Swimming

Swimming is part of the rite of summer. Swimming helps kids achieve an independence that is an important part of growing up. Children should learn to swim early. As a part of a childcare curriculum, it’s a top to do in the summer. Teaching children to swim or enjoy the water as early as two or three is simply a good idea.

Comically enough, the most difficult part of the swimming ordeal is changing. Boys make the chore ten times worse. It is always interesting to me that the youngest female can change from shorts and shirt to a swimsuit engineered by a moron that needs a genius to put on in about thirty seconds. But the boys who only have to exchange shorts and underwear for trunks would take an hour and come out with most of it on their heads.

Safety? Did someone say safety? Safety is always a primary concern, so taking the kids to a well designed pool is important. My favorite is the plus sign design with the beach incline where the water starts on the slanted cement and gains depth in inches. This gentle incline encourages children to explore the water.

Swimmers and non swimmers should not be confused by attending adults. If a child is afraid of the water and unwilling to explore, or is not mature enough to stay where he is safe and where nothing will seem dangerous or frightening, he needs a shallow pool in a fenced area to play in and get acquainted with the whole idea of water.

Real swimming, after all, does not mean dog paddling for five seconds and dropping a toe to the bottom. Swimming means a child can easily put his head under the water and either freestyle or swim under the water anywhere in the pool he wants to go without having to touch the bottom.

How do you get there? By doing it. When does this happen? It happens somewhere in the fours or early fives depending on the natural strength of the child.

Most kids aren’t going to be able to swim on the first swimming day. But that doesn’t mean they will never be sea worthy. Because they haven’t used those muscles for a long time, they need practice and that’s the key – practice. If they don’t swim regularly, they will never get the practice they need to be strong swimmers.

Teachers who watch children at the pool will notice that some children take naturally to the water. They are not afraid to put their heads under the water and start to push off from the side of the pool. Watchful and interested teachers see serious children begin to develop strokes that count, that propel them in the water with assurance and agility.

It’s a wonderful thing to see kids move from non swimmer status to swimmer. Swimming is an “I can do this all by myself” kind of play. It’s a mastery that remains with a child the rest of his life. The outstanding element of swimming is independence. Only the child can decide to do it.

Swimming is as important as it is fun. Childcares should take children swimming during the summer because it is a genuine opportunity for the child to explore and the teacher to teach. And if they do, parents should help. Parents should sunscreen their own children and buy a one piece suits that fit, and encourage children to wear swim shoes.

Then, ask questions about a child’s swimming development; take an interest. And finally, parents should remember that little people tire easily. If there is a particular swimming day, parents need to make sure that their child is in bed early.