Learning to swim.

When I was a kid, back when dinosaurs ruled the earth, the local parks with pools offered free swimming lessons. Every Mon - Fri for half an hour over 2 weeks we would have lessons. By the end of that time we could swim the width of the pool and back. A rite of passage as that allowed us to go in the deep end of the pool, prior to that we were relegated to the wading pool or, with adult supervision, the shallow end of the big pool. All but one of my granddaughters learned to swim at home with the adults in the family teaching them. It took longer but the end result was the same. Last year we didn't have a pool so the one year old hasn't learned to swim yet, but I hope to remedy that this summer, as well as teach my two grandson (age 5 and 6) who just rejoined the family. If your daughter is asking for lessons, I would suggest you take her to the Y. If you decide to teach her yourself, my advice is be patient. Don't force her to do anything she isn't ready for, like putting her face in the water or letting go of you. Pushing a child to do something they are not ready for will only instill a fear in them they may never overcome. My mother had a bad experience when her brothers tried to teach her to swim and she never tried again, thus she never learned. Like I said, be patient, make sure your child feels safe, be it holding on to you or water wings, etc. Let them go at their own speed and when they are ready the will let you know. Good luck, keep us posted on how it goes.

We live near Bridgewater State College and they have a huge olympic size pool. When we were kids we all took swimming lessons there every summer. I went from beginner at 8yrs to junior lifeguard at 14 years old. We only live a half mile away so when we were old enough we could walk there and go to free swim from 2pm-4pm every day in the summer. Unless of course we were going to the beach or something. I think it's alot easier in a group that way the focus isn't all on you and it's probably less nerve racking.

Well Im from an older generation where we learned how to swim was we where thrown in and if you wanted to breathe then you learned really fast how to swim and get your head above water!lol I just think some people are natural born swimmers and dont need lessons but if your young one isnt comfortable around big bodies of water then yes I suggest you get her or him swimming lessons just to be safe.

yes i also have to learn to swim ............

I think you'd be better off letting a qualified swimming instructor teach your family member - they're trained to deal with all situations, nervous kids & all sorts of things - including how to swim properly. I went to swimming lessons from the age of about 5 & did it for about 8 years until i gave it away. I also did the normal swimming lessons that we used to have to do with school. I have considered teaching my daughter myself but we'll wait & see what happens, i can leave it a little longer - she's only 9 months old!

i had this dream since my childhood but it could not be materialized yet. partially because earlier i have not had the opportunity and partially because i don't feel it healthy and safe to enter in a pool where mahy others are. since i don't have resources to have my own pool, i think that it will take a long time before i start swimming. anyway, i think it's a great sport, a thorough exercise to burn the extra calories and a very healthy and relaxing activity.