Missjeanswimming

  “You have  the patience of a saint!”

My clients are always saying. Being strict, sweet and loving,is my no-nonsense way,of teaching swimming. But having fun is my goal. As a single mother of four children, I like to joke with my family that I speak three languages Body, Baby, and English. With over 30 years of teaching swimming, crying lets me know you are still breathing. The conversations I have with my students is the best part of my day. They come up with some many different ways to get out of the skill that is challenging them.  The mindset, that using positive language and no rhetorical questions to make learning to swim easier. For example : Johnny are you ready to get in the pool? to Johnny your lesson is starting in 5 minutes let’s get ready. Leaving the question open ,gives the student a chance to say “No” which makes it’s harder for everyone.

When teaching swimming,I start with these five basic skills that are necessary to survive

1. Holding on to the wall “Monkey walking”, or “Crab walking “are excellent ways to teach kids the idea that they can get to the stairs or climb out at the wall. I love using floating toys on the side.

2. After wall walking, we work on climbing out of the pool at the wall. Elbow, Elbow tummy, knee are the instructions. Once they climb out they sit down with their feet in the water.

3. I tell them we are going to sit dives and instruct students to put their tummy on their legs and fall in with arms pointing to the bottom. Or standing jumps where they hook their toes to the edge and jump in feet first, going under the water and poping up taking a breathe swimming back to the wall.

4. Then either put their feet on the bottom and bounce back to the wall or take a breath and swim back to the wall. Bouncing off the bottom to the wall is another skill we use a lot in my beginners class.

5. Last but not least, back floating/stroke is the cornerstone of survival for non-swimmers. Also, in my opinion, the toughest skill teach anyone. The feeling of water in someone ears is very uncomfortable along with laying flat on top of the water.

Goal to get kids to comfortable diving for toys from the bottom is my over all goal at the end of every class. It’s so important t work on and so fun it’s a win ,win for everyone. Think of it like throwing a ball for your dog. Kids can’t resist getting a toy they really want. So have lots of dive toys that rise up helps the new swimmer grab them. I use tons of dive and floating toys. I cover my bases, lol. Here’s some thing that all my instructors get in their class kits.

Many first lessons end with a little crying,

Seeing where the comfort zone ends, when teaching swimming is how we learn. My motto is you learn faster when you cry, it’s not my goal to have kids cry. Kids don’t know what to do when you give them permission to cry. Usually, I just don’t end a lesson when kids cry, I will do something different and come back to more challenging task later. Talking to kids about their feelings of fight or fright is very powerful. That feeling is there for safety I tell them. This is your chance to be brave. Their is balance between fear and brave, that’s why we always work on the same skills and do everything at least 10 times.In the end 20 lessons or so they never even remember they cried at their first lesson, I love parents to video the first few lessons, add music if the kids cry I joke. Kids don’t know how they look when they swim they only know how they feel. so watching their lessons back helps the brain connect visually, which is how most kids learn. Hope these hints help you and your family swim safe.

  “You have  the patience of a saint!”

My clients are always saying. Being strict, sweet and loving,is my no-nonsense way,of teaching swimming. But having fun is my goal. As a single mother of four children, I like to joke with my family that I speak three languages Body, Baby, and English. With over 30 years of teaching swimming, crying lets me know you are still breathing. The conversations I have with my students is the best part of my day. They come up with some many different ways to get out of the skill that is challenging them.  The mindset, that using positive language and no rhetorical questions to make learning to swim easier. For example : Johnny are you ready to get in the pool? to Johnny your lesson is starting in 5 minutes let’s get ready. Leaving the question open ,gives the student a chance to say “No” which makes it’s harder for everyone.

When teaching swimming,I start with these five basic skills that are necessary to survive

1. Holding on to the wall “Monkey walking”, or “Crab walking “are excellent ways to teach kids the idea that they can get to the stairs or climb out at the wall. I love using floating toys on the side.

2. After wall walking, we work on climbing out of the pool at the wall. Elbow, Elbow tummy, knee are the instructions. Once they climb out they sit down with their feet in the water.

3. I tell them we are going to sit dives and instruct students to put their tummy on their legs and fall in with arms pointing to the bottom. Or standing jumps where they hook their toes to the edge and jump in feet first, going under the water and poping up taking a breathe swimming back to the wall.

4. Then either put their feet on the bottom and bounce back to the wall or take a breath and swim back to the wall. Bouncing off the bottom to the wall is another skill we use a lot in my beginners class.

5. Last but not least, back floating/stroke is the cornerstone of survival for non-swimmers. Also, in my opinion, the toughest skill teach anyone. The feeling of water in someone ears is very uncomfortable along with laying flat on top of the water.

Goal to get kids to comfortable diving for toys from the bottom is my over all goal at the end of every class. It’s so important t work on and so fun it’s a win ,win for everyone. Think of it like throwing a ball for your dog. Kids can’t resist getting a toy they really want. So have lots of dive toys that rise up helps the new swimmer grab them. I use tons of dive and floating toys. I cover my bases, lol. Here’s some thing that all my instructors get in their class kits.

Many first lessons end with a little crying,

Seeing where the comfort zone ends, when teaching swimming is how we learn. My motto is you learn faster when you cry, it’s not my goal to have kids cry. Kids don’t know what to do when you give them permission to cry. Usually, I just don’t end a lesson when kids cry, I will do something different and come back to more challenging task later. Talking to kids about their feelings of fight or fright is very powerful. That feeling is there for safety I tell them. This is your chance to be brave. Their is balance between fear and brave, that’s why we always work on the same skills and do everything at least 10 times.In the end 20 lessons or so they never even remember they cried at their first lesson, I love parents to video the first few lessons, add music if the kids cry I joke. Kids don’t know how they look when they swim they only know how they feel. so watching their lessons back helps the brain connect visually, which is how most kids learn. Hope these hints help you and your family swim safe.

Once you start to bring your stuff to swim practice you will notice very quickly that everything is going to be damp. I recommend a mesh bag that will be light enough for the student to carry. I use goggles on all my students even if it is for a few moments. For the most part, their goggles are on their forehead on a ” goggle break”. If children are resistant I have their parents put them on in the house, calling them “bravery goggles”.

The second thing they need in their swim bag is a swim cap. This is for many reasons. head protection from sun, wind and the side of the pool. Swim caps keeps the head warm during lessons. When kids are in a group they tend to stay on the steps with their heads out of the water. In an outdoor pool like ours, sun, wind, and rain are common. Swim caps also have a little flotation for back floating. It can help keep ears dry too.

The next thing is a towel for after the lesson. The hooded towels are very popular with my students.

Wetsuits are a must when your working in a outdoor pool. The outside air and sun are different but always there. So to keep kids warm I use wetsuits and caps.