Private or Group Lessons Learned!

Swim Lessons, the bane of my existence!

My four year old keeps reminding me to sign him back up for swim lessons. I must remember to do that because I did say to him a while ago when he didn't want to go to swim lessons that he would not be able to go on our boat during the summer months without having lessons.  So he is listening.

Oh Swim Lessons what shall we do.  A year or so ago we were paying for swim lessons at a reputable gym. They were not private lessons but group lessons. It wasn't that he was shy with other kiddos but he had two negative experiences (which I was not happy about and complained).  The first experience was that after a few lessons with the same instructor the instructor was assigned to a different class (also going on at the same time different part of the pool) and the new instructor picked him up and put him in the water screaming.  Um okay, my son takes a minute to warm up to strangers and that was not okay. Now he might be afraid of the water.  The second experience was that the instructors changed on a daily basis.

Now after I complained a bit about the 2-3 year old age group not having a consistent teacher (developmentally inappropriate) the head instructor put two swim teachers together making sure one was always the same. My son had a much better time with that piece of consistency. We went, he practiced but would not perform in order to move up a level. One day there were two new instructors and my son would not get into the water.  So we left and haven't been back for a while.

I did that intentionally. Maybe time away from the issue and a year older would provide for a more positive interaction at the pool?  He seems to be ready for swim lessons and asking about them. So why not?  My husband and I are talking about private lessons. The idea is one on one more intensive lessons costs way more than the group lessons but in the long run might be worth it. Maybe the learning would be faster, it would be more consistent and we might feel better about it. But maybe it would be giving in? Bottom line is that he needs to learn how to swim. He needs to follow directions and get used to different people and he needs to be able to  adjust to a curve ball that is thrown at him.

I am looking into both private and group lessons again and will be making my decision shortly.  I know one thing,  we have got to learn how to swim!