At what age do you teach kids to swim?

Question

At what age do you teach kids to swim?

Answer 1

Hello.  I was a swim instructor and instructor-trainer for many years.  Some swim programs will start children in a "mommy & me" aquatics program as young as 6-months, and this can be good preparation for learning to swim.  However, the majority of children do not really swim (a coordinated overhand front crawl with rhythmic breathing) until they are about age 5.  They simply do not have the motor skill abilities to do more than paddle around a little until about that age.

Every child is different, learning things better at different ages and at different speeds.  Some children may be able to do a decent swim stroke at age 3, and others may be 6 or 7 years before they can really catch on.  It just varies between children and is not really a big deal.  

The catch is that no child is really safe in the water withou competent adult supervision no matter what skill level they may have apparently attained.  Safe swimming for children always involves intelligent and involved adult supervision.  

Swim programs vary considerably in their professionalsim and training, and it pays to do a little research and to be picky.  Some swim clubs allow swimmers from their teams to 'teach' swimming with no other qualification than they are members of the team.  Not good enough in my book.  Many private swim schools provide their own training which can vary from meager to really good.  The standard is the American Red Cross Water Safety Instructor certificate.  Try to find a swim program with well trained and experienced instructors, as that can make a very great difference in the safety and success of your child.

Answer 2

It depends upon where you are, your accessibility to a pool and your personal preference. For example, when I was a small child I lived in an apartment which had a pool in a tropical climate where you could swim year round. Furthermore my parents took me swimming at least three times a week. Thus I learned how to swim before I turned two and could swim laps (though not in any proper stroke) before I was three. When I lived in Georgia and we had a neighborhood pool most kids learned when they were 4 or 5. When I lived in Minnesota most kids began learning when they were 7, and that was with an indoor pool in the area.

So you can teach a kid to learn how to swim whenever you want to, as long as you have the ability to take them to the pool semi-regularly.

Answer 3

i  started  my  kids  at  2 yrs  my  daughter  has  her  6 month  at  the y  taking  swim  classes  each  child  is  different  just  have  them  learn  before  6  yrs  old

Answer 4

at about 4-5 aroung kindergarden

i know tht when i learned how to swim i fefll in the pool and alomost drowned and til this day i still cant swim cause im "traumatized" so if 4-5 doesnt work for you try to find the age were things effect them less like when they can fall off of swings and get back on or things like that.

Answer 5

well that depends you can start them at the ymca  as little as 1 yr..  but if you're talking about public pools swimming lessons most of them dont start until theyre 7 or so. my son would have benefitted from the ymca lessons had I been able to afford them since he was constantly jumping in the deep end of the pool  (apparently he never learned  his lesson  the first time he tried to drown himself) LOL!!!