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Time to Play! Floating

Kids learn by playing. The more you can make learning to swim fun for your kids, the more they’ll like it, the quicker they’ll learn, and the more fun you’ll have teaching them. You can turn learning to float on his back, a skill that tends to be stressful for kids to practice, into fun. Here’s how.

Instead of having your kids concentrate on floating the right way all the time, you can help them have fun with it by making doing it wrong a game. Have your kids bend at the waist and grab their toes. How fast do they sink? Doing the opposite of what they need to do to float will help your kids get a great feel for what not to do, and that will help them when they’re practicing doing it for real. As long as you’re there to catch them, this game will give your kids the confidence to explore different scenarios and sensations, and that will help them learn faster and more effectively.

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How to Leverage Your Greatest Advantage over Paid Swimming Teachers—Part 2

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.

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How to Leverage Your Greatest Advantage over Paid Swimming Teachers—Part 1

You have a major advantage over other swimming teachers when it comes to teaching your own child. You’ve got access to him when you’re not in the pool. Although there’s no way to learn to swim without getting in the water, there are lots of ways that you can enhance the learning process on dry land. Here’s the first way to help your kids learn to swim even when they’re out of the pool.

Let Them Observe

Kids learn by watching a good example. Have your child watch lap swimmers, and point out what’s going on. “See how he turns his head to the side when he takes a breath?”

Kids learn by watching other kids. Kids often learn to use swings by themselves within days after they watch other kids pumping their legs. Have your child watch other kids swim.

Ask a friend to record a video of your child while he swims so that you can watch it together later. The post-game analysis of his lesson lets your child see what’s going right and wrong in a situation when he’s not under pressure to remain afloat. It’s a perfect way to use modern technology the way pro athletes have for a long time.

Have your child practice skills on land in front of the mirror. Your child can use you as a model and correct his body position based on what he sees. You can highlight what’s going on. “See how your head is tilted down now? How does it feel if you look up a bit? That’s it.” Suggest changes. Point out what’s working.

Ask your child for his analysis of what’s going on while he watches. How does a movement work? What parts of the body are involved? How does it feel? Does timing make a difference? Where are the parts of the body in relationship to each other and to the water?

Observation won’t replace getting in the pool and moving, but it will supplement and strengthen what you teach your kids in the pool.

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How to Make Heading for Safety Second Nature When You’re Teaching Your Kids to Swim

When you and your kids are calm and rested, it’s easy to practice good form and to think clearly. When your child is under pressure, it’s easy to panic and revert back to whatever comes naturally. How do you make heading for safety the automatic response if panic sets in?

When you’re practicing, have your child swim toward the wall or steps. Not only does it give your child something to aim for, but it’s also a good habit to build so that he’ll automatically head in that direction if he panics or needs to get out of the pool.