Hey out there… Spring has sprung! It is hard to stay inside near the computer when it is in the 70’s outside and the garden needs weeding, trees need trimming, fence needs building, and plants need planting. We’ve been spending an amazing amount of time in the sunshine – and even taking advantages of the grey misty days to get mountains of cilantro picked. One thing we’ve kept up every week besides our school and gardening fun is SWIM LESSONS.
Our swim lessons were a fluke thing. I was contacted by a PR rep for the Austin area British Swim School back in October last year and she wanted to offer us a free month of swimming to get the word out about them on social media. We did that, but my kids were hooked, and didn’t want to quit. They started out scared to put their face in the water and they flailed and screamed when anyone tried to take their hands off of them while they were in the pool because they thought they would drown. It only took a few weeks until they were floating on their own on their backs, though. I was really impressed.
My kids looked forward to “Homeschool Swim PE Class” every week and we’ve decided to stick it out and work through the program until they are very capable, strong swimmers. Each week they work on different things, and they move up through the “ranks” with different cap colors (just like how you move up belt colors in martial arts). The instructors are fantastic, well trained, and know CPR.
The levels are Tadpole (which starts as early as 3 months old and focuses on just introducing babies and toddlers to the water), Swimboree (full of games and songs and teaching a baby or toddler to float on their back), Young Minnow (one on one help in beggining swim techniques for babies and toddlers with an emphasis on survival), and then the regular classes start at over 3 years old. The first step for my boys was Minnow (never more than 4 kids in a class, but often, my boys get one-on-one attention – this focused on water survival and floating on their backs), Turtle One begins strokes, forward dives, kicks, and learning how to breathe and roll to their back if they are tired (this is the level they are on now). After this level, there’s Turtle 2, Shark 1, and Shark 2. They also have adult classes. After each class, they allow the kids to play for a few minutes with toys and have fun with the instructors in the pool. This is always a bonus and my kids love their instructors.
This past week both of my boys swam across the pool with very little help and my youngest dove down in the 3 foot to pick up a pool toy off the bottom of the pool and give it to his teacher. These are the same kids who were terrified to get their face wet just a few months back!
By this summer, they will be swimming well! I will have peace of mind that they know what to do if they fall in a pool when someone isn’t looking (heaven forbid).
I have gone from just wanting them to learn to swim and be safe (this method of swimming is totally safety-driven), to now wanting them to excel and enjoy themselves every week.
Swim lessons are a highlight in our week for sure! Swim safety should be on every parent’s radar, though.
Pool and water safety and strong swimming skills should be something every kid learns for their survival.
British Swim School in Williamson County near Austin is giving a discount to anyone who joins before the end of the month of March APRIL (because he read this post and loves my readers). I’m sharing this with you not just because they are sponsoring this post, but because we truly love what they do and want to help. I like that they reached out to homeschoolers and we have been blessed by their school. Here’s what the owner wanted to offer homeschoolers in the Austin area:
British Swim School of Williamson County is excited to offer daytime water survival and swimming lessons for families that home school their children. Classes will be held on Tuesday’s between 11:00am and 1:00pm at our Georgetown Pool located in the Comfort Suites Hotel. The hotel is located at 11 Waters Edge Circle, Georgetown, TX 78626.
British Swim School has been teaching water survival and swimming lessons for over 35 years. Our motto is “Survival of the Littlest”! If you would like to learn more about British Swim School feel free to visit our website: britishswimschool.com or our Facebook page: British Swim School Austin
We are also pleased to offer all home school families a discount of 15% of of our regular tuition. This offer is being extended only to home school families who would like to take advantage of our daytime classes. When you register online in the “Where did you hear about us” box just click “Home School”.
Now is a perfect time to insure that your children are water-safe and know how to swim. Summer is not far away!
They also have a Round Rock pool and offer late afternoon and evening classes there. They may even have more pools than that, but those are the two I know of. My boys have swam at both pools! They are more than willing to help you out with your schedule by moving your lessons from one pool or time to the next when you are in a jam. Joe (the owner) also mentioned to me that he was doing more than one class a week for those who sign up before APRIL ends!!! Ask him about that and tell him Sprittibee (Heather) told you about it!
See you at the pool!
Disclosure: My introduction to British Swim School was through a PR company in Austin and they gave me some free lessons to try them out before we became paying customers. They are offering me a discount if people sign up through my website – so by all means, sign up! :::wink, wink:::
This post was edited to give my readers an extra month to sign up for their swim lessons! Go ahead and do it!