Swimming Lessons - long

DS is 5. at the start of summer he went to swimming lessons at the town pool and had fun, but didn't seem to learn very much. But since he loves the pool and beach, I really want him to learn to swim. Signed him up for Saf t Swim. He was excited to go. I observed the first lesson (thru the 1-way mirror), and he cried when he had to jump into the instructor's arms at the 5 ft end. But he seemed to recover, and I praised him for being to brave, etc.

Now, the second lesson is later today and he says he is scared to go. I intend to bring him anyway, but he says that when he was crying at the deep end, the instructor told him if he kept it up, the instructor would move farther away.

Of course, I plan to speak with the instructor. I am concerned that this is what DS thinks happened, and am even more concerned if that is what the instructor actually said.

But...Has anyone experienced anything similar with Saf t Swim?
WWYD if today's lesson doesn't go well?

Thanks if you made it this far!

Re: Swimming Lessons - long

I hate Safe-T-Swim. They are expensive and the instructors are just kids themselves. An instructor left my 5 year old son, who didn't know how to swim, in the pool unattended (forget about the fact that she watched the clock the entire lesson).

Re: Swimming Lessons - long

Thank you so much for replying. Do you mind me asking which location you went to?

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I hear mixed reviews on Safety Swim.
My DS goes to NYSC in Deer Park. It's not Safety Swim, it's Swim Academy.
We've been there for a year now (DS is now 5 as well) and I love his instructor.
He's in a group (it's DS and 2 other kids). She makes sure each child gets the same amount of time.
They also offer private lessons, but, it's a bit more $$.
DS went from fear of face in the water to finally going all the way under last week. Took a while, but, they ease into it.

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I have mixed feelings about Saf T Swim. We go to the Bellmore location and went to Westbury before that. It's not run well. The instructors are only kids. Some instructors are better than others. That is not acceptable by any means if that is in fact what the instructor said to your DS. You have to speak to the instructor to find out. Switch instructors if you are not happy with the conversation. Although I not like how it's run, etc., DS has learned so much from there and is doing amazing.

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I have not heard good things about safety swim at all. DD takes private lessons. The teacher is older and also teaches at YMCA. He is very good and put my totally terrified little girl at ease for her lessons where she is laughing away. He has taught a number of people we know and I highly recommend him. Both girls take lessons from him. If my older DD gets scared he backs off, distracts her and tries to ease her back into what he wanted to do at her comfort level.

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My experience is that young instructors, like for swimming, are good at what they do but they do not have training in how to work with young children.

I listen to my kids complaints and then approach the instructors and ask them to be gentler on my kids.

Your son was pretty specific with why he is afraid and what the teacher said, so I would definitely address that with the teacher. They need to WANT to come to the class, trust their instructor and have fun!

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We go to the commack location and couldn't be happier. DS only started this summer after taking private lessons one summer at 2yo, and group lessons at the YMCA at 3yo, but has shown so much more progress in the last 8+weeks here. His teacher is older than me though. But honestly as wit everything its about the person, I taught swim to kids when i was 16 u til I was 21 and i always had great feedback from my parents.

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IMO SafTSwim at Coram stinks. I worked there for a short while as a swim instructor and was not impressed. I had a WSI and lifeguard cert but others had nothing. I couldnt believe it. It was just like anyone swimming in the pool with your child. Why pay for a stranger to do it. The chlorine was WAY too high, it was very expensive and I didnt get paid very much and I also disagree with pushing the child if they are truly fearful. Ive taught all my kids to swim at home before they were 3 years old and was able to teach them gently. Sorry to those of you who use them, but I brought my children elsewhere!

Swimming Lessons - long

I have been taking my DS to SafeTSwim for over a year and in general, have had a very good experience. I think we got lucky with the first instructor, and when he told me he was leaving, I was watching all the others like a hawk to pick one to switch to. She wasn't available right away, so we waited to come back so we could have her. SO much of whether or not you have a good experience depends on who the instructor is. There are some I would not allow to give my DS lessons. If I have a problem, I call during the week and ask to speak with a manager (only have had to do this twice and it was about payment/schedule stuff). I did go into the pool area to scold one of the substitute instructors who was giving DS a lesson. She was not paying close enough attention so I went in and told her as much. I observe that some parents have issues, but they don't go in a talk to the instructors about it, they just sit in the observation room and complain about it to someone else. For what happened with your son, I would have given the instructor an earful and possibly requested that we change instructors.

My DS is also special needs, so he needs one to one instruction, can't handle a group class yet. We also want to keep bringing him year-round. So for now, we will keep going there, as longs as it continues to be a good experience.

FWIW, from my observations, the beginning of the summer is probably the worst time to start lessons at SafeTSwim. There is a lot of turnover at that time - some of the more experienced instructors leave for lifeguarding jobs, or school, or whatever and they have a whole bunch of new instructors for the summer. We started in January or February and had a very smooth transition and a good experience.

Message edited 8/9/2012 12:08:18 PM.

Re: Swimming Lessons - long

Re: Swimming Lessons - long

We go to Long Island Swim School in Garden City, excellent experience.

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Message edited 9/24/2013 9:14:21 PM.

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We go to Saf-t swimin Oceanside and have never had an issue. Are any of these horror stories from that location?

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Re: Swimming Lessons - long

Just an update and thank you for those who replied- DS went to his second lesson, i spoke to the instructor and he assured me he wouldn't push DS too hard. DS tried to run out of the pool area 3 times, but got over it and was so proud of himself afterward. The following week, he started to get upset on the way there. We talked, I tried to get him to calm down, take deep breaths. On the way into the changing area he vomited. I took him home because i really wasn't sure if the vomiting was a virus or anxiety. the next week, we were on vacation in PA and several times he talked about not wanting to go to swimming. To the point where he started gagging while talking about it. DS said he was afraid to jump in the deep end. DH and I agreed to talk to the teacher and tell him not to force the jumping. Today was the next lesson. DH called ahead of time, they agreed to no jumping into the deep end. DH got DS there and more vomiting. DS refused to even go into the pool area.

So...we are throwing in the towel. DS is swimming much better after 2 lessons, but I think the damage has been done as far as Saf t Swim goes. His anxiety and fear are so strong, I can't bear to keep forcing him to go. I'm kind of worried about the lesson that DS may be taking away from this; I don't want him to always give in to fear. On the other hand, what's the point in forcing him if he won't even go in the pool now?