Continue swim lessons?

[DualvansMommy]

DS1 will be finishing up his current group lessons and saw good improvement from last fall season. Able to do front strokes, stay afloat for longer periods without hanging on to walls or other support, and can swim with minimal splashing. His backstroke needs some work but good grasp of it to start off. his teacher is recommending he stay at his current level because in order to move up to next level which is the shark level, he needs to be able to swim whole 50 meters length on his own. He's only able to do 2/3 before coming up gasping and hanging on to the wall to take a min break before going on.

I want to put him in private lessons (did this before and alternate this to group lessons) but DS1 doesn't want to take lessons for spring. DH figures let him take a break, and I'm adamant in continuing him in lessons. He's exposed to pools in his cousins pools and will be going to our club for most of the summer after his camp finish at 1. It is that man reason I want him to keep up with swimming just for ability to stay up floating lot longer safely.

I'll be focused on ds2 who is still in puddle jumper but want to wean him off it this summer at our pool, hence DS1 will be pretty much on his own especially when he wants to do slides into the pool too!

Insist on him take lessons (private) or take a break? The other option is he can take private lessons with one of the lifeguards at our club. But it'll have to be early in the morning before camp which I think it's bit too much for him.


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[schrocat]

Are you talking about YMCA levels where shark is the last level?

[SnuggleBuggles]

A little break truly won't hurt. We often take breaks over the year on swimming and find no detriment.


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[KrisM]

Can you give a break and start private lessons in May? Take April off.

For us, we didn't have lessons that were close by for a couple of years, so we did take the winter off. But, they did spring and summer and into fall until they were good enough to swim 2 lengths of the pool. They can all do that now and every time we go to the pool in the summer, they have to swim 2 lengths for practice.

[DualvansMommy]

Are you talking about YMCA levels where shark is the last level?

Yes, their version. The level after shark is when they can qualify for joining a swim team.



Can you give a break and start private lessons in May? Take April off.

For us, we didn't have lessons that were close by for a couple of years, so we did take the winter off. But, they did spring and summer and into fall until they were good enough to swim 2 lengths of the pool. They can all do that now and every time we go to the pool in the summer, they have to swim 2 lengths for practice.

The next session of lessons start end of April and runs for 8 weeks. so I suppose a break can be done although we did take a break over the winter though. The next session wouldn't be till around mid or end of June. By then DS1 will be just starting his 6 weeks of rec summer camp, I want him to enjoy his summer without loading him up with activities. He told me this morning that he wanted to go our country club for swimming most of the summer, which is a given as that's what we did for past 2 summers.



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[SnuggleBuggles]

You could do a few private lessons in May vs committing to 8 more weeks of lessons.


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[schrocat]

If he's already in the level before Shark and only in Kindergarten, then there's no harm in taking a short break. He's fairly water safe. That's the level where they work on butterfly, breaststroke, sidestroke kick, backstroke and treading water. The kids in that level are water safe. I have a second grader in that level and there are actually much older kids at that level. They are pretty strict about when they pass them out of it. For what it's worth, our local swim team has taken in kids who are at that level too. Maybe just take a couple of months off and start up in the summer again.

[Snow mom]

Are you talking about YMCA levels where shark is the last level?

From her description of his swimming I'd say he's somewhere in the minnow level for YMCA. The term shark isn't that helpful here because it's not clear what the system is. At YMCA kids can join swim team at the fish level I believe (after minnow).

OP, I'd probably keep up swim lessons for this term since it's the term before summer. Normally I wouldn't think anything of taking a term off but since you spend the summer in the water I would want him keeping up with his swimming immediately before summer begins.

[georgiegirl]

Do you mean 25 yards or 50 meters? That's a big difference. I've never heard of kids swim lessons (let alone ymca lessons) in a 50 meter pool (and if so, the pool would be divided up into two 25 yard pools for lessons.).

If he can't swim 25 yards continuously, then yes, I'd continue lessons. Both of my kids did ymca lessons then swim team. (They both swim for a USA club team now.) By our shark level, the the child should be able to swim probably 100 continuously (touching the wall at each 25).

But in K, some kids just don't have the gross motor skills to swim well. Breaks are good. Even my oldest who is a competitive club swimmer gets breaks.

