Teaching a child to swim

kelsen

My 4 year old son is able to front crawl pretty well but hasn't learnt to breathe. Any tips on how to teach him? Is it even physically possible for them to do the proper technique at this age seeing as their heads are proportionally bigger to their body compared to an adult?

CiB

We had ours go to proper swimming lessons taught by someone who could teach them properly, and in between went swimming with them a lot to reinforce and practice what had been taught. That seemed to work.

Wish I could offer you an unexpectedly concise but effective 'do this then do that and bobs yer uncle' answer, but I don't have one.

veronese68

We put both of ours through swimming lessons to get them to the point that they could swim reasonably well. I can't recommend it enough. Now they both have much better technique than I do and have also learned what to do if they get into trouble out of their depth. I have seen my daughter messing about in the pool with bigger stronger kids than her and if she gets tired and can't quite cope she just flips onto her back and paddles away for a few moments. She never gets stressed by it or worried as some others do.

kelsen

I'd have to agree that swimming lessons is the way to go. I've taught him to the point where he's confident with being in the water, but anything else I try to teach will probably become just bad swimming technique.

Wrath Rob

kelsen wrote:

My 4 year old son is able to front crawl pretty well but hasn't learnt to breathe.

I'm amazed that they're still alive, let alone in a swimming pool doing front crawl. Is this the first of the real X-Men?

As for a serious answer, get the swimming lessons. Much better results than with parents alone.

veronese68

That's the point we got to. They don't need a lot, I think they only did a couple of terms each. But it was enough to get some good habits really drilled into them.

kelsen

Wrath Rob wrote:

kelsen wrote:

My 4 year old son is able to front crawl pretty well but hasn't learnt to breathe.

I'm amazed that they're still alive, let alone in a swimming pool doing front crawl. Is this the first of the real X-Men?

You mean what with you being an SCRer and everything you still don't know how to skin breathe?

Wrath Rob

kelsen wrote:

Wrath Rob wrote:

kelsen wrote:

My 4 year old son is able to front crawl pretty well but hasn't learnt to breathe.

I'm amazed that they're still alive, let alone in a swimming pool doing front crawl. Is this the first of the real X-Men?

You mean what with you being an SCRer and everything you still don't know how to skin breathe?

I've not yet learn't that successful skin-breathing-in-water technique. Beaten by a 4 year old. Damn.

asprilla

I used to do some coaching but that was for competitive swimming so a different kettle of fish for teaching kids. The Mighty Pickle is currently having professional lessons, mainly because I don't want to get all competitive dad and put her off swimming for life.

navt

Never too early to get them into the water. Don't delay. You will only regret it.

cjcp

Mine have professional lessons plus sessions with me. It's worked a treat.

bompington

+1 for lessons. One important tip from the teacher who taught ours - the really essential thing is to learn to be comfortable in a flat out front crawl position with your face in the water, then learn to twist your head to the side to breathe. To which end you basically have to support them in that position while they practise it. But sorry I can't remember all the drills which helped this to happen - pay for lessons, it's worth it.

rjsterry

As everyone else has said, lessons are the way to go, but I would also say that you don't really need to worry about correct technique at the age of 4. I'm sure I remember from my childhood swimming lessons that proper front crawl breathing technique was still being practised in early teens.

rubertoe

I have nothing to offer except my GF nearly drowned in the shower last night.

Make of that what you will.

bdave262000

I put my sons name down for swimming lessons and told there was a two year waiting list! So I thought whats the point. I just took him myself and messed about in the water until his confidence increased. I took him atleast once a week until he started picking it up, doing the same with my two girls. I watched the swimming instructor teaching and the children looked miserable. Its about having fun and them enjoying themselves. Personally I think lessons are a waste of money.

bompington

rjsterry wrote:

As everyone else has said, lessons are the way to go, but I would also say that you don't really need to worry about correct technique at the age of 4. I'm sure I remember from my childhood swimming lessons that proper front crawl breathing technique was still being practised in early teens.

