Swimming Lessons: A Life Skill
Earlier this
summer, SafeSplash Swim School invited Of Sound Mind and Spirit to blog about our experience with
their swim school in exchange for four weekly lessons. Perfect timing since my boy is now four (and a
half! he emphatically reminds me) and it only just occurred to me this summer that at some
point he needs to learn to swim.
I looked
them up. SafeSplash believes that “Swimming
is a Life Skill” and they worked with Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin to
develop a curriculum consisting of 11 teaching levels designed to progressively
build one on top of the other.
But could
they accommodate my schedule? Swimming is what I call a SAHM sport. Working
mom hours aren’t usually compatible with anything related to “swim team” or
“swim lessons.” For this to work, we need lessons after 6 p.m.
or on the weekends.
SafeSplash
advertises as the largest leading swim school franchise with over 32 locations
in Texas, so I browsed their location finder by zip code. Surprise – there are
four locations relatively near our neighborhood, including lessons at our
neighborhood pool about a mile away from the house! Each
location website shows hours when classes are available – helpful for comparing
options to fit my busy working mom schedule.
The Montessori across from
the elementary school offers lessons 1:30-3:30 p.m. Another nearby pool
has swim lessons only between 9:30-11:30 AM.
But the next location is partnered with an LA Fitness gym, the location
website advertising, “Our schedule is designed to meet the
needs of busy parents.” This one offers
the most flexibility with lessons on Saturdays 10:15 to 3:15 p.m. AND Tues and
Thurs until 7:30 / 7 p.m. Ah-ha – we
might have a winner.
After registering online, someone from SafeSplash called my cell phone and left a voice message within
the hour. Later, Megan at the selected location reached out to me to determine
my son’s comfort level in the water. He likes
to splash with a floatie ring, but doesn’t like trying to float on his
back. She said it sounded like he was at
a Level 1. We chatted about the calendar
options and settled on a weekday lesson at 6:30 p.m.
So next week we’ll start on an
adventure as a Level One swimmer building comfort and confidence in the pool while
earning his trust, and I'll blog about the lessons.
I’m curious is there anything I need to know before we get started?