[DualvansMommy]

From her description of his swimming I'd say he's somewhere in the minnow level for YMCA. The term shark isn't that helpful here because it's not clear what the system is. At YMCA kids can join swim team at the fish level I believe (after minnow).

OP, I'd probably keep up swim lessons for this term since it's the term before summer. Normally I wouldn't think anything of taking a term off but since you spend the summer in the water I would want him keeping up with his swimming immediately before summer begins.

I just looked up YMCA swim levels, and I'd say DS1 is in minnow level right now, and teacher is recommending he stay at that level if we want to continue group lessons.



Do you mean 25 yards or 50 meters? That's a big difference. I've never heard of kids swim lessons (let alone ymca lessons) in a 50 meter pool (and if so, the pool would be divided up into two 25 yard pools for lessons.).

If he can't swim 25 yards continuously, then yes, I'd continue lessons. Both of my kids did ymca lessons then swim team. (They both swim for a USA club team now.) By our shark level, the the child should be able to swim probably 100 continuously (touching the wall at each 25).

But in K, some kids just don't have the gross motor skills to swim well. Breaks are good. Even my oldest who is a competitive club swimmer gets breaks.

Yes! I meant 25 yards, ugh my bad. He's able to do up to 20 yards before tiring and hanging onto the wall for a minute before continuing on. That is the main reason his teacher is recommending DS1 stay at his current level, otherwise he can do front, breast and side strokes.

The pool opens up on May 26th and his last day of school is June 6th. His rec summer camp doesn't start till 6/26, and that's almost 3 weeks worth of hanging around at our pool.





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[SnuggleBuggles]

I assume he'll just be in the shallow end at your swim club, just paddling around? At our pool, to be in the deep end you have to be able to swim that 25 (any stroke will do/ lack of formal stroke- they just want you to not tire and be confident in the water). You also have to tread water for a minute. I wasn't in a rush to let ds2 have access to the deep end. If you just keep him in the shallow, I'd be totally fine taking a lesson break.


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[bisous]

I was going to say that he's probably okay if he could swim most of 50 meters because that is definitely a further distance than most pools. I don't really see a problem with stopping lessons for a bit. It will just require a little more supervision which is never a bad thing. I think sometimes fun swimming is even more efficient at building strength and proficiency than targeted lessons and might be just the kind of break that he needs to be really excited about swimming. I vote that it is okay to take a break!

ETA: I just saw that he is doing Rec camp that will have swimming? I would be really freaked out by that. I've been at the pool when the camps show up. There is a lot of supervision but there is a LOT of craziness too. I know it must be really safe or it wouldn't be so common but it made my head swim! I'd want my child to be a really strong swimmer to be able to attend or I'd be right there!

[DualvansMommy]

I assume he'll just be in the shallow end at your swim club, just paddling around? At our pool, to be in the deep end you have to be able to swim that 25 (any stroke will do/ lack of formal stroke- they just want you to not tire and be confident in the water). You also have to tread water for a minute. I wasn't in a rush to let ds2 have access to the deep end. If you just keep him in the shallow, I'd be totally fine taking a lesson break.

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If DS1.was like that, wanting to stay at shallow ends most of the time, I would be fine with a break. But that's part of my dilemma, he can use the slides that's on the deep end of the pool which he has done last summer. It's only 3-5 yards from when he slide into deep end waters to swim towards the side ladder of the pool. Also, last summer he only had camp for in the PM for some weeks, so it meant our time at the swim club was spend the bulk of the mornings when it's quieter.

This summer will be different. Both boys are going to their camps just from 9-12 and 1pm respectively, and heading to our pool at a time when there's lot more kids and people in the pool. I will be focusing most of my supervision on DS2 and really need to feel confident DS1 can handle himself at the deep end among other kids while I'll be watching from the shallow end with DS2.



I was going to say that he's probably okay if he could swim most of 50 meters because that is definitely a further distance than most pools. I don't really see a problem with stopping lessons for a bit. It will just require a little more supervision which is never a bad thing. I think sometimes fun swimming is even more efficient at building strength and proficiency than targeted lessons and might be just the kind of break that he needs to be really excited about swimming. I vote that it is okay to take a break!

ETA: I just saw that he is doing Rec camp that will have swimming? I would be really freaked out by that. I've been at the pool when the camps show up. There is a lot of supervision but there is a LOT of craziness too. I know it must be really safe or it wouldn't be so common but it made my head swim! I'd want my child to be a really strong swimmer to be able to attend or I'd be right there!

