One day several months ago, our 2 1/2 year old daughter asked to play in the pool which I knew consisted of her filling buckets with water and dumping them while sitting on pool steps. I unlocked the pool gate and pulled up a chair. She was playing peacefully until one moment while I was looking away, I heard a splash. She had slipped off the steps and had fallen in the water. She was trying to tread water to keep her face above but wasn’t being successful. I jumped in and pulled her out. Although this event scared me to death, she was unfazed and wanted to go back to playing. It was at that point my husband and I knew she needed to not only learn how to swim but to learn how to survive if she ever fell in.

A little back story- Our daughter used to hate water in her face or on her head. Bath time hair rinses consisted of us chasing her around the shower and her screaming and crying just to rinse the shampoo and conditioner out of her hair. Trips to the beach or pools consisted of my daughter wanting to be in the water but quickly resembling a cat trying to stay dry as she would climb as high as she could up my husband as he held her above the water. Unless being held, she would never venture off the steps of our pool at home.

While she has had plenty of pool and water exposure and other swim lessons in the past, we decided to enroll her in The British Swim School Young Minnows program in mid-April.

The first few classes were hard for me to watch as she got accustomed to floating and learned to trust her instructor.

 

By the fourth class, she was a lot more comfortable and the crying stopped. She had gained so much confidence and was a lot more comfortable in the water. She actually started to have fun while. She enjoyed play time in her floatie but also liked to practice her new skills at home in our pool.

Now, the class she is in is capped at 4 children and they each take turns working on jumping in, floating, dunking, and practicing swimming with their instructor. The last 5 minutes of class they get play time where they all get in a round float and kick around playing with water toys and collecting balls. Although this is called “play time” it teaches them balance in the water and how to use their legs to kick and move around in the water.

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After the first month of lessons, the school had a staff change and our daughter had a new teacher and we also started sending her twice a week. At first, she regressed a bit as she had to learn to trust a new instructor. She no longer liked floating but she loved to jump-in and to try her hardest to swim (I feel the “anti-floating” period is her fight for some independence and figuring out how to push boundaries).

This regression only lasted few weeks and she is now back to looking forward to and loving her lessons. Her turn to jump-in cant come fast enough! She loves to jump in and to float and she has even started swimming small distances!

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We are so grateful for the British Swim School and how far our daughter has come with her confidence, comfort and safety in the water. She is a completely different child when it comes to desire to swim and play in the pool and at the beach!

 

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You can learn more about the British Swim School on their website and on Facebook.