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9 Tips for Being Attuned to Your Kids When You’re Teaching Them to Swim

When you’re teaching your kids to swim, the most effective lessons will be the ones driven by their needs and readiness. Here are nine tips for being attuned to your kids and their needs when you’re teaching them to swim.

Tips for Staying Tuned into Your Kids in a Swimming Lesson

1.   Do check in frequently to see how your child feels.

2.   Do help your child reframe nervousness about the swimming lesson as excitement.

3.   Do watch your child practice swimming skills and respond to his needs.

4.   Do observe your child for signs of fatigue or cold.

5.   Do stop the swimming lesson if your child gets tired or cold.

6.   Do acknowledge it, empathize, and move on, if something scary—like swallowing water—happens.

7.   Do switch to a different approach or to a different swimming skill if your child gets frustrated.

8.   Do be aware of when your child needs you to give more support when you’re teaching or back off and let him try things independently.

9.   Do help, if you’re not sure whether your child needs help.

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Top 22 Tips for Fine-Tuning Your Swimming Teaching Style

When you’re teaching your kids to swim, how you teach is as important as what you teach. Use these 22 tips to help make your teaching style more effective and more fun for everyone.

22 Tips for a Fun, Effective Teaching Style

1.  Do tell your child what swimming skill you’ll be learning that day before you get into the pool.

2.  Do start easy and build on the swimming skills your child has already mastered.

3.  Do teach swimming skills in small pieces that can be combined.

4.  Do teach one swimming skill at a time.

5.  Do demonstrate.

6.  Do give simple, one- or two-word instructions.

7.  Do avoid yes/no questions.

8.  Do ask open-ended questions.

9.  Do repeat, practice, and review to turn movement into habit.

10.  Do acknowledge the small subtle things that are happening to your child’s body when he’s working on a swimming skill.

11.  Do take time during the swimming lesson to point out the physical sensations.

12.  Do praise your child’s efforts, not just his accomplishments.

13.  Do be specific in your praise.

14.  Do give positive, specific, constructive, immediate feedback.

15.  Do define success based on process instead of outcome.

16.  Do encourage your child to try things he initiates (as long as you’re there to keep him safe).

17.  Do use lots of different ways of explaining or showing the swimming skill you’re teaching.

18.  Do use all the senses to teach each swimming skill.

19.  Do touch the part of your child’s body that you want him to focus on.

20. Do use your hands to help adjust your child’s body gently without forcing him.

21. Do relate the swimming skill you’re trying to teach to something your child already knows how to do, like dig a hole or pedal a bike.

22. Do use imagination, games, and visualization to make repetition and swimming practice fun.

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6 Tips for Making the Most of Each Swimming Lesson

Keep these six tips in mind when you’re teaching your kids to swim, and you’ll maximize your bang for the minutes spent in the water.

Tips for Getting the Most out of Every Swimming Lesson

Making the most of every swimming lesson will give your kids the best chance of learning to swim quickly and painlessly. Keep these tips in mind while you’re teaching and planning your swimming lessons.

Start exposing your child to water as early in life as possible.

Fear and uncertainty are more likely to develop as kids get older. The sooner they get used to feeling comfortable in the water, the easier it will be for you to teach them to swim.

Have short, frequent lessons.

Kids’ minds and bodies get tired quickly. Don’t let distraction and discomfort detract from the learning experience. Teach your kids to swim in short bursts as often as possible.

Provide as much opportunity to practice as possible, and make sure that a good chunk of that is unstructured.

When you’re teaching your kids to swim, give them time to explore the skills you’re teaching. They’ll learn a lot from self-directed practice.

Set aside time for a play activity that your child chooses in the middle and at the end of each lesson.

When you’re teaching them to swim, keeping it fun will keep your kids wanting more. Even if they’re working hard on something, knowing that they get to have fun—and decide exactly what form the fun will—take will help keep your kids motivated while they’re learning.

Teach in three to four feet of water, where an adult can stand firmly without feeling too buoyant.

Safety is the first priority when you’re teaching your kids to swim. Making them feel secure is important, too. Make sure that you’re as stable as possible so that you can provide solid physical support.

Practice swimming toward the wall or steps.

When you’re teaching a swimming lesson, part of what you’re doing is establishing habits. If you’re kids get used to swimming toward the wall during a lesson, it will make heading toward the wall automatic, a great thing in case of emergencies.

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Feelings: The Difference between Success and Failure

What difference do feelings make when you’re teaching your kids to swim? After all, they’re just feelings. It turns out they make all the difference. Here’s why.

The Difference between Success and Failure in a Swimming Lesson

Knowing the impact of kids’ feelings and perspectives on success and failure can make the difference between your success and failure when you’re teaching them to swim.

Feelings matter

Kids learn best when they feel safe and supported, physically and emotionally.

  • Tension in your child’s body makes it harder to learn a physical skill.
  • Emotional tension makes it harder to retain and process information.

What You Can Do

If you feel relaxed and confident and you’re having fun, it will be easier for your child to feel relaxed and confident and have fun. Create an atmosphere of fun, freedom, and exploration to help your child feel secure enough to learn.

Feeling Successful

According to a recent study of eight- to thirteen-year-old kids, kids’ opinions of what makes a good swimmer have everything to do with effort: if you’re doing your best—trying hard and practicing—you’re good. Kids care about the process more than the outcome. Defining success based on the process instead of outcome will help kids to remain engaged and feel successful. Feeling successful will make them want to keep trying.

What You Can Do

Emphasize the importance of practice for improvement. That fits how kids think about things and gives them control over their own success.