I meant to say 25 yards, not 50. No his rec camp is without the swimming! All his pool time for bulk of his summer will be at our swim club.


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[georgiegirl]

Is there a way you can take a short break now and then do more intensive lessons? At that stage, my kids improved at much faster rate when they were taking lessons twice a week. Sounds like he really needs to just get a lot of practice swimming to build up his endurance. It sounds like stamina/endurance is his problem now, which is typical at that age. DD had a similar situation where she couldn't move to the next level because they wanted her to swim a 50 (2 lengths), and she tired out too quickly.


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[bisous]

Is there a way you can take a short break now and then do more intensive lessons? At that stage, my kids improved at much faster rate when they were taking lessons twice a week. Sounds like he really needs to just get a lot of practice swimming to build up his endurance. It sounds like stamina/endurance is his problem now, which is typical at that age. DD had a similar situation where she couldn't move to the next level because they wanted her to swim a 50 (2 lengths), and she tired out too quickly.


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This is a really good idea.

[WatchingThemGrow]

Is there a team or pre-team at your swim club? That sounds like it would be a perfect fit for him if there is one. Ours has a pre-team that meets 3x/week for 30 min starting at the end of May, and at the end of the 4 or so weeks, they either bump you up to the team practices or you can continue with private practices.

ETA: I'm asking about the "team" because IME, they build strength in swimming by practicing, and the team situation did more for my youngest than lesson after lesson did for my others. A lot of concentrated time in the water pushed them over the hurdle from struggling swimmer to proficient.

[georgiegirl]

Our local YMCA teams require kids to swim 50s. Even the ore swim team they have to be able to swim a 25 freestyle without stopping.

[DualvansMommy]

Is there a way you can take a short break now and then do more intensive lessons? At that stage, my kids improved at much faster rate when they were taking lessons twice a week. Sounds like he really needs to just get a lot of practice swimming to build up his endurance. It sounds like stamina/endurance is his problem now, which is typical at that age. DD had a similar situation where she couldn't move to the next level because they wanted her to swim a 50 (2 lengths), and she tired out too quickly.


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I actually liked your idea the best, as I wanted a break for DS1 but same time get some lessons in too. Since he has a gap of 2.5 to 3 weeks of downtime in June, my gym club can do private lessons with him twice a week! It's where he takes his current group lessons, so that worked out well.


Is there a team or pre-team at your swim club? That sounds like it would be a perfect fit for him if there is one. Ours has a pre-team that meets 3x/week for 30 min starting at the end of May, and at the end of the 4 or so weeks, they either bump you up to the team practices or you can continue with private practices.

ETA: I'm asking about the "team" because IME, they build strength in swimming by practicing, and the team situation did more for my youngest than lesson after lesson did for my others. A lot of concentrated time in the water pushed them over the hurdle from struggling swimmer to proficient.

There isn't anything like that at my gym nor my swim club. Nice idea though! But like georigegirl said for her kids and area, kids have to qualify by swimming 50 yards continuously to join such a team.

Should be interesting as DS1 is saying he wants to join the swim team at my swim club, so I explained to him their basic qualifying terms. Will shall see! But my main focus right now is better pool safety since we'll be around lot more kids this summer at our pool vs last two summers. I'll freak and can't relax completely if I feel DS1 can't hold his own among his peers and older kids at the deep end by the water slides.


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[lizzywednesday]

...
ETA: I'm asking about the "team" because IME, they build strength in swimming by practicing, and the team situation did more for my youngest than lesson after lesson did for my others. A lot of concentrated time in the water pushed them over the hurdle from struggling swimmer to proficient.

:yeahthat:

I am the child of nonswimmers, so I didn't get extra in-water time when I took lessons (and we did not have a community pool where we could swim year 'round) until my mother signed me up for the swim team after I'd failed one of the lesson levels at the lake.

Our lanes were 50m - so Olympic length - and getting to the end, as a weak swimmer afraid to put my head in the water, was really hard at the start of the summer. But by the end, I'd increased my proficiency enough to skip up to the lesson level my same-age peers were taking.

I continued to do swim team for the next 9 summers and am still a confident swimmer thanks to the combination of swim lessons and swim team.