When you’re teaching your kids to swim, you need to start with the simple and work toward the complex. How do you break down the complex act of swimming into simple parts that build on each other?
Simple. Help your child to master the skills in this order. Each of the following skills provides a basis for the skills that follow it. Working through the skills in this order will allow your child to feel confident and achieve competence at each stage of the learning process. Starting with the next post, I’ll provide detailed how-to’s for teaching each skill.
Teach Swimming Skills in This Order
- Getting into the pool
- Feeling the water
- Holding onto the wall and climbing out
- Blowing bubbles
- Putting his head under water
- Kicking
- Gliding in streamline or torpedo position
- Popup breathing
- Body shape and position
- Treading water
- Moving underwater
- Back float
- Rudimentary crawl and backstroke
- Turning his head to breathe