I have great respect for teachers of all kinds, but this summer I grew to especially appreciate swim instructors.
My son turned 12 in July, and despite taking swim classes for two straight summers when he was much younger, he never really learned to swim. He could float and tread water, but swimming wasn't something he could reliably do. During his class, he'd get frustrated and bored as he waited for the teacher to get to him. I stopped enrolling him in classes after he became too discouraged and disruptive to the rest of the students.
I recall discussing the issue to someone at an aquatics conference a few years back and remember her advice: It sounds like he'd benefit from private instruction.
This summer, I found that one of our local pools offered semi-private swim lessons, meaning a maximum of two students to one instructor. Swim lessons are extremely popular here — it's not uncommon for parents to set an alarm to wake up at 5:45 a.m. to register their kids online at 6 o'clock on the dot on registration day. But because of the ongoing pandemic, this particular pool began their registration period later than in years past, and I was able to snag a highly coveted spot.
What a difference semi-private lessons made! I have to say that these lessons were really the way to go for my son for two reasons: First, the teacher was able to devote a large chunk of time to him, so my son could really learn and make immediate corrections. Secondly, he was able to see his performance improve, which motivated him to continue. And lastly, while I would not recommend that parents delay the start of swim lessons until their children are older, being more mature made him a better student. By the end of six weeks, he could confidently swim from one end of the pool to the other and now is very comfortable in the water.
Best of all, he really loves it! When I spouted all the reasons why it's so beneficial to swim — not only to prevent drowning but that water immersion benefits your cardiovascular and nervous systems, is great for balance, lowers stress, yada, yada, yada ... His response was, "and it's just plain fun!"
So a big thank you to all the swim instructors who teach children this "just plain fun" life-saving skill.
