too young for swimming classes?

meenu

meenu

Registered User
my son is 4 yrs old now. I would be interested in letting him go for tennis , gymnaswtic and swimming classes. some of my friends are of opinion that the kids at this age will not benefit from threse classes since they are too young to learn. On the contrary, I have always heard that the earlier they start learning the better they will be at that particular activity. I am confused. Since in Hk all these classes means quite a sum of money I am still thinking whether to let him go for them or not. Does anybody with kids of this age have some experinece in this regard?
 
Learning to swim at the age of 4 is about right, 2 or 3 would really just be getting the toddler used to the water.

My friend's 4 year old son is being taught and he has come a long way since not being able to even hold his head under the water. It also really depends if he wants to learn and how good he is at obeying a stranger to begin with. It's best to find an instructor with a lot of experience.

Some clubs will hold sessions with a group of toddlers but these usually don't work well because the attention is shared by multiple children and progress would be slow. 1 on 1 is the best way where all the attention is focused on that child, but of course that would mean the fee would be more.

Hope this helps and I could help you find the instructor if you decide you need one.
 
too young for swimming classes

Dear member from Swim club,

Thanks for your reply. I think my son is good at obeying instructions provided that I am not around. But I am not sure if he is scared of water. I would be very much interested if you could help me find an instructor but with reasonable fees.Thanks once again.
 
Hi Meenu,

If you are not sure whether your son is scared of water or not then it would be a good idea to find out before you commit to swimming lessons. If he is scared there is a better of chance of him getting over that fear if a known person helps him - ideally you. Once he is comfortable then he can take lessons. I learned to swim when I was 10 but my sister who was 4 was excited and wanted to learn with me. The instructor had told my parents he doesn't accept kids below the age of 5 because they are not ready. On day 1 my sister held on to my parents tight and screamed away..that was the first day she was getting into the water ! So it wasn't really the fact that she was not 5 but she had never entered a pool before and she wasn't about to do it because a mean looking man told her to :) I think 4/5 years of age is a nice time to start, but your has son has to want to. Good luck.
 
you may want to visit www.hwiswim.com. they teach toddlers and young kids to swim. my son (10 mth old) started last week. he enjoyed the class very much. there were babies as young as 5 mths old in his swim class.

e
 
> emilyc

To be honest your child isn't actually learning to swim though right? He's just enjoying being in the water but not actually being taught the strokes and about breathing? I wouldn't waste the money on paying for someone to do that but as I said before 4 is a good age to start.

> scr

You're right, you have to know if your child is scared or not but it can be done. Children are more scared of putting their heads under the water than facing a stranger when it comes to swimming.

> Meenu

You shouldn't force children to do things they don't want to like some of the local parents in HK, but swimming is one of the better sports to learn in terms of keeping the heart and lungs healthy in such a populated and polluted place to live in. It makes the child more confident and it attributes to overall fitness. But, it also makes sense to find out how scared of the water he is before you decide to look for an instructor. Let me know when you do.
 
Get the DVD called Water Babies and you will know that it is never too young, only too late. The most important thing is that you need to be there to be safe.

New Daddy
 
Hi,
Young children can learn to swim. At home in the UK my friend started her son swimming at the age of 4 months, by the time he was one he could swim 5 metres unaided, on his own without any floats. I think the younger they start the better.

Jools
 
My daughter will be turning 4 next month. Her grandfather taught her to swim from when she was about 18-months (my husband comes from a family of swimmers). She loves it and can now swim unaided across the width of the pool. However, as her grandfather does not live in Hong Kong, it is difficult to keep up these private lessons. I have also been looking for classes. I recently found a group called Play Sport which organises various sports activities for children including swimming, tennis and gymnastics in the Pokfulam area. I have just signed up my daughter for some of these courses (April - June) and if she enjoys them, I will let her continue. If interested, check them out at www.playsport.com.hk.
 
