Does your child know how to swim?
Teaching our kids about water safety and taking the necessary precautions to prevent a drowning incident is of the utmost importance. I was just three years old when I almost drowned during a family gathering. My parents looked away for just a second, and I fell into the deep end of the pool while riding my tricycle in the backyard. Thankfully, my cousin quickly rescued me and immediately performed CPR. The statistics of drowning incidents in Florida are alarming, therefore I highly encourage you to enroll your children in swimming lessons at an early age; make sure both parents and all caretakers know how to swim and learn CPR.
Although there are several swimming schools in our area, it’s not always easy finding one that meets the needs of our child, budget, or busy schedule. Every school has something different to offer and every child will learn at a different pace. My youngest son, Adrian, was two years old the first time we tried enrolling him in weekly group sessions. He would become anxious and have tantrums from the start of class to the very end. He was afraid of being in the water, uncomfortable with the instructors, and was just miserable, leaving my husband and I discouraged. We decided to give him a break until we could find a different and more effective approach.
Why We Chose Little Swimmers
Adrian recently turned five and I was really concerned because he still didn’t know how to swim. After receiving some recommendations, I decided to try Little Swimmers—a very well-known swimming school with proven results throughout Miami-Dade and Broward County.
Prior to enrollment, I had the opportunity to meet with the owners of Little Swimmers, Gerald Little and Meric Tendrich. I wanted to learn, not only what sets their school apart from others in the area but I wanted to ensure this time my son had a successful and positive experience. With a combined experience of 50 years as educators and firefighters in Miami-Dade County, they are both passionate and knowledgeable about education, safety, and drowning prevention. Little Swimmers was created to teach both children and adults how to swim in a fun and safe environment. In addition to employing Red Cross Certified instructors, they guarantee you and/or your little one will learn to swim in just two weeks! All of this seemed like it was a great fit for my son.
Our Experience With Little Swimmers
We were then invited to try the private lessons offered by Little Swimmers for two weeks (10 sessions) at their Pembroke Pines location. Adrian’s instructor, Michael is just amazing. He has been with the school for about 7 years, from the moment you speak to him and watch him work with the kids you can’t help but notice that he truly has a passion for what he does. After just one session he was able to notice my son’s dominant personality and his fear of losing control. He then created learning objectives and expectations tailored to Adrian’s needs for every session. I was amazed to see that by the start of the second session my son already seemed very comfortable working with Michael. His fear of being in the water seemed to be disappearing quickly and he was excited and looking forward to attending swimming classes every day. During the sessions, his instructor was able to work on building his confidence and technical skills by offering continued praise and encouragement. He also made it a point to explain the reasoning for everything he was teaching in a way that was very logical for my 5-year-old to understand. After each session, I was always informed about his progress and the main focus for the following session. I was SUPER excited about the progress he was making throughout each session and delighted to see the joy he felt about his new found skills.
The moment I saw my little boy swimming on his own was just PRICELESS!!! I still cannot believe that he learned to swim in just two weeks!!!
Practice makes perfect and now that my son really enjoys swimming, we plan to continue with maintenance swimming lessons once a week. I will continue to update on his progress throughout the summer.
| Congratulations to Natasha M. winner of our giveaway for 10 private Swimming Lessons!! |
Ready to sign up for swimming lessons? Visit www.littleswimmers.net for more information and don't forget to subscribe to their newsletter for great offers and educational articles.
Thank you, Little Swimmers, for partnering with Macaroni Kid Pembroke Pines and for providing lessons for the purpose of this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
