Every Saturday morning since Matty was 10 months old, we have been taking him to swim lessons at a fantastic baby aquatics program in a nearby suburb. We were a bit hesitant to start him in swim lessons so young, but here in Australia 10 months is considered a late start - most babies start when they are 8 weeks old!
The program Matty is in is called Aquatots and it is an absolutely fantastic program. It is designed not only to teach him about safety and survival in the water, but it also incorporates many activities to help him develop core muscle strength in order to hit physical development milestones. For instance, classes typically run for a half hour each week. During this time, there is a set number of water skill activites that take place (such as splashing, kicking, back floating, jumping into the pool from the ledge and learning to quickly turn around and hold onto the ledge to save themselves from drowning, etc). All of these swim activities are spaced out with non-swimming activities in between them (because let's face it, infants have an attention span of about a minute).
To provide a bit of an overview of a typical half hour lesson, the babies and their parent will get in the pool and form a circle with the other parents/babies and the instructor. They will begin singing a song all while incorporating splashing, kicking, tossing baby in the air, and dunking the baby under the water. From this they will move on to a circuit of activities: back float from one end of the pool to the other; when they arrive at the end of the pool there will be a bucket with toys in it. The kids will be encouraged to grab a net and scoop a toy out of the bucket (which teaches them hand-eye coordination). From there, they will walk across a thick mat lying across the water to work on their core muscles and balancing, and then they will move on to do an underwater swim drill with the instructor. Each week there is a new theme, new swim skills to work on, and there is always new non-swimming activities included. To us, this is what makes these swim lessons so valuable. They keep Matty's attention the whole way through, all while teaching him some new skills.
But the big question is - how does Matty like it? Well, during the first handful of lessons, he was a bit hesitant. He was often found placing his finger in his mouth (a technique we believe to be a self-soothing one). But once he got used to the routine, he really got into it! Now, from the moment we arrive at the pool to the moment he is back in the car exhausted after his fun morning swim, he has a HUGE smile on his face.
If only we could find a similar program in Ottawa...We are definitely going to miss our weekly Saturday morning routine!
The program Matty is in is called Aquatots and it is an absolutely fantastic program. It is designed not only to teach him about safety and survival in the water, but it also incorporates many activities to help him develop core muscle strength in order to hit physical development milestones. For instance, classes typically run for a half hour each week. During this time, there is a set number of water skill activites that take place (such as splashing, kicking, back floating, jumping into the pool from the ledge and learning to quickly turn around and hold onto the ledge to save themselves from drowning, etc). All of these swim activities are spaced out with non-swimming activities in between them (because let's face it, infants have an attention span of about a minute).
To provide a bit of an overview of a typical half hour lesson, the babies and their parent will get in the pool and form a circle with the other parents/babies and the instructor. They will begin singing a song all while incorporating splashing, kicking, tossing baby in the air, and dunking the baby under the water. From this they will move on to a circuit of activities: back float from one end of the pool to the other; when they arrive at the end of the pool there will be a bucket with toys in it. The kids will be encouraged to grab a net and scoop a toy out of the bucket (which teaches them hand-eye coordination). From there, they will walk across a thick mat lying across the water to work on their core muscles and balancing, and then they will move on to do an underwater swim drill with the instructor. Each week there is a new theme, new swim skills to work on, and there is always new non-swimming activities included. To us, this is what makes these swim lessons so valuable. They keep Matty's attention the whole way through, all while teaching him some new skills.
But the big question is - how does Matty like it? Well, during the first handful of lessons, he was a bit hesitant. He was often found placing his finger in his mouth (a technique we believe to be a self-soothing one). But once he got used to the routine, he really got into it! Now, from the moment we arrive at the pool to the moment he is back in the car exhausted after his fun morning swim, he has a HUGE smile on his face.
If only we could find a similar program in Ottawa...We are definitely going to miss our weekly Saturday morning routine!
