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?