Tag Archive swimming lessons

What are the most suitable swim lessons for my child?

The decision on the type of swim lessons for a child is a personal decision many new and existing parents struggle with and admit to facing hurdles such as location and cost which often override lesson effectiveness or suitability.

Children as young as 6 months, are encouraged to participate in what the industry classifies as “water familiarisation”. These lessons are generally conducted in a group setting with the parents in the water with their child. This is said to create bonding time for parent and baby and provide social interaction with other babies leading to a positive experience for the child’s association with water.

In many cases, the decision to conduct group lessons is based on:
  1. Financial viability as one instructor for 10 babies for 30 minutes is much more cost effective than one on one.
  2. The safety issue of personal liability is transferred to the parent who is the primary carer in the water.

Unfortunately, many of these water familiarisation classes do not equip the child with any aquatic survival skills. At the very core being to roll over and float to breathe.

Often young children enter into an aquatic experience without any understanding of their abilities or limitations, be it a river, ocean, swimming pool or fishpond. It is vitally important that we provide children with the opportunity to undertake progressive aquatic skill development that considers the experiences and activities that they may be exposed to in the future.

The reality is barriers such as supervision and restricting access to water break down. When children fall into a body of water they usually do so fully clothed when they have wandered there unnoticed with no parents around.

IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT SWIMMING, IT’S ABOUT SURVIVAL

In the Survival Program at Kids Aquatic Survival School our main focus is learning to survive, not just swimming. It is now widely accepted that the ability to swim is not enough to save a life. As a nation surrounded by water, learning practical water survival skills at an early age is essential.

That is why at Kids Aquatic Survival School, once the child has completed the Survival program and is fully skilled; the child applies their newly learnt skills in a safe and controlled environment wearing full winter clothing including shoes and nappy. This is a vital step because it is a very different sensory experience swimming or floating in clothes. So should they ever fall into water fully clothed, it won’t be the first time they have performed this skill.

Kids Aquatic Survival School want children to respect the water: not to fear it, but to understand that they have limitations. Acquiring aquatic survival skills is fundamental in the attempt to eliminate drowning.

For more information call 1800 543 779 or visit www.infantswim.com.au

No toys in lessons

At Kids Aquatic Survival School WE DON’T use toys in our Survival and Learn to Swim Program to distract children from crying.

We focus on learning skills that will develop the child’s confidence.

We support the child and work through the real issue as to why they are crying be it lack of skill, separation anxiety or just emotional and tired.

Children communicate through showing emotion.

Crying is accepted in our lessons because we validate how a child feels by allowing them to express themselves, to appreciate they are finding it difficult and to support them through the process.

As the child’s skills improve, the tears fade.

Toys are a distraction and do not validate a child’s feelings.

It is not until children are competent in survival do we introduce dive dudes in our weekly transitional lessons which are not used as a distraction but to develop diving skills, increase breath control and have some fun!

To learn more please visit our lessons and techniques page or call 1800 543 779.

Swimming older children

We have many children aged 5 years + that come to KASS from years of traditional swimming lessons. Some have been taught:
1. Wearing floatation devices
2. With Parents in the water with them
3. Wearing goggles
4. In a vertical swimming position. Whereby the child lifts their head to breathe and generally swims in a vertical position rather than horizontally.

The above-mentioned are aids we do not use in our KASS survival program and therefore when the child commences lessons with KASS, they might be out of their comfort zone initially. Once these bad habits (if any) have been overcome, we find older children progress very quickly as they are usually already water aware.

When infants and young children commence swimming lessons with KASS we encourage them to roll over to float for every breath. With older children they may not need to roll over for every breath as they have the strength to lift their head. We therefore, encourage the child to swim horizontally with their head down in the water, take a breath and again head down to swim.

Older children still need to be able to hold and maintain a floating position in order to rest if safety or the edge is too far to swim continuously. This enables the child to break up a large swim distance into shorter more frequently swims.

In addition, older children may refuse to open their eyes under water without goggles. At KASS we want children to be comfortable to swim without goggles and they are not permitted whilst undertaking survival training. The reasoning behind this is should a child accidentally fall into water, they may not be wearing goggles and we want the child to not panic and open their eyes to see where the steps, edge or safety is.

Further details on why KASS say no to goggles is explained in our most recent blog ‘No Goggles’

Call 1800 543 779 or email [email protected] to book your child into our accelerated survival program to increase their water safety.

No Bubble Blowing

AT KASS we DON’T teach children to Blow Bubbles in lessons

Why? It is unsafe for an infant to blow bubbles as this dramatically limits the time they could hold their breath if they ever got into trouble. They also need air in their lungs for buoyancy.

At KASS we have and ALWAYS will focus on learned breath control as a FIRST priority in all lessons. Breath control is a child’s ability to hold their breath before they go under the water. KASS also teach children to roll over and float if they need to take a breath. As most children under the age of 2 are not yet physically capable of independently lifting their head out of the water to take a breath.

In our experience and through the way we teach breath control to children through our survival program, we have not found the need to teach infants and toddlers to blow bubbles. Teaching a child to blow bubbles too early makes them less safe and can cause a range of problems. This is one of many reasons that we don’t teach survival lessons to children who are aged under 6 months. We use specific methods to establish breath control and teach children to hold their breath when their mouth and nose is submerged in water. This practice keeps air inside the lunge, which in turn, increases buoyancy. If a baby or young child has lungs full of air, they will stay close to the surface easier, giving them time in an aquatic emergency. Blowing bubbles teaches infants to empty their lungs, which increases the chance of sinking under water faster.

