Reply to Can your five year old swim?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]No, but DS is only 18 months old. I come from a different culture that doesn't emphasize swimming as much. I'm curious to learn why you all feel it is so important. Any responses would be helpful![/quote]

It is a life skill/survival skill that I think everyone should know, unless you really never plan on begin near water, which I can't imagine ever being the case. Now obviously there are parts of the country where it may not matter so much, but in the DC area where there are a lot of pools and many families belong to pools, I think it is very important for kids to know how to swim. They don't need to be on the swim team and swimming laps, but they should be able to navigate in the water and safely get to the edge of the pool. [/quote]

It's more important where people spend a lot of time near water and might play there or just fall in.  Around here, I suppose it *could* be viewed as optional, but the summers are HOT and a lot of kid socializing happens around pools - public and private.  Realistically, there's enough water around here and close by that everyone is going to be near water from time to time unless you actively avoid it.   I grew up on a river down south (like, we could jump in the water in the backyard), and my parents had my siblings and I in the water near daily in the summer from the time we were 6 months old or so.  My eldest sister was the really fearful sort but they wore her down with lots of fun play in the water and by 5 or 6 we were all decent swimmers.

At the very least, I need my kids to be safe for pool parties by the time they're 6 or so.  And for visiting grandparents!  Living in the district, I don't have a river in the backyard for daily ducking, but I make sure the 2yo gets to the neighborhood pool in the summer once/week or so.  I'll probably do some lessons for her this fall when the pools close in the fall.  I'm hoping she'll be at least doggy paddling by next summer.  DH is a terrible swimmer; so he is mostly in charge of playing with the baby in the shallow end while 2yo and I play (and practice kicking).  I've been trying to talk DH into some private lessons for himself!  It makes me nervous that he can't properly swim, because I'm a tolerably decent swimmer but I don't know that I want to play lifeguard for him and the kids![/quote]

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