Can you remember swimming lessons when you were little? Were you excited or were you a bit frightened? You might not remember at all but a lot of us do as it has an impact on us later in life.
As part of our philosophy at Manta Swim School, we strive to have a positive impact on all of our students when learning to swim. It’s one of the most important life skills to have (especially in Australia where we are surrounded by water), so we are here to talk about the best approach to ensure your child learns to love the water instead of fearing it.
Learning to love the water
Adopting lots of positive energy into our program and making the environment full of fun whilst teaching your little ones how to swim is key.
Learning to love the water and developing the ability to swim comes from positive and gradual acquisition of skills. Swimming programs are far more successful when they have a child-centred approach, which is based on love of the child, love of the water and love of learning. We feel it is essential to have a positive focus and have fun, which will lead to a more productive and enjoyable learning environment.
Things to consider when applying a child-centred program to swimming:
To add to the above, all children learn at different stages which means it’s important to remember not to push children too fast or too hard as they will start to develop fear. As part of the Babies and Toddlers Learn to Swim Program, carers are expected understand exactly what their child can and cannot do in the water. This will ensure they progress in the most enjoyable way not the quickest way. For example, it’s important to know how long they can hold their breath and how competent they are at swimming as this will help the teacher to further develop their skills at the right pace for the child.
Fear of water
If a child fears the water, there is usually a reason why. One of the common causes of children fearing the water is after experiencing a forceful approach to swimming, whether it’s from the carer or a teacher. ‘Drown-proofing’ or ‘survival’ swimming programs generally rely on aggressive methods, such as forced back floating. This leads to the child (and sometimes carers) seeing the water as the enemy to be feared and a threat they have to face up to during the lesson. Usually there is a strong goal or aim of the lesson whereby the child is required to reach this at a rapid pace in order for them to save themselves if they enter the water unexpectedly.
Conclusion:
Rather than fearing the water, our aim is to encourage children to feel happy and comfortable in their swimming environment, which will lead to them having a love for the water. We must always remember that forceful teaching methods can impact children in a negative way and may cause trauma that is hard to reverse, which could lead to fearing the water. We should adopt a child-centred approach to swimming lessons in order to help them to progress comfortably and at their own pace. This includes love of the child, love of the water and love of learning.
