For kids without much experience in the water, starting swim lessons can feel scary, but a parent’s involvement can make the experience much more enjoyable.
Read on to learn more about the benefits of family swimming lessons and what to look for when choosing the best swimming lessons for you and your child.
Why You Should Consider Parent-Child Swim Lessons
Safety for All
Swimming should be fun and exciting for children, and sometimes it takes time to get there. Signing them up for formal swimming lessons can equip them with the right skills to stay safe in critical situations while providing the opportunity to adjust to the water with weekly swim lessons.
Parents play a crucial role here since they can keep their kids calm and reassure them as the swim teacher manages the class. For most swim lessons, a parent is required to be in the lesson with their child as long as their child is under the age of 3.
Boosts Confidence and Social Skills
Mastering self-rescue and swim skills can increase your child’s confidence and familiarity with water environments. Building self-confidence through swim lessons can be a good foundation for developing their social skills, too.
In parent and child swim lessons, children are surrounded by other peers and their families, which means plenty of opportunities for interaction.
Improved Overall Health
Swimming is a great way to build healthy exercise habits for your child, allowing them to develop their muscles, improve cardiovascular fitness, and boost endurance.
Swimming classes involving parents can help reinforce these habits as they can physically guide and assist their children with core swimming skills, such as blowing bubbles, paddling and kicking.
Better Discipline
It’s not easy for swim instructors to manage a class of children on their own as they adjust to the water, but allowing parents to assist their children in the water changes that.
Parents are there to help keep their little ones comforted so that the instructor can focus solely on teaching them the proper techniques.
Parents and swim teachers work together to help ensure the children thoroughly understand the swim skills they are learning while following proper water safety rules.
Improves Sleep & Appetite
Children can burn many calories within just thirty minutes in the pool. Since they’re constantly moving around in a new environment, they expend a ton of energy, which means they’ll be tired and hungry after each lesson.
For this reason, you can expect them to eat and sleep better. An increased appetite and early bedtime will do wonders for your kid, such as encouraging their physical growth.
Enhances Cognitive Function
Swimming also enhances your child’s spatial awareness, problem-solving and cognitive skills, and ability to process complex information.
This is because swimming engages all their whole body and all their senses in a new environment, stimulating their brain. Since they’re being instructed by a swim teacher, they also learn to listen well and follow instructions.
Tracking Progress and Milestones
Parent and child swimming lessons allow you to easily track your children’s growth and swimming progress. You’ll be able to monitor milestones and get a firsthand glimpse of their road to development. Bear Paddle offers monthly skill evaluations and provides monthly progress reports to keep parents involved.
Furthermore, you can encourage your children to pursue new challenges and goals by encouraging them and cheering them on during their lessons.
Offers Family Bonding Experiences
One way to strengthen your family bond is by engaging in fun activities such as swimming. As you support your child’s learning journey, this activity enables them to learn crucial life skills and brings you closer together.
Bear Paddle offers free Family Swim every weekend for enrolled families, providing them with the opportunity to learn and play together as a family.
What to Look for When Choosing the Best Family Swimming Lesson
The next step is to choose the right family swimming lesson. These are the main things to consider when choosing the best family swimming for your child.
School Certifications and Trainer’s Qualifications
You and your children should learn from schools with certified teachers. It’s best to do your research about swim schools in your area to learn more about the swim school’s reputation and the experiences of past clients.
Teacher-to-Student Ratio
Teacher-to-student ratios greatly impact the quality of the lessons and learning experience your child will receive. It’s important to also take note of your child’s preferences and needs.
Some children feel more comfortable in a smaller, more intimate one-on-one tutorial setting, while others learn better when they’re in a larger class surrounded by their peers.
Family Swim Lessons Help Your Child Become a Proficient Swimmer
There is much to learn and experience when parents join their kids for family swimming lessons.
Not only will children be able to learn an important safety skill that will benefit them for the rest of their life, but it’s also an opportunity to enjoy family bonding moments they’ll cherish for years to come.
To get started with a swim experience, you can try a lesson at Bear Paddle by signing up for a Complimentary Swim Lesson. This will give you the lesson experience with a certified trainer, while evaluating your child’s swim skills to place them in the right swim level.