Teaching swimming lessons to kids?

Question

I agreed to teach my boyfriend's bro (10) and sis (8) how to swim. I've been a lifeguard and taught 3-5 year olds before (not for long period of time), but never 8-10 year olds. They have been exposed to water and swimming, but technically they are beginners.

Usually I would start with blowing bubbles, floating and kicking on the wall, but is that a good place to start for these kids?

And what next? I want these kids to eventually be pros! Their mom can't swim and sometimes gets paranoid...

Thank you!!!

Answer 1

well it is better to be safe than sorry so teach them what you know so that you know you covered everything and it will make mom more comfortable as well.

Answer 2

Make them wear some killer life vests, like Body Glove or O'neal...then make them do the same things you would for the 3-5 year olds.

If they think it is silly, tell them how silly an undercurrent, moving faster than you can swim, or whitecaps in your face on the lake are.

Drowning is not silly, it is forever dead!

Answer 3

Even though they are pretty old, they need to know how to float before they can move on to other stuff. I wouldn't necessarily make them kick on the wall or blow bubbles, but I would explain to them while you are teaching something else how their kicks should look and why they should blow bubbles while swimming.

If they can float already, move on to teaching them freestyle in small steps. For instance, teaching them streamline first with no kicks, then with kicks, and eventually incorporate arm technique and breathing on the side.

Make sure they are pretty comfortable with freestyle before exposing them to other strokes or techniques.

Answer 4

i teach lessons. teach them to keep themselves afloat then work on technique. the more comfortable they are with the water the better off you will be.

Answer 5

Their too old for blowing bubbles I would start with treading water, floating on their backs, and the front crawl. If they have been around water a little they probably know floating.

Answer 6

well its great that you have been a lifeguard and already taught swimming so why not go for it and teach them?

Answer 7

First, do not use life jackets.

All swimming lessons, even in adult classes start with the basics, blowing bubbles, floating and kicking on the wall.  Depending on how fast they catch on, you might spend less time on these introductory things then you would 3 to 4 year olds but you always start with the fundamentals.

Then you go from there:  kicking and breathing; rolling from front to back & from back to front; adding the arms; jumping in to the water and kicking to the surface.  Once they get proficient at swimming on the back and on the front then you can add more advanced skills like diving, breaststroke, sidestroke, butterfly etc.  You should also incorporate water safety basics into the lessons as appropriate:  survival floating, bobbing, water rescue and defensive tactics

Answer 8

yup and and try to help them float then try to help them do the doggy pettle then actule swiming and then try to teach them to dive then try to teach them to do back flips and frontflips