The theory is that blowing bubbles to release air keeps children from inhaling water (aspirating).  The reality is, when a child is properly taught breath control with correct professional instruction from the beginning, their body automatically protects itself from water going into the lungs. In our lessons, children learn to respond to the natural environment rather than a person.

Over 13 years of teaching a full range of children including children with special needs, we are yet to encounter a child that has not responded to our methods of establishing breath control. In our opinion, teaching a child to blow bubbles too early makes them less safe and can cause a range of problems. Babies need to hold their breath so they can submerge and swim distances. Blowing bubbles will increase the chance of the baby inhaling and ingesting water. At KASS, we wait until breath control is well mastered before we teach children to exhale their bubbles underwater. By the bubble blowing stage the child has already learnt breath control, swimming to the edge or safety and independent floating. At this point they progress onto transitional lessons where diving for submerged objects and stroke is introduced and the slow release of breath is monitored and instructed.

This is now industry knowledge. Even our biggest critic, Laurie Laurence has shifted his swim teaching philosophy and no longer condones bubble blowing under 2 years in his lessons, because he “noticed that as soon as babies blow out their bubbles then they must take a breath in”. (See article link below).

At KASS we are always looking at continual improvement with keeping the child’s safety always paramount.

Call 1800 543 779 or email [email protected] to book your child into our accelerated survival program to increase their water safety.

Reference: worldwideswimschool.com/blowing-bubbles-2-years-4-months/

Competence before Confidence

“Many Australian children enter into an aquatic experience without any understanding of their personal capabilities or limitations….It is vitally important we provide children with the opportunity to undertake progressive aquatic skill development that considers the experiences and activities that they may be exposed to in the future and provide them with a core set of skills that can be utilised in times of need.” Royal Life Saving NSW

That is why at KASS, once the child has completed the Survival program and is fully skilled, they perform their newly learnt skills in full winter clothing including shoes and nappy. This is a vital step because it is a very different sensory experience swimming or floating in clothes.

To ensure the child has an understanding of what it feels like to perform the skills in clothes, we simulate this in a safe and controlled environment so should they ever fall into water fully clothed, it won’t be the first time they have performed this skill.

Call 1800 543 779 or email [email protected] to book your child into our accelerated survival program to increase their water safety.

#survivalbeforestroke #kidsaquaticsurvivalschool #watersafety#survivalswim

Image source; Daily Telegraph

Swimming and cognitive function

Swimming improves a child’s cognitive function

 A four-year study of over 7,000 children by the Griffith University in Australia found that swimming children were more advanced in physical and mental development when compared to their non-swimming peers. Specifically, the 3- to 5-year-olds who swam were 11 months ahead of the normal population in verbal skills, six months ahead in math skills, and two months ahead in literacy skills. They were also 17 months ahead in story recall and 20 months ahead in understanding directions.

How does swimming help?

Bilateral cross-patterning movements, which use both sides of the body to carry out an action, help your baby’s brain grow.

Cross-patterning movements build neurons throughout the brain, but especially in the corpus callosum, which facilitates communication, feedback, and modulation from one side of the brain to another.

Research states this improves:

  • reading skills
  • language development
  • academic learning
  • spatial awareness

Source: griffith.edu.au and healthline.com and seaottersswim.com

#teachthemyoung #swimmingimprovesbrainfunction #watersafety#childsafety #kidsaaquaticsurvivalschool

 

Keep kids swimming throughout winter

During summer children are keen to participate in swimming activities and frequently practice their aquatic survival skills outside of lessons without even realising. This additional practice is often very noticeable when children return to lessons showing progression.

However when the temperatures start to drop, the idea of swimming and lessons often loses its appeal.

It is important to remember that taking extended breaks where children aren’t swimming at all can set them back and when they eventually do return to the water after weeks or months they will have a LOT of catching up to do.

A key factor of how we learn – especially in children – is through repetition. Breaking this pattern could see children losing the skills they once had and spending a longer time in a level reacquiring those skills. Make sure you’re continuing your children’s swimming lessons to ensure time spent previously learning isn’t wasted.

When children have had an extended absence from the water or lessons we often see a decrease in retention of skills. Continuing swimming lessons throughout winter will allow them to continue learning and also help them to develop skills that will enhance their aquatic survival and safety in and around water.

Call 1800 543 779 or email [email protected] to enrol your child into our accelerated survival program or if they are an existing student they might benefit from an intensive week of lessons delivered throughout the school holidays to enhance their water safety.

#survivalskills #survivalswimlessons #swiminwinter#kidsaquaticsurvivalskills #aquaticsurvivalskills#survivalswimming #aquaticsurvival

 

No Goggles

In KASS lessons we DO NOT permit goggles in the 8 week Survival Program.

Goggle dependency can become a genuine safety issue.

81% of children under 4 years of age who drown do so due to falls into water. Most children in this situation are fully clothed and not wearing goggles. Children who become accustom to wearing goggles may panic, keeping their eyes closed instead of keeping their eyes open to look for safety or how to get out of trouble. Therefore it is important children do not develop a mindset of which they cannot swim without their goggles on.

Goggles can also be cumbersome when they; don’t fit well, don’t seal correctly and for some children prove difficult to put on and take off independently.

At KASS, we introduce the intermittent use of goggles at the transitional stage as they:
– Encourage the child to put their face underwater
– Provide a different sensory experience and perspective
– Enhance vision when diving for submerged objects
– Encourage head down and underwater swimming

Call 1800 543 789 or email [email protected] if you would like to know more about our accelerated Survival program tailored to children aged from 6 months to 6 years.

#nogoggles #watersafety #swimsurvival#kidsaquaticsurvivalschool

Original Image source: Puddle Ducks * has been edited with text and lines

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