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Recommendations for Conducting the Lessons - part 2
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Articles In This Section:· At What Age Should Your Child Be Learning to Swim? - part 1 · At What Age Should Your Child Be Learning to Swim? - part 2 · At What Age Should Your Child Be Learning to Swim? - part 3 · Are You Qualified to Teach Others to Swim—Even With the Help of These Lessons? · Specific Pointers About Entering the Pool, Pool Temperature, and the Weather
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But it would be a mistake, then, to explain to four-year-old Tom why, according to the laws of physics, this is so. In
general, limit the number and length of your little lectures,
especially at the beginning of the lessons. You may be intimately familiar
with bone and muscle structure or with advanced techniques of basic strokes and would enjoy having an
audience. But with small children, the password is: "Use few
words and make them meaningful." Children will imitate
and do as you do, or do as your demonstrator does. You may
find a dwindling of interest in your group if you begin to
reason with them, and you'll lose their attention even faster
if you start land drills—which you may have heard was a
good idea. Of course you will verbalize principles occasionally, but they
should be of the simplest nature, and the examples you use (such as "Blow yourselves up like a balloon")
should be on the level of the children's understanding. As a
general rule, make the principle known to them after they
have accomplished the skill. It is more meaningful to them
then.
At the beginning of each lesson, it is important for you to make sure that each child gets wet all over immediately. If he is completely wet, he will not mind the splashes. Don't be too sympathetic with a child who complains of being splashed. "You wouldn't notice it at all if you were wet. Let's wash our arms and face and neck." Or simply, "It's just water." If a child gets a big mouthful of water and looks a little panicky, you can usually count on a big smile if you say, "Are you trying to swallow the whole pool?" or "Are any of you as thirsty as Tom?" and gently chide him out of his misery. If a child gets a noseful, try this: "Well, blow it out. I know it doesn't feel good, but noses are to blow, not drink." By the way, children (adults, too) instinctively sniff in water which is on or around the nose. In Lesson I the child practices blowing air out of his nose. For the child who complains of water in his ears, say, "If you don't like water in your ears, knock it out," and show him by leaning your head sidewards and banging your palm against it. And there are those who do not like water in their eyes. "Well, squeeze it out," and demonstrate. Most of these complaints of discomfort and pain occur during the first two or three lessons. In many cases it is the child's way of trying to justify his reasons for not taking to the water like a duck. When a child who has previously resisted finally puts his head under for the first time, you might say: "That wasn't as bad as you thought. Now do it again while your face is still wet, and see what happens. Now you can learn to swim and that's when the fun begins!" Even when progress is slow, and you can't for the life of you see why they are making such a hard thing out of something so simple, resist calling attention to Paul who does it so well, especially if it is Paul who always does it so well. Also avoid calling a child un-charming names like "Sissy" or "Fraidy-cat." And don't offer bribes for accomplishments. If the child can do a cork float alone without the support of the teacher, don't cheat him out of what he really wants, which is simply recognition and your enthusiastic approval; offering a beach ball after an accomplished performance could be disappointing and embarrassing to the child. Withholding the beach ball until some feat is mastered (or even attempted) confuses the issue. And for heaven's sake, don't start pleading, "Do it for me, just once, please? Come on, do it for Mommy!" Your motives are good. You think that if he does it once for you, or for any reason, he will find that he likes it, and that then your mission will be accomplished. The important thing to bear in mind is this: If he could, he would.
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