After you explain to your kids what you’ll be teaching in the swimming lesson, it’s time to show it. Here’s how to demonstrate safely and effectively.
Demonstrating Swimming Skills Safely and Effectively
- Make sure your child is safe. If it’s possible to demonstrate the skill while you’re holding your child, keeping him fully supported, do that. Otherwise, make sure he’s safely out of the pool before you demonstrate.
- Demonstrate simply. Don’t be tempted to bust a move and show off your spectacular swimming prowess at this point. To help your child learn to swim, you want to make him feel comfortable and capable. Making the skill look manageable will help.
- Demonstrate just the tiny piece you’ll be focusing on. Tiny pieces that eventually can be pieced together are less intimidating and overwhelming than a complex skill demonstrated all at once.
Setting an Example
You’re not only teaching your kids swimming skills. You’re also showing them how to feel about the water and about learning to swim. You do this by how you react to what happens in the water.
- Don’t overreact if your kids swallow some water. Instead, show them how to cough and blow their noses, and move on.
- If water gets on your face or your child’s face, don’t wipe it off. Show him that it’s okay to get water on his face by leaving it there or by making a game out of painting on each other’s faces with the water that splashes from the pool.
- Make it fun. If you’re having fun, your child will have fun.