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Teaching Children to Swim:

It is best to try to teach your child to swim at an early age. There really is no age that is better than any other to teach them this, it will simply depend on the child. Some kids are like fish, and they take to water instantly, learning easily how to swim, and some take much longer. There are some kids, too, who are extremely afraid of being in deep water. If your child is scared of the water, you should wait to try to teach them how to swim. There is no rush on something like this and, while it is an important thing to be able to do, it is much more important to not force your child to do something that terrifies them. Instead, it is better to slowly introduce them to it. Since all children are different, there is no way that is better than another in teaching them to swim. There are a few tricks, though, that can help with this process:

• Have someone else teach them—this is one of those hard things for parents to do, but it can be very helpful. Kids tend to listen better to other people than they do their parents, so you might consider enrolling your child in swimming lessons by a trained instructor. If you feel uncomfortable leaving your child alone, you can always stay nearby to be able to watch. Swimming instructors know many different methods that work with teaching a child to swim, and they likely won't get near as frustrated with your child as you will. And, since kids really do tend to listen to other people more than they do their parents, they will pay more attention and possibly learn much more quickly than if you were the one trying to teach them.

• Make sure they feel safe—whether you are teaching your child how to swim or someone else is, it is imperative that your child feel safe in the water. If they are afraid that you are going to drop them in the water, it will be nearly impossible for them to even focus enough to be able to try. You can make sure they feel safe in the water by keeping a firm hold on them, letting them wear arm floaties, and starting out in water that is shallow enough that they can touch the bottom. This is one of the best ways to ease your child's mind about feeling safe. They know that in order to learn to swim, you will have to eventually let go of them. If they know that when this happens, they can simply put their feet down to be safe, they will be able to concentrate more fully on trying to actually swim.

• Talk to them—if you are teaching your child to swim, you must communicate with them. Before you let go of them, you should tell them that you are going to. If they can't trust you to hold on when you say you will, how can they trust you that they will be able to stay up? It is very important for your child to be able to trust you during this process. It is also a good thing for you to tell them what a good job they are doing. Hearing praise is one of the biggest motivators for a child. You should also tell them what to expect. If, when they start stroking their arms, the water might splash up into their face and eyes, you should prepare them for this by telling them in advance. Otherwise, it may surprise them and scare them when it happens, and they may not want to try any more. These are little details that adults may not even realize are important, but to a child, these can be very important and can make all the difference.

• Demonstrate—just telling your child what to do may not always make sense to them. No matter how much you explain that if they flap their arms and wiggle their feet they will be able to swim, your child won't be able to understand what to do until they see it. Have your child (with supervision) stay by the side of the pool while you swim around. Tell them what you will be doing beforehand so that they know what to watch for, and then when you are done, ask them if they know what they are supposed to do. Once they see you swim, it will make it a lot easier for them to understand how it is all supposed to work.

• Try not to get frustrated—when you are trying to teach your child any new task, it is easy to get frustrated after a while. This is always a bad thing, though. It is very important to be as patient as possible, and if you feel yourself getting irritated you should take a break from it for a while and come back to it fresh. This is because when a parent gets frustrated trying to teach their child something, the child associates the irritation with the activity. This is also bad because your child will not try as hard. They will not understand why you are frustrated, and they won't want to do it anymore.

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