Maybe you don't, but it's easier to teach it right from the start than try and correct engrained bad habits. My children started proper lessons at 4 and could swim with proper breathing technique by the time they were 6: surely better to be a strong, confident swimmer at 6 than 16?

bdave262000 wrote:

I watched the swimming instructor teaching and the children looked miserable. Its about having fun and them enjoying themselves.

Well, it's about learning, it depends how much you value the skills. And a good teacher will not be making the children look miserable, ours has certainly given them a lot of fun and they have always loved it - to the point where the older ones still insist on going to the advanced class even though they have no interest at all in competing.

herb71

At 4 it is all about confidence in the water. I would not worry about technique yet. Plenty of time for that. Make sure they are happy underwater that kind of thing and don't mind the splashing and getting their face wet. Once they can swim a couple of lengths by any means you can start introducing better front crawl technique. Normally about 6 or 7 if I remember. A weekly swimming session will help. A good teacher will make it fun and they won't even notice they are learning.

Be careful though or you will end up in my situation of ridiculous 4 am starts and having to juggle to get your kids to training, or having to spend your annual holidays in Sheffield for competitions. My lad swims 40K per week plus competitions and landwork. Some people don't cycle that far!

greg66_tri_v2.0

Lessons, lessons, lessons. Breathing effectively whilst swimming freestyle at a reasonable pace is a real combination of co-ordination and muscle memory. It takes time to gejt it right, and you can't acquire the skills just by having someone say "do this". It's all about adding together lots of small movements into one larger smooth movement. I'd put it up there with skiing (properly).

The good news is that if your child learns to swim properly (ie local swimming club level) as a child, it's a skill they lose. Something about ingraining a feel for balance in the water, and how to move through it effectively, I suppose. Whatever it is, it's a skillset that is (it seems) much harder to acquire as an adult.

bdave262000 wrote:

I watched the swimming instructor teaching and the children looked miserable. Its about having fun and them enjoying themselves.

I'm not singling you out, but that's a phrase that really grates on me. The idea that everything that children do has to be fun, and if it isn't it's someone else's fault that they're not engaging is wrong (IMO). Chemistry homework will almost never be fun or enjoyable. Latin vocab will never be fun or enjoyable. Doing a proper swim club session is not fun or enjoyable. It's bloody hard work.

These tasks, along with numerous others, can be satisfying, usually because one understands that they are a step in a much larger undertaking, and sometimes precisely because they are bloody hard work. I wonder (and occasionally worry) whether, by creating a generation for whom everything must be fun, we will end up with a generation that is distinctly hard work-shy.

DonDaddyD

Right, so swimming lessons at 4. Check.

I have nothing else to add.

Kieran_Burns

I got taught to ride a bike by being pointed downhill and pushed

I got taught to swim by being thrown in the swimming pool.

It seems now, that this was not the recommended technique.

hegyestomi

rubertoe wrote:

I have nothing to offer except my GF nearly drowned in the shower last night.

Make of that what you will.

Any Pics?

veronese68

Kieran_Burns wrote:

I got taught to ride a bike by being pointed downhill and pushed

I got taught to swim by being thrown in the swimming pool.

It seems now, that this was not the recommended technique.

Were your parents trying to get rid of you?

Agent57

Mine just went to the pool regularly with their mum, and had some sessions at school. I was useless as far as teaching them though, because I can't swim. I got them riding bikes early though. \o/

Kieran_Burns

Veronese68 wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

I got taught to ride a bike by being pointed downhill and pushed

I got taught to swim by being thrown in the swimming pool.

It seems now, that this was not the recommended technique.

Were your parents trying to get rid of you?

Two elder brothers... I probably need not say any more.

walkingbootweather

Take them somewhere sunny for a couple of weeks. If anything like my kids they will spend about 12 hours a day in the pool and pick up lots of confidence in the water.

