Swim lessons

In early November, we put Ephraim in swim lessons at the local pool. He had been in swim lessons the summer he was three but we hadn't done them since then.  That first four week session was rough. He was afraid to put his head under water and wouldn't attempt to float unassisted. The other kids in his combined preschool level class were light years ahead of him. He finished that first session still in preschool level one.

The first lesson of that second session was more of the same.  Forrest and I are adamant that our kids need to be strong swimmers and kept trying to encourage him to do the things his teacher was asking.  In a moment of genius, or desperation we showed him You Tube videos of Olympic swim races.  The next lesson was amazing. He did everything his teacher asked.  Bobbed under water, did his floats unassisted, and started trying to swim. 

By the end of that session (middle of December) he had progressed enough that he passed preschool level one, two, and three.  Amazing!  His instructor said she has never seen anyone progress that fast. 

(He is the kid on the left)

He is now in his third session of swim lessons and is in Learn to Swim level two.  (His whole class went from preschool level three to learn to swim two).  He can swim the length of the pool unassisted, can tread water for 15 seconds, and can jump in and then swim to the side. His class is also learning how to side breathe while doing the crawl stroke.

It is pretty fun to watch your child gain confidence as they learn new skills.  It is also reassuring to know that if he were to fall into water, (like the river at my moms house) that he won't sink to the bottom right away. :)  Selah has been taking private lessons for the last month, and will start preschool level one next week while Eph continues in learn to swim level two.  Hopefully we will have two confident swimmers soon!  And in case anyone was wondering: the kids have been told that they have to stay in swim lessons until they can do races and then they can choose if they want to continue.