PARENT/CHILD-6 months to approximately 3 years. Students will be acclimated to the water, and safety skills and holding positions will be stressed. This is not really a "learn to swim class" it is more accurately a "get happy and comfortable in the water" class. YES--skills will be learned, safety will be stressed, and fears will be conquered. All will have a good time. Very few will leave this class swimming like Michael Phelps
PRESCHOOL:- 3+ to about 5 -a flotation device is used. The swimmer must be comfortable in the water WITHOUT a parent. Must be able to follow directions. Students will use the entire pool.- yes, the deep end too. We will teach the basics of confidence in the pool—arm and leg motion. Students will be gradually weaned from the flotation device. This is a great "entry-level" class for swimmers who are not quite ready to go it alone and still need the confidence builder of a flotation device.
Level 1 and Level 2- Generally 5+ years. Must be tall enough to stand (3' 8") . Must be comfortable without a flotation device. Entry-level class. Basics of swimming and floating taught. Now we are ready to really swim but lots of time will be spent on body position, floating, and kicking. We will work on both front and back body positions. The basis of freestyle (crawl) and some backstroke will be addressed. Lots of repetition. Minimum of deep water work in level 1 and more in level 2.
Level 3 is best looked at backward. It is our goal that at the end of level 3, a student will be capable of swimming the entire length of the pool in a manner that most people would consider swimming. We are not talking "about getting there - they've done that many times in level 2 but now they are swimming. This is where we feel the child is finally safe around the pool. That doesn't mean we ( parents) don't keep an eye on them anymore but they should be competent when they finish level 3. We will continue to work on strokes and dedicate some time to building stamina.
Levels 4 -5-6 continue to develop strokes ( back, breast, side, fly, some diving) Sometimes these classes resemble a swim practice. You will see the students not only working on the various skills but doing laps in the target stroke. Generally, the higher the number of the class the more distance is expected. We will also combine these classes from time to time when numbers dictate it.