Having said that if you want them to learn some technique then structured swimming lessons are the way to go. My daughter listened to the teacher and quickly developed a really nice style. My son on the other hand was always too busy mucking about to pay any attention to the teacher, so has dreadful technique but somehow manages to get up and down the pool quicker that most of the kids that swim properly. We have had a few 1-2-1 lessons for him where the instructor got into the water and man-handled him to try and improve things, and to be fair he probably improved more in 45 mins than he had in the previous 6 months of group lessons.

rjsterry

Greg66 Tri v2.0 wrote:

I'm not singling you out, but that's a phrase that really grates on me. The idea that everything that children do has to be fun, and if it isn't it's someone else's fault that they're not engaging is wrong (IMO). Chemistry homework will almost never be fun or enjoyable. Latin vocab will never be fun or enjoyable. Doing a proper swim club session is not fun or enjoyable. It's bloody hard work.

These tasks, along with numerous others, can be satisfying, usually because one understands that they are a step in a much larger undertaking, and sometimes precisely because they are bloody hard work. I wonder (and occasionally worry) whether, by creating a generation for whom everything must be fun, we will end up with a generation that is distinctly hard work-shy.

And it never did you any harm... :roll:

The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they allow disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children now are tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.

Agree with bompington's early point about starting on the right track, but your average 4yo struggles with shoe laces, so perfect front crawl technique is not very realistic

herb71

rjsterry wrote:

Greg66 Tri v2.0 wrote:

I'm not singling you out, but that's a phrase that really grates on me. The idea that everything that children do has to be fun, and if it isn't it's someone else's fault that they're not engaging is wrong (IMO). Chemistry homework will almost never be fun or enjoyable. Latin vocab will never be fun or enjoyable. Doing a proper swim club session is not fun or enjoyable. It's bloody hard work.

These tasks, along with numerous others, can be satisfying, usually because one understands that they are a step in a much larger undertaking, and sometimes precisely because they are bloody hard work. I wonder (and occasionally worry) whether, by creating a generation for whom everything must be fun, we will end up with a generation that is distinctly hard work-shy.

And it never did you any harm... :roll:

The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they allow disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children now are tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.

Agree with bompington's early point about starting on the right track, but your average 4yo struggles with shoe laces, so perfect front crawl technique is not very realistic

And the Latin homework they give 4 year olds these days is a bitch!

cjcp

Herb71 wrote:

Be careful though or you will end up in my situation of ridiculous 4 am starts and having to juggle to get your kids to training, or having to spend your annual holidays in Sheffield for competitions. My lad swims 40K per week plus competitions and landwork. Some people don't cycle that far!

I'll be honest and say that, when I first read this, I thought "Awesome!"

I could sit and watch my kids swim (and ride bikes) all day. :oops:

DonDaddyD

Greg's examples - Latin, really? - are a little extreme but there is truth in what he has written. Who remembers doing chores? Washing the dishes, cleaning the skirting boards and having that one bit of responsibility in the house that you hated but you did because it was your responsibility.

I hated it those chores, but I know how to keep and maintain a home. I have friends who have their shirts pressed because they were never taught how to iron. One friend set fire to the microwave because he used it as a timer while cooking his pizza in the oven. Why is this? Because their parents did absolutely everything for them and insisted that their childhood had to be 100% fun all the time. Where does this lead?

There is a reasons my generation - I was born in 1982 - has more debt than any generation before it and probably those after it and arguably more luxury/vanity items than most.

At the same time, learning doesn't have to be a chore or be boring, Greg. It's proven that if you enjoy something you are more likely to be more receptive to what you are being taught. Also if you can connect with the material, that's why teachers like to use modern examples to get kids to connect with the subject. i.e. [In Greg's day]: 1 tuppence farthings + 1 tuppence farthings = ..... [Modern day]: 1 £10 bag of weed + 1 £10 bag of weed =....

veronese68

DonDaddyD wrote:

Right, so swimming lessons at 4. Check.

I have nothing else to add.

DonDaddyD

Veronese68 wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

Right, so swimming lessons at 4. Check.

I have nothing else to add.

Wow you are on fire today.