Both of the boys are taking swim lessons and loving them so much! Chloe and I are going to share a little bit about the swim lessons and our experiences.
Brooks has been taking swim lessons for a year this month at Little Otter Swim School, he loves it! He started out in the Otter Baby 1 Class and recently moved up to Otter Baby 2. We LOVE that we are able to continue through the winter months keeping him acquainted and use to the water year round. We appreciate that Little Otter teaches water safety and safety skills while also allowing for FUN all while keeping things developmentally appropriate!
We go once a week for 30 minutes for small group instruction. Until 36 months a parent/guardian gets in the water with them and after 36 months it is the child and instructor. They start out with a few songs, we do stations individually, they each have an individual swim with the instructor, back float, safety skills, and then wrap up class.
We highly recommend little otter if you are in the Charlotte area! They have classes and offerings for 6 month olds to 11 year olds.
Lucian’s lessons are at the local YMCA. We just started, but Lucian is enjoying it. I will say, it is a lower price point ( which is nice) but I think there is a little bit of “you get what you pay for.” So far, it seems like a no nonsense approach to teaching. The instructor is so kind and helps the parents with how to teach the kids skills, but I wish they had a component that added a little more fun like singing or games. (My experience in early childhood education might be showing here..) We will definitely continue to attend the classes and I think the more we all get to know each other, the better it may get! Last month, we went to a pool one weekend and the beach too and Lucian was pretty scared of the water. After we went to class, he is already growing in confidence around the water! We are in the intro classes now. And I think we will try the next level next month and decide from there if we want to try something new or continue at the Y. Also, I wanted to add that many people are there with 2nd and 3rd children and continue to come back because they are happy. Overall, we are definitely pleased and think the lessons are working!
I will come update this post on our experience, since we are only one week in and only have a first impression!!