I spent an inordinately long amount of time folding laundry tonight, so now I’m blogging when I should be sleeping instead. So I’m going to make it snappy.
‘Tis the season to start thinking swimming lessons if you have small, non-swimming-yet children. If your kids are extra little, getting them used to the idea of the pool now will help ensure a fun summer. I mean, we all know that kids can be slow to warm up to an idea, right? I remember one beach vacation when my nephew refused to allow the ocean water to touch him until the afternoon of the last day. And then, of course, he loved it. And it was time to pack.
If your child is pro-pool but not a swimmer yet, why not get a jump start on it now? 8 or 12 weeks of swimming lessons will be perfect timing for the summer. I started to look for excellent links to swimming lessons, but most aren’t updated too well. Okay, a few are, like the super-thrifty Rotterdam Boys and Girls Club, or the special-needs-friendly College of St. Rose. But you can also check my Big Ol’ List of Links for the Pools and Swimming Section, or if you know about an indoor pool that’s close to you at any high school, college, or fitness center, give them a call and see what they’ve got. Did you know that you can also contact your local Y about organizing swimming lessons in a backyard pool? Start thinking of friends to recruit (including one with a pool) so that you can line something up early!
We’ve done swimming lessons at Union College, a Y-arranged backyard session, &Â Rotterdam Boys and Girls Club, and I think that all of them were helpful. But there’s nothing like just spending a bunch of time in the water with other kids who are a little bit better at swimming than your own kid to cause exponential advances in the swimming department. For both of my girls, their hugest improvements in swimming happened during week-long vacations with their cousins at a house with a pool in the backyard. So even if you don’t want to do swimming lessons, you might think about inviting friends and doing open swim occasionally while you’re waiting for it to get warm enough outside.
What’s your favorite pool around here? Any that people should know about?
Tracie
The Kenholm Pool in Delmar is a really nice small neighborhood pool with a great feeling of community. This will be our fourth year as members, and we’re really looking forward to it!
Sandra @ Albany Kid
Like you, I’ve seen improvement in my kids’ ability to swim during the summer vacations. But, just as often, I didn’t see improvement because they just hung out in the water playing, not swimming. However, within weeks of being on the Y’s swim team, my daughter improved exponentially. I highly recommend looking into swim team options as some teams train over the summer.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
I’ve been trying to push the town swim team for the last two summers, but so far M isn’t biting. Maybe I’ll have better luck with J. I lucked out aslo b/c I had a couple tween-ish aged girls who liked to play teacher with my kids.
amym
sadly i believe the kenholm pool will not be staying open this year, unless there is a huge surge in membership. this was reported last week.
Sandra @ Albany Kid
That’s where peer pressure paid off, my daughter’s friend encouraged her to sign up for the swim team (don’t think I could have convinced her otherwise!)
Kate C.
I highly recommend the swimming lessons at Voorheesville High School (http://vcsd.neric.org/aquatics/aquatics.htm). In the summer they run for two-week session, every day, and they are SERIOUS. The instructors (high-school and college age, with a wonderful grown-up, Barb McKenna, in charge) are kind, but they are there to teach, not coddle. It works.
Also, the pool is open from 1 to 3 every day for public swim; there’s a nominal fee.