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  1. #476
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    Dec 2016
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    Quote Originally Posted by HappyCamper View Post
    Bumping this rad thread.....

    Anyone teach their kids to swim? Helpful YouTube vids? Tips?

    This is for a higher-energy 5 year old.

    Swim lessons are really tough to find right now (Seattle).

    So I am thinking, perhaps foolishly, I could teach some basics like "how to not drown" (so I can sleep maybe a bit better at night).

    Former occasionally competitive swimmer - but am apparently at square 1 for teaching.

  2. #477
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    Aug 2015
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    Slightly off route
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    234
    Ha! Yeah, that's pretty close to how his mom was taught.

    Phatty - yup, smack dab in Seattle so trying to keep from extended driving.

  3. #478
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
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    Nhampshire
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    7,762
    Quote Originally Posted by HappyCamper View Post
    Bumping this rad thread.....

    Anyone teach their kids to swim? Helpful YouTube vids? Tips?

    This is for a higher-energy 5 year old.

    Swim lessons are really tough to find right now (Seattle).

    So I am thinking, perhaps foolishly, I could teach some basics like "how to not drown" (so I can sleep maybe a bit better at night).

    Former occasionally competitive swimmer - but am apparently at square 1 for teaching.
    We did use the community lessons that were going on, but with COVID, your best bet is calling up the closest college and getting someone on the swim team to do private lessons in random pools.

  4. #479
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    Jan 2005
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    Keep Tacoma Feared
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    5,268
    My kids are younger and can't swim, but we've been hitting the pool weekly since each was six months old. I have them both in life jackets (not water wings) and they can swim all over on their own. They have a blast and at this point, it's just getting them comfortable in the water. I think if you take your kid weekly, even without formal lessons, they will start to pick it up just watching the other kids (at least that is what I am hoping for).

  5. #480
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    3,269
    Quote Originally Posted by HappyCamper View Post
    Bumping this rad thread.....

    Anyone teach their kids to swim? Helpful YouTube vids? Tips?

    This is for a higher-energy 5 year old.

    Swim lessons are really tough to find right now (Seattle).

    So I am thinking, perhaps foolishly, I could teach some basics like "how to not drown" (so I can sleep maybe a bit better at night).

    Former occasionally competitive swimmer - but am apparently at square 1 for teaching.
    Most public swim lessons are taught by teens that have minimal training so you're probably better off teaching them yourself. Teach back float, front float, few basic strokes and most importantly NO deucing in the pool. Wife took my 3 kids to years of public swim lessons and they didn't learn much other than how to float and a few strokes enough not to drown at the public urinal. 2 of my 3 kids were swim instructors and they didn't know shit. Sounds like you would be an instant director of swim school at anything in Portland.

  6. #481
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    3,727
    If you do lessons, spring for private lessons vs. group lessons. Kids will learn 5x more in an hour private lesson than in a group lesson.

  7. #482
    Join Date
    Jan 2022
    Posts
    108
    Once summer roles around, the lifeguards at lake washington beaches offer free lessons every week day at noon. Mt baker beach is the best spot, in my experience.

  8. #483
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Mormonistan
    Posts
    276
    buy a good kickboard that will support their weight and practice kicking across the pool and rotary breathing. Typically freestyle is taught first. Getting them to really bring their elbows up and out of the pool and reaching forward is the hard part.

  9. #484
    Join Date
    Apr 2021
    Posts
    2,840
    My kids are doing group lessons this winter and they love it. No way I'd ever try to replace the fun, goal oriented lessons they look forward to every week with me as an instructor, phatty. It's such a good experience for them.

  10. #485
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Posts
    711
    Quote Originally Posted by HappyCamper View Post
    Bumping this rad thread.....

    Anyone teach their kids to swim? Helpful YouTube vids? Tips?

    This is for a higher-energy 5 year old.

    Swim lessons are really tough to find right now (Seattle).

    So I am thinking, perhaps foolishly, I could teach some basics like "how to not drown" (so I can sleep maybe a bit better at night).

