Take them to open swim. My kids did weekly group swim lessons only, but we would go to open swim and play around in the pool more frequently. They could all float and at least swim the length of the pool plus the beginnings of something that vaguely resembles freestyle and backstroke by 5

I was a certified swim instructor “back in the day.” I specialized in kids 4-7. Now I have a 6 year old with whom I taught to swim.

Swim schools tend to be a waste - too much sitting on the side and only 1 time a week. And, your kids are on the schools swim schedule not your child’s natural one.

Private lessons help,’but make sure you are also taking the kids swimming consistently in a row. Like 4 days a week, so they can a) practice b)‘get more comfortable with just being in the pool. Panic causes drowning. You want them to start to instinctively know what to do by understanding how their body works in the water.

There is a buoyancy issue until age 4-5. It has to do with body proportions and head size. Your 5 year old is hitting the age where you will start to see improvement.

There are physical attributes that even out by age 8, but require some creative teaching at early ages. If your kid is not a “natural swimmer” and particularly skinny they may struggle to back float at a young age. It takes more work for them to push their “tummy to the sky” and, physics, fat floats… I’d focus more on front skills and water safety on their backs. If your child is on the heavier side it will require more effort to do freestyle (front crawl) because you have to pull your body with your arms. so I’d start with back floating,’back stoke and once they understand the coordination move to the stomach for “dead man’s float” then kicking and “slicing and pushing the water” (pushing water, not Pulling body). (Of course these are quiet adjustments, I’m not advocating for body shaming.)

With the 4-5 year olds i used to play lots of water games and pretend scenarios. Preschoolers do great with: “Oh no, the pirate left his treasure under water. Let’s go find it.” And “Yum! Your crocodile legs are hungry let’s kick to eat some fish.” They do poorly with “straighten your legs and kick” or “put your face in the water for 10 seconds.”

6-7 year olds like routines and goals. They do well with little rhymes or cute phrases to help them remember what to do. So we would “Cut the pizza” with our arms (breast stroke) or “grab the banana, give it to the monkey,‘throw the peel away”’(elementary backstroke). We’d sing it together, practice on land then in the water. We also would always have a goal or reward like “at the end of the class we are all going to float on our backs for one minute. Then get a super special prize (a sticker).” Or goals a few days out like “by Friday I bet we are all going to be able to dolphin kick five times. Should we try it?’”

Not everybody is an auditory learner, and little kids get distracted in the water. I’d always start out a new skill on. The pool deck. They’d watch then they replicate a movement with me 5-10 times before adding water to the equation. it’s safety,’ builds muscle memory, and helps kids learn together by doing. I haven’t seen any of this in the swim schools - maybe it’s not en vogue anymore but it works.

A few weeks of consistency and with a good instructor. you will start seeing improvement in your 7 year old quickly.

You need a few time a week lessons.

DD learned at 6 after took private lesson with a local pool head coach daily weekdays for 3 weeks, and was able to swim 25 ft freestyle, after having group lesson for years from age 3 but never actually learned much. Our DC was then age 4 also took private for 3 weeks went from afraid of water to comfortable with water and could kick with float, after 2 years unable to go swim DC is 7 now and just took a 2 week daily group lesson but could not do much beyond jump to water and kick with float, while 9 year old DD was able to pick up everything plus backstroke 25 ft after 2 week daily private lesson. So it would depend on each kid, but daily private lesson would be very helpful.

Anonymous wrote:My oldest was really swimming after about 6 months of small group lessons. My 4 year old is progressing even faster although he started about 2 months ago. I think it depends on the tracing method more than the size of the class and it definitely is good to reinforce with extra trips to the pool.

*teaching method

My oldest was really swimming after about 6 months of small group lessons. My 4 year old is progressing even faster although he started about 2 months ago. I think it depends on the tracing method more than the size of the class and it definitely is good to reinforce with extra trips to the pool.

Private lessons followed by swim team as soon as they're old enough.

Neither of my kids every learned anything from group lessons or even semi private lessons in those “swim school” type places. It took us working with them at the pool over a summer every other day and then swimming at camp daily until they finally got it.

Agree normal for the 5 year old but not the 7 year old. I have a 6/4, the 6 year old took awhile to get out of the first level but has gone quickly since (and we only do once a week lessons, she's in level 4 now and will be in five after next session). The 4 year old has been in level one for a good long time but is FINALLY about to go to level 2 (turns 5 in July).

A lot of it for the little ones is just getting comfortable in the pool so they're ready when they start to have the coordination to move on.

Drop the group classes and hire a private swim instructor asap.

We spent $$$ at group lessons and got nowhere.

Once my son was swimming with 1 on 1 instruction, he began doggy paddling and then swimming freestyle in a few short weeks.

He is also swimming at camp three times per week.

This is my 6 year old. This summer we're trying two weeks of private swim lessons twice a week followed by one week of private swim lessons daily plus trips to the pool every other day at least throughout the summer. Maybe one more week of private swim at the end of summer. Hopefully that will be enough, we'll see.

It takes a long time. I think 7 weeks of summer day camp with daily lessons and free swim, and then additional swim at the neighborhood pool, was necessary for my kids. By age 8 they were doing pretty well.

Agree that you need lessons more than once a week (twice was enough for my kids with daily fun swim). And private. And the kid has to be five or older to make real progress in a short time, IMO.

That’s not surprising for the 4 year old but it. is for the 7 year old. I wouldn’t group them together for classes. If you have a choice don’t put the 7 year old in a grouping of kids 4-7 or 5-7. Try and find a group class where he or she is the youngest like 7-9 then sign up for lessons everyday m-f for 2 weeks. Once a week private lessons didn’t work out for my kids.

My 7 and almost 5 year old have been in swim lessons for the last year - combo of group, semi-private and private with three different providers. They still have not progressed past the first level for their age group (swimming a short distance or floating for a few seconds independently). How long should we expect it to take to learn very basic swim skills? Is there anything we can do out of the pool to help them?