

[Anonymous]

Do you have swim lessons at a preferred time or with a preferred teacher that would be hard to get back after stopping? Then continue. Would you like a break from weekly swim classes? Then pause. Most likely no right or wrong answer here.

[Anonymous]

Doesn’t matter

[Anonymous]

I prefer clustered swim classes in the summer to complement frequent pool access. We take a break from classes in the winter when there is no chance to reinforce. Swimming is like bike riding-- you need frequent retention and reinforcement but then it gets in your muscle memory. The weekly class thing is a scam by swim schools because they like the steady income. It's not the best way to learn to swim.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I prefer clustered swim classes in the summer to complement frequent pool access. We take a break from classes in the winter when there is no chance to reinforce. Swimming is like bike riding-- you need frequent retention and reinforcement but then it gets in your muscle memory. The weekly class thing is a scam by swim schools because they like the steady income. It's not the best way to learn to swim.

I mostly agree with this. We've seen the biggest difference over the summer with lessons and frequent pool use. We use weekly lessons over the winter just to keep DC comfortable in the water and don't expect much improvement.

[Anonymous]

I would keep private swim lessons and hit the pool if affordable. BUT, it is ultimately your decision as a parent. For the past two years, we dropped private lessons during the summer because we could not afford daycare, camp, and privates. This year, our decision was solely based on being linked up with an awesome swim coach and not having to pay for daycare (we found cheap county camps). Do what works for you mama!

[Anonymous]

Assuming they are over 4..why are they not swimming by now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I prefer clustered swim classes in the summer to complement frequent pool access. We take a break from classes in the winter when there is no chance to reinforce. Swimming is like bike riding-- you need frequent retention and reinforcement but then it gets in your muscle memory. The weekly class thing is a scam by swim schools because they like the steady income. It's not the best way to learn to swim.

Well said.

If you really want your kid to swim, you’re either going to need daily swim lessons or work with the kid yourself so they can get water adjusted and float. Otherwise it’s a massive waste of time and money.

[Anonymous]

My son was in one of these swim schools and was not progressing. So we switched him to PG county swim lesson and he made massive strides. We did twice a week, once in Montgomery County and once in PG County-- he was in advance swimming in Montgomery County, after which he decided he wanted to join a swim team.

[Anonymous]

We took a break last summer and regressed. It wasn’t like starting from scratch, but it was a regression. I swore up and down to myself that we would be at the pool 2x a week, and it just didn’t happen. I guess just know yourself. I think if your kid listens to you re swimming and pushing themselves the same as an instructor, and you can actually go to the pool 1x a week with them, you can skip the lessons

[Anonymous]

Just keep going. Don't stop. Swimming is the one thing I force all three of my kids to do. This started at age 5 and will continue with swim team, lessons etc until 10 or 11.