Swimming must be enjoyable
In this video, Evie, who is 7 months of age, will show you how much she is enjoying her swimming lessons. She is conditioned to hold her breath on our verbal trigger ‘Evie, ready go’. Because she masters breath control, she can submerge safely underwater for a few seconds. Babies must never submerge before they master breath control on command. Babies should never submerge when they are crying or show signs of distress. Swimming must be enjoyable for parent and child. Here, we discuss swimming floats and independent skill building.
Verbal trigger
Our verbal trigger ‘Evie, ready go’ always follows a kinaesthetic lifting trigger. This lifting trigger gives the baby time to catch their breath before the submersion. Our early submersions are in a horizontal plane where the water breaks on top of the head and runs head to toe. Vertical submersions can easily force water up the baby’s nose, so for this reason we leave these swimming skills to the later stages of the lean to swim process when baby has better breath control.
Waters buoyancy
The aim of this activity is to allow the baby to feel the waters buoyancy and the fun floating sensation. Floating is the basis of all learn to swim. During the initial swimming floats, baby can be picked up under the arms. Good social referencing where the parent or teacher celebrates the swimming success is vital. This positive social referencing during the swimming lesson helps to teach baby a love for the water. Once the float and catch is mastered, and as long as baby is happy, you can advance the floating skill.
Free Floating
Free floating and pulling up on a T-shirt is great to build baby’s independence in the water. This is actually the start of teaching baby water safety skills. As the baby grows with age they will learn that if they strike out on their own they must pull themselves to safety. It is important that we start teaching children their capabilities and limitations in the water. This we hope will teach children a respect for the water. Warning no child is drown proof. All swimming must be done under strict adult supervision.
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