How to Help a Child Learn to Swim Faster
Swim lessons can be expensive and time consuming, so it can be discouraging when your child is once again placed in the same level. But before you (or they) get discouraged, remember that swim lesson levels are designed to be repeated, usually multiple times. Even so, there are ways to help your kids progress faster.
*These tips are designed for the beginner swimmer. If you are looking to help your non-swimmer improve, check out this post.
Spend More Time in the Water
Think about it this way – if you only spend a few hours a month practicing something, how long do you think it’ll take before you learn it? How many hours is your child truly spending in the water? If you have 30-minute lessons once per week, that’s barely an hour a week. Carve out some time to spend playing in the pool with your children so they can practice their new skills.
Swimming Requires Coordination – Practice at Home
While you can’t practice swim skills on land, you can have your child try some of these activities and games that will help them with the coordination needed to swim:
- Hand Clapping Games, such as “Miss Mary Mack”
- Hopscotch
- Playing Catch
- Skipping
- Playing on the Playground
- Climbing
Learn by Teaching
One of the best ways to learn is by teaching others. Have your child try this through dramatic play by “teaching” their dolls to swim. Not only will this help them gain the benefits of learning by teaching, but it also allows your child to keep their new swim skills fresh in their mind.
Whatever Their Pace – Its Totally Normal
Kids learn all activities at their own pace, and swimming is no different. While it might be tempting to rush them, this often has the opposite effect of reducing their enjoyment of swim lessons.