Most parents wait until their children are school-age to start swimming lessons. After all, most children don’t have the physical coordination to truly master swimming until they are older. They may look at the parent-and-tot classes and think, ‘they are just playing, do I really need to pull on my bathing suit for that?’ The answer is unequivocally YES! Children ages 1-4 have the highest...
Swimming lessons are a tradition for many families – once children get to be school age. But don’t wait so long to introduce your children to the water, and don’t think that swimming lessons is the same thing as teaching children to be safe around the water. The American Academy of Pediatricians recommends that children start in swimming lessons from the age of one. Why? Because drowning...
In the U.S., a disproportionate amount of press is given to children drowning in swimming pools, and while it’s true that children ages 1-5 are most likely to drown in swimming pools, it’s not the whole story, and I think it gives parents a false sense of security about water safety. It’s important to know the different dangers, and how to teach your children to navigate the dangers at any age. So,...
Pencils? Check. √ Notebooks? Check. √ Backpack? Check. √ Swimming lessons? Huh??? So often parents associate swimming lessons only with summer vacation. Summer is a great time to be in the pool, but there are a number of reasons why you should think about enrolling your child in swim classes year-round. First and foremost, learning to swim is like any other developmental phase...
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” …Albert Einstein Sometimes the usual methods just aren’t as effective as innovative ways of teaching. Ballroom dance can teach students how to respect the opposite sex. Huh? Ballroom Dancing? Yes. Watch “Mad, Hot Ballroom” or “Take the Lead” to learn how schools in New York are using ballroom...
Don Walsh is an extraordinary man by anyone’s definition. Mentor to Navy SEAL candidates, 3-tour Vietnam War Veteran, coach for minority women’s triathalon teams, guitarist, water safety author, husband, and father. He’s been a serious open water swimming competitor for three decades, including circling Key West (12.5 miles), Manhattan (28.5 miles) and the Isle of Jersey (41.5 miles). Did I mention...