    Former occasionally competitive swimmer - but am apparently at square 1 for teaching.
    Highly recommend swimguru. Lessons were held in the scuba pool at Underwater Sports on Aurora, or the LA Fitness a little north of that also on 99. Private lessons only, and 15 mins for littles, and 30 mins (I think) for bigger kids. 15 mins of a private lesson is much more helpful than holding onto the wall for most of an hour during a group lesson. It's not cheap but I'm glad we did it.

    My daughter started before turning 2 and is now swimming like a fish at 4. My <2 son would have started by now but we're holding off due to COVID. He gets to "swim" with us and watch his sister, so I think he'll do fine with a later start.
    Dude chill its the padded room. -AKPM

  11. #486
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Seattle
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    8,407
    Unless you are better at something than 99.9999% of the planet, hire a professional to teach it to your kids. Then go do it with them for fun.
    Quote Originally Posted by Foggy_Goggles View Post
    If I lived in WA, Oft would be my realtor. Seriously.

  12. #487
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Back in Seattle
    Posts
    1,260
    I don’t have anything to add but will look into swim guru too. HC I could be interested in a semi private with my 5yo

  13. #488
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
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    Bellevue
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    7,431
    Quote Originally Posted by carlh View Post
    I don’t have anything to add but will look into swim guru too. HC I could be interested in a semi private with my 5yo
    Quote Originally Posted by HappyCamper View Post
    Bumping this rad thread.....

    Anyone teach their kids to swim? Helpful YouTube vids? Tips?

    This is for a higher-energy 5 year old.

    Swim lessons are really tough to find right now (Seattle).

    So I am thinking, perhaps foolishly, I could teach some basics like "how to not drown" (so I can sleep maybe a bit better at night).

    Former occasionally competitive swimmer - but am apparently at square 1 for teaching.
    My girlfriend swam into college and taught kids for several years, she's been missing teaching and we've been talking about how she can get back into it occasionally if you're interested.

  14. #489
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Upper Left, USA
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    2,152
    There's a chance, but odds are your kids don't want you as a teacher. Check out safe n' sound in west lake union. That's where my kids did theirs, warm water and air temp, quick private lessons. Get in get out.

  15. #490
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
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    Before
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    27,920
    We taught our kids everything, partly because they refused to take lessons. It was too hard for them.

    When we tried to put one, who has always been pretty self contained, in swim lessons, he threw up in the pool. Ski lessons were a similar bust, less the puke. They just wanted to be with us.

    So we shouldered it up. Full contact parenting.

    Kids are different, so are parents. Adjust as required. The judgmental types can bite it.
    Merde De Glace On the Freak When Ski
    >>>200 cm Black Bamboo Sidewalled DPS Lotus 120 : Best Skis Ever <<<

  16. #491
    Join Date
    Jan 2022
    Posts
    108
    .

    Kids are different, so are parents. Adjust as required. The judgmental types can bite it.
    QFT

  17. #492
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    SW CO
    Posts
    1,083
    My wife and I taught all 3 of our kids to swim. We put them all into the water early and often. Because we live on a lake they all lived in life jackets in the summer from ages 1 to 5. At 4 is where we started taking them off and teaching them basics, keeping it simple and fun. My son is 6 years old and still wants to wear his life jacket in the lake but goes without it in the pool. I think it's just a safety net for him and he will probably shed it this summer when he sees all his little buddies swimming without one. Both my girls were swimming on their own at 5. No big deal, all kids are different and learn different. They will figure it out, the important goal for me was that they like water and aren't afraid. The rest they will figure out. And I can't wait to take them on their first scuba trip.

  18. #493
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Posts
    388
    Quote Originally Posted by HappyCamper View Post
    Bumping this rad thread.....

    Anyone teach their kids to swim? Helpful YouTube vids? Tips?

    This is for a higher-energy 5 year old.

    Swim lessons are really tough to find right now (Seattle).

    So I am thinking, perhaps foolishly, I could teach some basics like "how to not drown" (so I can sleep maybe a bit better at night).