New Daddy said:
Get the DVD called Water Babies and you will know that it is never too young, only too late. The most important thing is that you need to be there to be safe.

New Daddy
Click to expand...

My baby is 6 months old. I took her to "swim" when she was 2 months old - not exactly swimming but more like floating and playing with water. I do this with her once a week - not so much of wanting her to swim but it is more for myself because I get to swim as well (I put her in the float while I swim). Besides, she always sleep after playing with water, which is great. My question is, can baby really swim at this age? Do they know how to breathe in the water? I heard of a baby swimming class in an international school in Pokfulam. Has anyone heard of this? Is it worth signing up? If I want to teach my baby how to swim, how can I do that (especially breathing in the water)?
 
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My daughter started the "Parents and babies" swimming classes when she was about 8 months old with Harry Wright (www.hwiswim.com) at the West Island ESF school but we stopped after a few months because of the weather.

Wee Kean, I think this may be the swimming classes at the international school you're referring to.

The babies are too young to 'learn' how to swim in the traditional sense - i.e. they don't learn to swim the way young children/adults do. They can't - they don't have the motor skills yet. But I think babies do benefit from early classes. They learn not to be afraid of water. Within a few lessons, my daugther was quite happy being submerged in water and can move a few metres if pushed forward. She was learning to kick her legs in the water when we stopped her classes .

We attended another "parents and babies" class today (which is nearer our home) but it was no way as sructured as the Harry Wright's classes. I spent the hour doing my own thing with my daughter using the methods we learnt at her previous classes. I regret stopping my daughter's classes with Harry Wright and plan to rejoin their classes asap.

I'm trying to say that while babies don't 'learn' how to swim, they certainly benefit from exposure to the pool. If you want to send them to swimming classes - choose your school/teacher carefully.

Peng
 
We first took our daughter into the pool when she was 3 months - for familiarisation purposes primarily. She is now 22 months and we go everyday, sometimes twice (we have a pool so its convenient). She has a healthy relationship with the water, ie - she loves the water, is not afraid but realises the danger of not being able to float. She can doggy paddle (kick and use her arms like a dog digging) to stay afloat and we will do gradual breathing excercises with her leading up to her learn to swim classes.
My advice would be to spend time with your child in the water to build such a relationship - learning to breathe and stroke correctly can come later and much more easily once they are comfortable in the water.
Cheers,
Jen
 
If you're interested in teaching your little one to swim, we've just received a new book called Learn to Swim . The book is an amazing resource and includes the following:

- Shows you how to develop your child's confidence and ability in the water, and how to make learning fun.
- Guides you through each stage of teaching from splashing in the bathtub to swimming underwater.
- Plus it includes Lesson Plans.
 
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New Daddy said:
Get the DVD called Water Babies and you will know that it is never too young, only too late. The most important thing is that you need to be there to be safe.

New Daddy
Click to expand...
Where can I get that DVD? I have searched amazon.com, however, they did not have that DVD.

Thank you.
 
Peng,

how many months did your daughter take that class? I am thinkig of taking that class for my daughter - she will be 8 months old soon. How long it will take for the baby to swim? Do they teach the baby turn over and breathe and then keep swimming?

Thanks.
 
Hey
i have worked with a learn to swim program from Australia and we start babies swimming at 3 months. The key is that the earlier they start the easier it is for their body to adjust to floating and becoming buoyant naturally.
Often kids who start later can learn, however the older they get the more chance of developing a aquaphobia. Let us know if you have any other questions.
ta
anna
 
I think, as others have said, it all depends on how comfortable your son is in the pool. My 4 1/2 year old has just started swimming lessons with a private instructor. She can quite happily float around in her ring without an adult holding on to her and the ring! - which is what we had to do all of last summer, so we felt that she was ready for lessons this year. She has a 1 hr lesson twice a week with her 4 year old cousin, and because it's just the 2 of them, the instructor can give them lots of individual attention, and they also give each other encouragement as well, so it seems to be working out well.
 
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