Parents of Water Angels and Water Tots
We understand that parents join our swimming baby and me classes for a variety of reasons. Please know we respect all of the various reasons you have chosen to come to our classes. We try to offer classes that provide opportunities for any and all of the following:
- To have a place and time to enjoy your child and have fun yourself as well as for your child to have fun and laugh.
- To provide opportunities for your child to learn to be totally comfortable with their face, head and body in the water.
- To sing (the breathing needed for the songs can be like a yoga experience)
- To give your child opportunities to move their bodies and have a physical experience that will enhance their gross motor skills, coordination and breathing capacity.
- To meet other parents and children
- To teach your child the skills for swimming such as when and how to blow bubbles, kick, move their bodies through the water with their arms, float, jump in, and to start to put them all together and be totally comfortable with their whole face in the water to make learning to swim an easier process.
Here are a few ideas for caregivers/parent of the babies and toddlers in the water angels and water tots class.
The main goal of the baby and me classes is for your child to be COMFORTABLE in the water. We believe this is the most essential part of learning how to swim. The first and most important step for this to happen is for the parent/ caregiver to believe that your child is okay and to show your child that they are. A parent does this through their body language, tone of voice, words and actions. If you believe your child is ok, act like they are. What does this mean? After your child goes under the water for a song, or jumping in or gets splashed, consider a response like, “Wow! That was amazing, yeah!!” Sometimes we feel like we need to identify their feelings so, as opposed to a sentence like “are you ok? You’ll be ok”, with patting and comfort, consider a sentence like, “Wow, that was a surprise or different!”
Remember to model putting your face in the water and your whole head under to demonstrate that this is ok. If it is uncomfortable for you to do this please take a look at “learn to swim at home” for ideas on how to be more comfortable and send us an email and we’ll get back to you on things you can do for yourself to be more confident. Also please consider taking classes yourself as it could be the best thing to do to help your child learn to be comfortable in the water.
Our baby and me classes are designed to teach children the skills to become good swimmers. Through the songs and activities we are giving you a chance to be your child’s private teacher. The songs and verses are approximately the same amount of time a child that age would be able to practice each skill in most settings. For example, “the driver on the bus says kick your legs, kick your legs, kick your legs, the driver on the bus says kick your legs, all through the town,,,,” For a child under the age of 3, we believe this is an average amount of time for them to be able to move their own legs and use their own muscles.
In the beginning of the session you, the caregiver will move the child’s body so their muscles learn the movements. Please note: the instructors will recommend a way to help your child in a way we feel is best to teach the movements of swimming. These are recommendations. You as the caregiver will decide how much support your child needs at any time. Over time the adult can offer less and less support so that the child is becoming more and more independent. Remember as skills are added (i.e. arms added with legs) sometimes a little more support for the previously learned skill is needed again for a while.
Some common questions:
1-My child has already done the baby and me class, what now?
As your child is in the baby and me class and is comfortable in the water and with the movements, you can start to help your child put the pieces of swimming together at his or her own pace. As your child’s personal, private lesson instructor during each class you can see what skills they can do and start to combine them. For instance, if your child put their face in the water you can suggest to the child to kick their legs. If after a period of time they are comfortable gliding and kicking (driver on the bus says move up front) you can suggest they move their arms. So as their teacher you will help them slowly put each skill together. Please be aware to add one part at a time and wait for the child to be comfortable and proficient with each new skill.
2-My child is almost 3 years old. What do we do next?
If your child is 2-3 months away from being 3 years old (please note this is a loose guideline, some children will be a little younger and others will be older than 3) you may start putting a floaty (blue belt) on the child so they begin to be comfortable in the water without being held and learning how to control their body with the floatation device.
The next step depends on many factors. If your child is 3 and not yet comfortable with their face in the water and not interested in swimming without their parent you may want to stay in water tots. If a child is at a developmental stage where they are much more comfortable swimming with their parent we believe, if the goal is for the child to learn to swim then they should continue to swim with their parent either in water tots or Family Swim.
If the child is comfortable in the water and able to support their body with the floaty and interested in swimming in a class without their adult then we recommend Angelfish or Angelfish Plus. How comfortable the child is in the water with the floaty and with their face in the water will determine if Angelfish or Angelfish Plus is the right choice. Please note: Angelfish with Caregiver IS NOT the class to take after water tots. That class is designed for children over the age of 3 who have very little experience in the water and/or will be more successful with their adult in the water with them.
3-Can 2 caregivers come to the class?
We ask that only one adult come in the water with the child. We believe the child can focus on the class and their own experience more with only one of their caregivers in the water. Sometimes a child will be very focused on the caregiver who is NOT in the water. Please use your own judgment to determine if the caregiver who is NOT in the water should remain in sight of the child. Every family is different. On occasion, it can be more difficult for the adult in the water to help the child adjust to the new experience if the child sees the other adult on the deck.
4-My child is crying and doesn’t want to go in the water. What should I do?
You are the expert on your own child. You know how they usually handle new situations. First we recommend the parent considers how the child reacts on land (put the water aside) to something new. We believe children cry at the idea of going in the water for a large variety of reasons. Some of them may be related to the environment being new and different. Others may be related to normal children’s behavior such as trying to meet a need for power and control or attention. One suggestion that we have had success with is if your child is crying at the pool about going in to sit on the side of the pool with your child. (Try to have them sit next to you so they are a little more independent if possible) Start to sing the songs and do the gestures from land. Perhaps bring some water in your hand to the child to wash their face when we sing that verse for example. When ready the caregiver can slide in the water and continue to sing and have a great time in the water right next to the child. This will help the child see it is safe, give them a few minutes to see the class and what the other children are doing. Continue to have such a good time (parents can be great actors!) and see if the child initiates the desire to come in the water. If so, take them in the water or show them how to slide in themselves with your support and give high fives and continue to sing the songs.
Children who are trembling or seem genuinely afraid of the water can do better if they are held fairly tightly in the beginning and the caregiver sings the songs and is very predictable with their actions, such as doing the movements of the songs as opposed to additional movements that can sometime scare the child by accident. Please also see the section on the website “Learn to swim at home”
Please remember, the more you enjoy (be in joy en joy!) the time in the water the more your child will love to be in the water which always creates good swimmers. Thank you for choosing to spend your time with your child in our program. We know your time and energy are so valuable and appreciate you choosing to spend it with us. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can provide any assistance. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Tracey Jindyeh
The All Sports for All People of Camp Olympia Team
