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The Four Things That Contribute to How Fast Your Kids Learn to Swim

You’ll have a head start when you’re teaching your kids to swim if you understand some underlying ideas about how kids learn in general. First, consider the four things that contribute to how fast and how well your kids learn to swim.

Learning a skill has several stages. First, you have to think about it, or get the idea of what you’re learning. Next, you have to practice it until you can do it. Finally, you have to master it to the extent that you can not only do it without thinking but also adapt it to other situations. This process isn’t always smooth or sequential. Understanding each of these pieces can help you make the process effective, though.

Technique

Make sure your kids really understand what you’re teaching before they start to practice. Practicing something incorrectly is counterproductive. It pays to spend extra time on understanding how to do something right upfront, even if it means not practicing the skill. The right things done consistently and carefully are cumulative. It’s better not to practice than to drill doing the skill wrong.

Amount of practice

The more practice they get, the more quickly your kids will learn. They should practice only as long in one session as they’re able to perform the skill they’re working on correctly, as far as their physical development allows.

Consistency of practice

Frequent, short practice sessions yield better, more lasting results than infrequent marathon sessions.

Attitude

If your kids are having fun and looking forward to each lesson, they’ll learn faster and better.

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Time to Play! Side Breathing

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.  Turning your head to breathe when you swim is a skill that will transform your child from an okay swimmer to a solid swimmer. Here’s a game to make grasping the concept fun.

Have your child pretend to be a log rolling in the water from stomach to back to stomach again. (I know, I know. Logs don’t have stomachs.) Have him do it himself. Now you roll him.

This game really helps with the idea that you turn your head, keeping it in line with the rest of your body instead of lifting it. It also reinforces the involvement of the rest of the body, helping your child learn to involve the torso and core in the rotation for breathing.

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What to Expect When You’re Teaching Elementary School Kids to Swim

Kids in elementary school are fully equipped physically and mentally to learn to swim. How can you make the most of their developmental readiness at every stage when you’re teaching them to swim?

Six years old

At six, kids’ fine and gross motor skills are well developed. They’re good at skipping, throwing, and maybe catching. At this stage, you’ll start to see swimming that resembles somewhat coordinated strokes.

Other kids their age become an important part of their lives at this stage. If you can schedule play time with other kids in the water, you’ll help motivate your kids to learn to swim. Keep lessons as distraction-free as possible, though. Try to schedule swimming lessons when there aren’t friends around.

Seven and eight years old

  • Kids this age are often very curious.
  • They’ve become good communicators.
  • They have a strong sense of fair play.
  • They can learn rules.
  • They do well with developing and practicing skills.
  • They’re learning to cope with frustration.
  • They’ll also be likely to be afraid of the water if they haven’t had experience with it before. They’ll need a lot of time and a gradual approach to get past this fear.

It’s always important to be honest and keep your promises when you’re teaching kids to swim. Kids this age are especially slow to forgive a broken commitment. If you say you’ll let them choose the game at the end of the lesson, follow through, even if it means cutting instruction time short.

9 years old and up

Kids this age are usually very coordinated and good at listening and evaluating. Their minds and bodies are primed for learning physical skills. Just make sure to keep it fun when you’re teaching them to swim, and you’ll do fine.

At this stage, kids can handle longer swimming lessons, but they’ll still get tired and cold much faster than adults. Keep lesson lengths reasonable for your kids. Be sure to watch them carefully for signs of discomfort or fatigue. Kids this age can get so wrapped up in activities that they don’t realize they’re overtired until it’s too late.

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What to Expect When You’re Teaching Preschoolers to Swim

You can start teaching your kids to swim at any age. The more experience they have in the water and the more comfortable they are in the water, the easier and more fun lessons will be for everyone. Kids in preschool are really ready to learn to swim. What can you expect at this stage?

What You Can Expect

  • Kids this age can learn to be water safe.
  • Kids this age can learn to do primitive versions of formal strokes.

When your child is three to five years old, he’ll be able to achieve water safety. Keep in mind that this is not a substitute for adult supervision. No one of any age should swim alone.

You can finally get to the point now where you could describe your child as being able to swim! It won’t necessarily be pretty. Look at how your kids climb into the sandbox, pump on the swings or run. Their facility doing things on land will give you a sense for how developed their swimming can be at this stage.

Kids this age know a lot of words. They’re aware of other kids and love to watch and be with other kids. They can run, gallop and dance. They’re really good now at riding a tricycle and might even be able to ride a bike. They’re better at throwing. They start understanding games and rules.

What You Shouldn’t Expect

  • Lots of coordination
  • A long attention span

Tips for Teaching Preschoolers to Swim

  • Although kids this age know a lot of words, you should still keep instructions simple when you’re teaching them to swim. It takes a lot of energy for them to listen, and they need energy to focus on their bodies, too.
  • Keep lessons short.
  • Offer them simple choices, but make sure you can live with whatever they choose. (“Do you want to blow bubbles by yourself or with me?” instead of “Are you ready to blow bubbles?”)
  • Use swimming with other kids as motivation to keep practicing.
  • Use games in the water to help your child practice skills without the practice feeling like work.
  • There’s a lot of developmental variety: some kids this age look graceful and coordinated and some look more awkward. They’ll all get there in the end. Be patient and respectful of where your child is now.