Muscles learn by doing. Practice is important not only because your mind needs to understand what’s happening but also because your muscles turn repeated motion into reflexive action. When you’re teaching your kids to swim, focus on these four special aspects of learning to help them make the most of their time in the water.

4 Key Aspects of What Kids Learn in the Water

Learning a physical skill, including swimming, is all about listening to your body and getting a feel for the water. There are four key aspects of what your child is learning in the water.

• How his own body moves
• Spatial relationships
• How much effort is required to produce different results or movements
• The relationship of the water to all of the other things—his body, space, and effort

If you bring these four things to your child’s attention in every lesson, you’ll speed up his learning.