IF you are in NoVa find Coach Beth and get to her asap.

Its not for everyone but check out Brooke Moore in Severna Park. We know multiple families that drive 30-45min each weekend for lessons. She's loud and can come off as abrasive (not everyones cup of tea!) and it can be chaotic but it works for 90% of the kids.

My son has been swimming for just over a year with her system going every other weekend with no other pool time and graduated from barely being in the water to swimming full 25 laps multiple times. He still struggles with coordinating arm strokes with kicking but hes improving to the point that we will continue through next spring every other week and I anticipate he will be able to swim full strokes/participate in actual races.

Prior to this we tried teaching him through me and then through another swim school. He got like 5 minutes in the water each lesson and we were paying 180 a month for 4 lessons. We started those at just over 4 and stopped because he hated the lessons and was bored.

Started with Brooke at 4.5 and those kids are in the water 50% of the time even when there are 10 kids in each group. They just go go go for constant exposure. We started with outdoor lessons but then transitioned to indoor and he was struggling which I realized was because he was cold. The water isnt heated enough for him and his super low bodyfat. We got a wetsuit and its like night and day. He still swims way better in heated or very small pools (which are less cold) regardless of whether he wears a wetsuit or not.

Anonymous wrote:Anyone have this come up? My 7 year old DS has not learned to swim after numerous group lessons, swim time at camp, hours in the pool, coaching from me and DH, and several weeks of private lessons. He has made some progress this summer because he has been to the pool almost everyday but it’s still not clicking. DH and I don’t usually push our kids much on activities but it is important to us that he learns how to swim. And to be honest I would find pool trips way more relaxing.

I would ditch the lessons for now. It doesn’t sound like being in the water is enjoyable for your kid, and it should be. Put the same amount of time and effort that you were into lessons into playing in the water. Shallow end is fine. No flotation devices. Play dates with friends who can swim are ideal. My kids are club swimmers and they learned how to swim before formal lessons by playing incessantly. By the time they were ready for lessons, they were comfortable diving and submerging from hours of playing Marco polo, sharks and minnows, retrieving toys etc. A kid doesn’t have to swim perfect strokes to not drown. They do however, have to feel comfortable in the water.

Get him in a weekly lesson, year-round. The pressure to learn in a crowded pool over the summer doesn't work for some kids.

More unstructured time playing in the pool and going underwater. Be laid back, have him try to swim short distances to you, but also just let him play. A snorkel mask helped one of my kids get over his resistance to putting his face and head underwater.

Ours was same. Individual lessons with right person taught her. At age 9.

Anonymous wrote:DD took lessons for years and still can't swim exactly but has gotten more comfortable in the water with a noodle. She's old enough that she knows how to be safe. She could probably swim if she really needed to. Eventually they get taller and more mature. It's other kids getting in their way I worry more about.

We poured a ton of money in private (one-on-one) swim lessons for one of our kids. Nothing worked because the approach was 100% wrong for that child. I used to be impressed with the approach used at all the local swim centers, but this blind following of lessons with “safety first” where they force kids to master various aspects of being in water is not one-size-fits-all. If it works for your child - wonderful (it worked for one of our kids). But, there is nothing safe or caring with letting kids struggle and start hating water because instructors keep insisting that learning how to swim has to follow specific order. I wish I listened to my instincts on this way earlier.

My swimming-resistant kid just needed some very closely supervised independent time in water. He needed to do things his way in a calm, unforced environment. He still doesn’t like swim lessons because of the pushy attitude of most of instructors, but he can safely jump intro water, resurface, float and swim (still not where I would like him to be, but much better than being horrified of swimming pools and not wanting to be anywhere near pools, which was the case while we kept insisting on swimming lessons).

So, if you can, try giving a no-pressure opportunity of having fun in the water and see if it helps.