Top Tips for Swim Parents

It can be incredibly exciting getting your child into a new sport or activity like swimming lessons. A question we often get asked is "How long will it take my child to swim?". Learning to swim requires a large time commitment just like learning to count, read or use math skills. These skills take a huge amount of repetition to master and swimming is no different. Each child learns at their own pace and through different mediums: some kids are very visual while others need to DO the skill and require more hands on experience in order to master it. Also remember that while your preschooler or elementary aged child gets to practice those skills almost every day at school or daycare most parents opt to attend swim lessons just once per week. For a younger child, attending a 30 minute class one time per week is like asking you to practice Spanish for 5 minutes every Saturday and asking you on Friday what you remembered. Patience really does pay off when it comes to swim lessons and there will be a day when all of your child's skills flow together into a beautiful moment of perfection!

With the information outlined above, we encourage all parents to keep breaks as short as possible. For most swimmers not at the intermediate level you will start to see a decline in skill level even after just one month. Swimming is a skill that requires total body motion and when your child is not practicing the skills they will fade quickly. Many parents assume this advice is just a marketing gimmick but our business was founded on making sure your child makes progress with our instructors so you can always rest assured we have your family interest in mind! We hate to see parents throw away money by taking big breaks just as their child is starting to make progress. After taking several months off from swimming it makes things more frustrating for both parents and children to realize that their skills have regressed to the point of starting over at their current level instead of just continuing where they left off as many parents think should be the case.

Learning a new skill and entering a new environment can be intimidating for any child. This is the best time for you to encourage your child to keep going and trying the skills being taught in class. Does that mean its ok to chat will little one during class? No, but it does mean that clapping, smiling and congratulating your child are ALL great ideas during class. Make sure to put your phone down to watch all their amazing progress and the joy they get from swimming! Feel free to take pictures to share with friends and family to show off what a great parent you are for making such a big commitment to their safety and lifetime enjoyment of the water! Your child will be watching you to see how you react which is why positive encouragement is such a big deal not just for swimming but any new sport your child is trying out.

Don't bring your sick child to swim class! In addition to making for a miserable experience for the child, there is a the real risk of spreading the illness to other children. Chlorinated pools destroy bacteria but this process takes time and there is a real risk of infecting other students before the chlorine has the proper time to take effect. Additionally, if your child has the flu or a stomach bug the possibility of affecting other students classes is very real: if a child throws up or has an accident in the pool, we have no choice but to shut it down while it is properly cleaned and disinfected. Atlantis Swim Academy has a very generous makeup policy and when you call in sick the day before classes (or same day calls with a Dr.'s Note) you can easily make up the missed class when your child is feeling better. This policy is especially important during our Minnesota winters when children are stuck indoors and in close contact with many other people.

We encourage our parents to put down their smartphones and encourage their child during every listen but IF you are going to use your phone why not for taking awesome pictures/video of your child during class? Taking pictures of your child during class is a fun way to show off to the rest of your family while also keeping invaluable and precious memories of your child learning! They won't fit into these cute outfits forever and you won't want to miss out on the first time your child nailed the backfloat so feel free to take as many pictures as you'd like (as long as you aren't disrupting the class). Want to walk around the pool for a better angle? No problem! The only restriction we have on photography is that you REFRAIN from using any flash so you don't create a safety issue for students or coaches. Looking back on these precious memories will be enough to make any parent smile years later looking back at those Facebook Moments notifications!