your child is ready for swim lessons without a parent? My son has met the requirements to move on to child only class. He actually passed during the last session and we kept him in the parent and child class. Swimming wise he is fine to move on, I worry about the following directions and safety issues. He is very capable of following directions, but tends to be super-excited when in the water, and thus needs more redirection. He will jump in before he is told to, etc. We spoke with the director and they acted like it was no big deal and would make sure he is in a class that has 1 teacher to 2 students and give us the lady with the most experience. (They also have a deck instructor who moves between the several teachers working in the water.)
Am I worrying too much? Should I just try it? I assume they will let me know if it is too difficult to manage him. Parents watch from behind a big window. He loves swimming and it is such a great sensory and physical activity.
I think with 1 teacher for 2 kids that is excellent! I wished we had that ratio here! I would talk to the one that will be doing the instruction and tell them to watch him like a hawk and never turn their back on him! With the parents looking in too it is highly unlikely anything will happen:)
Good luck!
Swimming is a great lifelong skill and obviously very important if he is going to be around water at all. Make sure they are teaching WATER SAFETY as well. Our swim school does that and particularly emphasizes NEVER SWIMMING ALONE!
Swimming is a sport your child could become involved in and thus have a group to hang around. The swimmers I knew in college were a little quirky and I think my ds would have fit right in with them!
Maybe he will actually pay attention better to a teacher than me. I just feel like we should encourage this since he is doing as well as if not better than his peers and it's physical activity that he enjoys a lot! It's nice to see him do somthing at an age appropriate level.
If you are that worried - would you be able to do private lessons? I think one teacher for 2 kids is really great too - but if you are really worried that he won't be safe while the instructor is attending to the other child, well then private might be the answer. We have ONLY done private for my ds - not because of safety issues, but because he needs the full half-hour of complete one-on-one in order to learn better and not be distracted. My kids have only had swim lessons without a parent, starting at age 3 1/2. They get them at day camp in the summer. This was their 3rd year. A 1:2 ratio sounds outstanding. I think you'll be fine - he'll probably suprise you.Flip? He is ready!