    Former occasionally competitive swimmer - but am apparently at square 1 for teaching.
    We used youtube to teach my daughter around 3 to swim. It was more.like we queued up a bunch of swim instruction and water safety videos for her on an iPad while we were.getting ready for work in the mornings. After a few weeks she just took off her swim float thing and did it...we have a pool in the yard so she is/was swimming pretty much everyday. We did it more to hopefully get her some water safety in addition to all other safety measures we took.

    She did have a few lessons at the community pool the next year and never looked back.

    Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

  19. #494
    Join Date
    Jan 2022
    Posts
    6
    We started our oldest at under 1 year old at the Queen Anne Aquatic Center with parent/child lessons. I remember thinking that it was so important to get him used to the water as soon as possible. He ended up hating the water for years so I don't really think it mattered much. Once he warmed up to it again, he started swimming in a kid's sized life jacket to build comfort and confidence in the water. Now we do regular swim lessons from a specialty swim school. I don't like the cost of paying for lessons but it's a nice winter activity and gives me peace of mind when we're at the lake.

  20. #495
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Upper Left, USA
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    2,152
    Quote Originally Posted by Dahlgar View Post
    We started our oldest at under 1 year old at the Queen Anne Aquatic Center with parent/child lessons. I remember thinking that it was so important to get him used to the water as soon as possible. He ended up hating the water for years so I don't really think it mattered much. Once he warmed up to it again, he started swimming in a kid's sized life jacket to build comfort and confidence in the water. Now we do regular swim lessons from a specialty swim school. I don't like the cost of paying for lessons but it's a nice winter activity and gives me peace of mind when we're at the lake.
    This mirrors my experience. Ahh, memories.. Did parent/child at queen anne and green lake with all three of mine before moving onto a place that taught them proper stroke form. Even though I was on hs swim team, my relationship with my kids benefited from someone else showing and telling them.

  21. #496
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Posts
    19,814

    Fatherhood anonymous; an open discussion on being a dad.

    Teach beginners swimming: Get comfortable with opening eyes under water and holding breath; hang on the edge and blow bubbles.

    Now, the only thing important to learning swimming is being able to float on your back and stomach continuously with little effort and the ability to rollover to switch sides without panic.

    Two keys:

    1. Head goes up>feet go down
    2. Head goes down>feet go up

    The goal is neutral balance with your eyes straight down

    When I ran a swim school we kept the beginner pool at like 92 degrees. Huge help.

  22. #497
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
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    a poop plant
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    3,364
    Am I missing something here? I've never had a swim lesson in my life. I consider myself a pretty good swimmer. My kids, I just took into the pool, showed them some basics and they just swam. We have a pool, so that's a big advantage, but I never knew swim lessons were such a universal thing. To me, that'd be similar to bicycle riding lessons. I mean don't most kids just swim with floaties and supervision and kinda figure it out?

  23. #498
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    inpdx
    Posts
    20,200
    Quote Originally Posted by 4matic View Post
    When I ran a swim school we kept the beginner pool at like 92 degrees. Huge help.
    did that disguise the pee?

    Quote Originally Posted by GiBo View Post
    I mean don't most kids just swim with floaties and supervision and kinda figure it out?
    wow, um, no

  24. #499
    Join Date
    Jun 2020
    Location
    in a freezer in Italy
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    7,193
    ^^It kinda depends what "learn to swim" means to you. If you want your kids to actually know a stroke or whatever, then obviously, lessons. But if you think, I'll just get the kid to where they aren't afraid of the water and they can decide what they want to do from there, then the Gibo Method™ isn't wrong.

  25. #500
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
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    On Vacation for the Duration
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    14,373
    When he was 2, we put our kid into a "drown proofing" class that was being offered. Came in handy. When he was 5 he was with me a a few other adults on a small boat dock admiring the view. Someone say's "Where's the kid?" and we turned to see him looking up at us from the lake and "Grabbing The Wall" like he was taught. Holding onto a piling. We never heard the splash. Probably a Youtube that could show a parent how to teach and practice the move.
    A few people feel the rain. Most people just get wet.

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