Goldfish swim school worth the $$$ ?

[Anonymous]

^^ PP here- Sorry it was Junior 1 (for 3-4yos), Glider is the older kids

[Anonymous]

Our experience - we are not in dc but nyc area where we also have goldfish - did swim group lessons at local rec center age 4 - no progress really, she just wanted to play. Did private lessons with the teacher there. Some very slow progress, started putting face in but lots of backsliding and negotiating with the one on one teacher. All this was in a cold ish indoor pool.

Goldfish got her putting her face in and from there she took off and made steady progress and is now in glider 2 at almost 6 and seems to be close to meeting the next level. Working on learning to side breathe more gracefully now. But - can swim some distance freestyle, swim underwater, etc.

We saw the most progress over summer when we took her to the pool and spent a little time practicing here and there.

[Anonymous]

No. Teaching kids to swim isn’t rocket science. It is pretty easy and basic. I taught all my kids to swim by age 3 but just taking them to open swim frequently. By swimming, I mean they could swim across the pool, swim under water, tread water, and are super comfortable in the water without floatations. Then I enrolled them in local YMCA lessons to learn proper strokes. Goldfish swim is a just a highly commercialized “boutique” swim environment for UMC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's really interesting to see all the positive responses to Goldfish. We put DD in just before she turned two with the goal of 1) getting her out of the house regularly, and 2) getting her comfortable in the water. She went every week with her granny for about a year and a half, and we finally pulled her out when I asked how swim class went and she said "great!" but upon further questioning I learned she had never put her face in the water (this was confirmed with granny, not just relying on a 3.5 year old here). I wasn't expecting a butterfly stroke out of a preschooler but seriously, WTF.

In retrospect all she learned from Goldfish was flipper flipper fin fin to get out of the pool. In something like 80 weeks of "lessons"! I've had this conversation IRL with other parents and only heard "yeah that place is a waste of money" so it's strange that everyone here has kids that progressed so far and so fast with the same program.

You waited 1.5 years to ask how it was going?

That doesn't seem right though- DD only went through the Glider 1 level but I was there watching and she was putting her face in the water every week.

No, she always said it was fun, but I started to wonder what had actually been learned. Like I said, I wasn't expecting any great strides or weekly stroke reports - she was a toddler/preschooler. But I was expecting them to at least insist she get fully wet, which she did not. The purpose of "getting comfortable in the water" was not being served.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter started weekly classes at Kids First when she was five. About a year and a half later, she'd only moved up two levels. They kept saying she needed to "perfect her kick" before they'd move on to the levels that taught strokes. When I realized that she couldn't even tread water, we switched to Goldfish. Within 3 months, she was treading water and able to freestyle 50 yards. By the time we left Goldfish two years later, she was in the swim force class and knew all of the strokes.

My son also took regular weekly classes with Kids First for about two years and only progressed from level 1 to 3 during that time. After every session, they would tell us his back kick wasn't perfect so they couldn't move him to the next level. So for 2 years all he learned (or not even that) was kicking, no hands! Interestingly, one year into his swim lessons with Kids First, we signed him up for a summer swim team at our pool and he was already able to swim 15-20 ft in freestyle! It finally occurred to me that they only offer the first four basic levels, so none of their students ever learns to swim unless you enroll them in their very expensive private lessons. They keep their schedule on paper so that there is no transparency. If you sign up for private lessons, beware that you can only reschedule 1 out of 6 lessons in a session. They don't tell you that at sign up.

I wish I had realized this school was not a good choice sooner and didn't waste so much time and money driving there. We talked to another parent there and he was also pulling his kids out due to a similar experience.

This was our experience at Big Blue - DD had better backstroke technique than the instructors, but because of some tiny quirk with her freestyle, they wouldn't move her up. She made NVSL A meets that summer as a 6 year old. We did like Goldfish when she was 3.5-4.5, and I still think they have the best/most energetic instructors of the three near us (Kids First, Big Blue, Goldfish).

[Anonymous]

Can only speak to the experience we had in Silver Spring from 2019-2021.

Context: DD started at 4.5, unable to swim. Goldfish gave her enough of a foundation to do summer swim at age 6 (she was legal in all four strokes and swam A meets) and club swim at age 7.

More to the point, she LOVED it there.

[Anonymous]

My kids hate Goldfish swim (which is probably more of a personality quirk than a fault of Goldfish itself), but it definitely taught them to swim. They're 8 and 6, went to Goldfish for 2 years and have had little swim time outside of their lessons. They're both really strong swimmers.

[Anonymous]

We do swim at the rec center in the summer when class sizes are great, but in the winter the rec center water is way to cold and the class sizes are way too large to be effective for my child. We switched to goldfish this winter and have been pleased. Class sizes are very small, the child is making progress and the facilities are a huge step up from the rec center.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is ridiculously easy to teach kids to swim as long as you are consistent and frequently go to pool. Parents are just too lazy to get in the water

Maybe your kids, not all kids. Stop generalizing a-hole.

Well, it’s true. Goldfish swim is for parents that are too lazy to get into the pool regularly with their child and actually take an initiative to teach them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is ridiculously easy to teach kids to swim as long as you are consistent and frequently go to pool. Parents are just too lazy to get in the water

Maybe your kids, not all kids. Stop generalizing a-hole.

Well, it’s true. Goldfish swim is for parents that are too lazy to get into the pool regularly with their child and actually take an initiative to teach them.

WTF is your problem? Not everyone is an all star swimmer/teacher that you are. I bet you taught your kids to read before kindergarten too right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is ridiculously easy to teach kids to swim as long as you are consistent and frequently go to pool. Parents are just too lazy to get in the water

Maybe your kids, not all kids. Stop generalizing a-hole.

Well, it’s true. Goldfish swim is for parents that are too lazy to get into the pool regularly with their child and actually take an initiative to teach them.

You’re right- I am lazy. The few weekend open swim times at the rec centers don’t work well for us because DH often works weekends and I can’t manage a baby and preschooler in the pool by myself. Whereas if I take preschooler to swim lessons I can watch from the deck with the baby. Parent fail!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is ridiculously easy to teach kids to swim as long as you are consistent and frequently go to pool. Parents are just too lazy to get in the water

I think it’s easy to get your kid used to the water and comfortable in the water. It’s not easy for the average person to teach a kid to fully swim though.

This.

[Anonymous]

I have three teenagers now and worked with them on water comfort but wanted them to have good technique. This is where swim lessons were necessary.

[Anonymous]

We have tried others, even those closer, but I would rather drive the extra 10-15 minutes to Goldfish. They really care, and I enjoy talking to the managers and staff when I go. Have tried the Reston location, and then Falls Church when it opened because it was a little closer.

[Anonymous]

Goldfish is still the best deal in town. It is better service and less expensive than others such as BB and Aqua.