Yesterday we talked about using observation to leverage the advantage of access to your kids when you’re not in the pool. Here’s another way to use time out of the pool to help your kids make progress in the pool.

Practice Moving on Dry Land to Learn to Swim in the Water

You can practice lots of movements on dry land, giving your child the opportunity to focus just on his body and to separate his movement from the need to keep his head above water. He can sit on the edge of a chair to practice kicks and flexing and pointing his toes. He can practice lying on his stomach and rolling side to side to get a sense for the motion of his torso in the water. He can stand up to practice body positions and arm movements.

The feelings will be different than they are in the water, but the benefit of having the completely secure feeling of being on land will let your child experience the feelings in his body thoroughly and without time pressure. He can take the insights he gains this way into the water with him.