How many lessons does my child need to learn to swim
Parents often ask “how many lessons does my child nedd to learn to swim?” because many factors need to be considered when planning to send their child for swimming lessons.
Firstly, there is the budget.
Prices of swimming lessons can vary based on the swimming school and experience of the instructors.
However, choosing the cheapest option can end up costing more, because if your child is not taught well, he or she may need more lessons that expected.
If you don’t get the right instructor, one who doesn’t know how to adapt to your child’s learning ability, then you’re probably wasting your money.
Another reason why parents need an estimate of how many lessons their child need is so that they can make sure they have the time to send them for the lessons.
Most parents also want to watch each lesson so, they need to set aside a certain amount of weeks to accompany their child.
When it comes to children, you can’t really tell how many lessons is needed for your child to learn to swim because at different ages they are capable of learning only so much.
Learning swimming for a child may take years depending on your child, but it is a life skill that will be very precious at any stage of their life.
Dr Linda Quan, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine, says swim lessons may lower drowning rates and recommends starting swimming at around 1-year old.
Teaching your kids to swim at an early age, will help them to be safe in and around water.
But we still haven’t answered the question.
“How long will it take for my child to learn to swim?”
The answer to that question may not be satisfactory to you, because as you’ve guessed it, it depends on the child.
So let’s consider some points to bring us closer to the answer.
1. Fear of water
If your child is not comfortable in being in and around water, especially putting their head underwater, you can expect a few more lessons than usual. That’s why many parents start them out while they are still a toddler, so that they don’t develop a fear of water or drowning at an early age.
2. Physical and Mental abilities
It’s no secret that every child learns differently. Some pick up skills easily and some take a little more time. If their coordination and motor skills are less developed compared to other children their age, you just need to be more patient with them and expect a few more lessons.
3. Frequency
If you can afford to have more than one lesson per week, your child should be able to learn to swim in a shorter amount of time. However, it’s not just the financial aspect you should consider but rather, a shorter gap between lessons can help them learn better because of the ‘repetition’ effect.
4. Accessibility
Do you have access to a pool nearby? If you live in a condo or apartment with a pool, your child can have more time to practice. If you don’t live in a place with a pool, see if there are any community pools nearby. You could also find others with children like yours, and form a little play-swim group at a pool nearby.
5. Type of swimming lessons
Another thing to consider is, would group lessons or private lessons be better for your child. Although private lessons may be more expensive, if you child learns faster this way, you’ll be actually saving money. However, if your child take group lessons, he or she may not get so much attention from the trainers but they may learn faster by watching others. Check out EC Swim’s type of lessons.
After taking all this into consideration, you can understand why it may take longer for one child to learn to swim, compared to their peers.
But overall, learning to swim for children can be more than just getting from one end to the other in the pool.
There are basic lessons to advance and mastery lessons.
What you could do, is make arrangements for swimming lessons for one-year. In that one year, monitor your child and see what you can do to help them learn to swim faster.
- Try both, group lessons and private lessons
- If they lack focus and coordination skills, trying other methods outside the pool to improve their skills.
- If they need more practice, find a pool they can swim regularly to have consistency and repetition. But always make sure that there’s an experience swimmer to watch over them.
- Swim with them. Usually young swimmers learn when they’re having fun. If you swim with them it will seem more like a family activity rather than a course.
Conclusion
There is no fix answer to how many lessons a child needs to learn to swim.
However, it is important to remember that “water safety” is the priority and you will need to continue lessons until he or she is able to manage themselves in the water without the risk of drowning.
Only you will know your child better, and you should be honest with yourself. If your child is a fast learner, that’s great!
But if they have difficulty and is slower than others, just be patient as they may just need more time and lessons.
If they seem to lose interest, than maybe it’s best to take a break and try again in a couple of months.
Who knows making new friends, who know how to swim, may inspire them to try again so that they can spend fun times in the pool with their peers.
And lastly, always remember to create a positive environment for them to swim, make it fun and don’t put pressure on them.
Kids hate it when they are forced to learn things and this might put them off for good.
EC Swim has many packages and swim lessons for young children.
You can find out more here or sign-up for a free trial!
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