Reply to should I give up on teaching my 6 year old to swim?

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[quote=Anonymous]I used to do private lessons for kids who were terrified to swim but their parents wanted them to learn. I ask parents to commit to 6 sessions no matter how much the kids hate it. Then we re-evaluate. The first couple of lessons are scary for the parents and the child. I usually ask the parents to leave the pool deck but to continually walk past a window without making eye contact or to standby the window with their back turned. That way the child knows they are still here but isn't communicating with them.

The kids usually scream bloody murder the first one to two lessons as it takes me a couple lessons to build rapport and get a small amount of trust. Then we build on that. I generally give the child one of two options for each activity to pick from but we will do one or the other, I always tell them what I am going to do before I do it, and then I tell them it is okay to be scared but I will keep you safe.

I had one kid whose frantic attempts to stay out of the water left met with deep scratches everywhere. He was like a feral cat trying to avoid water contact. Six weeks later he would hesitantly put his face in and even 'jump' in if i was holding his arms and he would paddle on a pool noodle. Still nervous about it all but no longer terrified.

You need private lessons. You need someone to work very closely with him.[/quote]

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