3 Reasons for Young Kids to Take Swimming Lessons

Ok, our son could tread water pretty well. He could get in the pool and move around a bit, but he really could not "play" with other boys his age. He was five at the time.

Meanwhile, our daughter was three and wore a life jacket and could wade around the pool. I stayed close to her and overall, I felt confident she was safe but I could not get her to even try to swim without the life jacket despite working with her on what I thought was the basics of swimming.

My husband and I decided we wanted them to be more confident in the water and learn to actually swim. After four lessons and three "levels" for our son, and two sessions of "level one" for our daughter...wow! Our son can jump off the diving board and swim to the other end doing the breaststroke, and can retrieve items off the bottom of the pool. Our daughter no longer wears the life jacket and mastered floating on her back and will actually put her face in the water now. Our investment paid off and our trips to the pool are more enjoyable for all. The children are safe and happy in the water.

Our motivations for swimming lessons included:

1. Safety.. Of course, our number one priority is safety. In class, the children learn about water safety. They learn things like never go into a pool if an adult is present, what to do if someone is drowning and never run near a pool.

2. Promotes Confidence...The look on a child's face when they learn a swimming skill is priceless. Our son is so proud to be able to swim with his friends now.

3. Professional Training Pays Off...Even though we know how to swim, the Red Cross Certified instructors were able to teach our children a lot more and more quickly than we could have.

Definitely, swimming lessons helped boost confidence around our house we are so proud of our children.

One final note, be sure to find instructors who are "Red Cross Certified." You can ask around in your community for referrals.