Maya's swim lessons are all about having fun in the water whilst gaining swim skills.
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Maya is wearing a little yellow hat in the video.
Showing posts with label Swimming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Swimming. Show all posts
Sunday, 11 September 2011
Monday, 15 November 2010
Introduction to swimming.
Last year I enrolled Maya in swim lessons. She was about eight months old and I'd heard somewhere that the earlier you introduce babies to swimming the less fearful they would be of the water.
At our first lesson Maya clung to me. She was terrified of the pool. My instinct was to introduce her slowly to the water. But the swim instructor believed, quite vocally, that babies needed to be pushed into swimming concepts as quickly as possible in order for them to become comfortable in the water as soon as possible. His methods only made Maya even more fearful of the water. She would cry throughout the lesson. Maya didn't enjoy the lessons and neither did I. I ended the lessons early.
Recently, I decided to try swim lessons again, but at a different swim school. I found a centre that offered a refund if you are not happy with their lessons and thought it was a safe bet to try.
Our first lesson I had to drag Maya into the water with me. She fought hard not to go in. But I kept her close to me. This instructor could see that Maya needed to be close to me and structured the lesson accordingly. She introduced fun tasks for all the children to complete and while Maya stayed close by my side, she really enjoyed the activities. At the end of the class I had to drag her back out of the pool. She wanted to stay! It was a fun lesson and the children were not forced to do things they weren't comfortable with.
Maya now LOVES swimming. Each week she gets more and more confident to try new things. And there have even been a couple of moments were she has swum briefly all on her own.
There are still things she does not like to do but she is never forced to do them. Instead she is encouraged to give them a go to the best of her ability. This way she usually has a go and each week she gets more comfortable with the tasks.
Swimming lessons are now my favourite time of the week. And I think Maya feels the exact same way.
At our first lesson Maya clung to me. She was terrified of the pool. My instinct was to introduce her slowly to the water. But the swim instructor believed, quite vocally, that babies needed to be pushed into swimming concepts as quickly as possible in order for them to become comfortable in the water as soon as possible. His methods only made Maya even more fearful of the water. She would cry throughout the lesson. Maya didn't enjoy the lessons and neither did I. I ended the lessons early.
Recently, I decided to try swim lessons again, but at a different swim school. I found a centre that offered a refund if you are not happy with their lessons and thought it was a safe bet to try.
Our first lesson I had to drag Maya into the water with me. She fought hard not to go in. But I kept her close to me. This instructor could see that Maya needed to be close to me and structured the lesson accordingly. She introduced fun tasks for all the children to complete and while Maya stayed close by my side, she really enjoyed the activities. At the end of the class I had to drag her back out of the pool. She wanted to stay! It was a fun lesson and the children were not forced to do things they weren't comfortable with.
Maya now LOVES swimming. Each week she gets more and more confident to try new things. And there have even been a couple of moments were she has swum briefly all on her own.
There are still things she does not like to do but she is never forced to do them. Instead she is encouraged to give them a go to the best of her ability. This way she usually has a go and each week she gets more comfortable with the tasks.
Swimming lessons are now my favourite time of the week. And I think Maya feels the exact same way.
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