You can’t wait for your child to learn new abilities and feel more secure around water, so you’re ready to enroll them in swimming classes. On the other hand, your child may be a little apprehensive of the water. According to Hadar Frisch, an experienced Swimming Instructor and Trained Child CBT expert, here’s how to handle the situation with your child.
BE POSITIVE!
- First and most importantly, you need to make sure that you do not force, scold or threaten children. This will just build up resistance and add to obstinance. It will definitely not solve the problem. In fact, the attitude might just aggravate it. You need to be soft and encouraging all the time. Your children hear what you speak very closely so make sure you are very motivating. Your child needs to want to swim. That is the very first step.
HAVE FUN IN THE POOL YOURSELF
The best way is to introduce the concept of swimming is by showing your children how much fun it is to be in the pool. Jump into the pool yourself, let them be outside. You can play with a ball, splash around and show your excitement of being in the water.
DANGLING LEGS BY THE WATER’S EDGE
Ask your child to just dangle their legs in the water and splash about while you are in pool. Splash a bit of water on them having fun all the time. Show your children that swimming is all fun fun fun! When children wet their feet in the pool, slowly they will get used to the water and start getting a little more adventurous. You will see that they will venture in more and more just wanting to inch their way in further.
Children all take their own time and it’s not fair to compare – they will come in to the pool when they are ready. You have to ensure that you encourage and motivate them all along the way. To educate yourself on how to handle your child, how to introduce them into the pool, what to say to them, you can go through Frisch’s Stars Method course, a quick online course with videos on how to do it all right.
SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE
When you are in the pool and your child is unwilling to get in, let them be by the water. You can be in the pool and talk to them about your initial experience about getting into the pool and how you overcome your fear. “Children relate to others experiences instinctively, especially when its someone close to them,” remarks Frisch. So as a parent or guardian, you will see that your child will be very interested in how you came to learn swimming.
TAKE BABY STEPS
The moment you see a spark of interest or a lowering of resistance, just ask your child to take a step or two into the pool – may be get in up to knee level water. Slowly, ask them to wade up to the waist level of water. Let them splash and play around at that level for a few days. Allow your child to be very comfortable in water. Never hurry them along – just play along.
It is very important to be patient in the initial days of getting a child into the pool. Once you overcome this barrier, you can get into in depth swimming lessons for children, teaching them the right techniques of breathing, strokes etc. For more details on how to teach swimming techniques to beginners the right way, you can refer to Hadar Frisch’s The Stars Methods – an excellent course on how to coach your children by yourself in the pool.
