Are Swim Classes Worth It? If Not, How Do You Teach a Kid to Swim?

4 is a great age to start swimming lessons. At that age they teach them safety and learning to put their head under and some swimming skills.

Both of my girls started around that age. They took outdoor group lessons at a local pool and then also at the YMCA.

It took a few rounds of lessons to get them to be good swimmers, but it was well worth it. I think knowing how to swim is a safety issue if they are going to be around water as they grow up and worth the money!

Yes, it's worth it. Absolutely. My oldest daughter actually did two years of swim team and she is a BEAUTIFUL swimmer, to this day (she's 17 now.) My other two had lessons and are far better swimmers than I am, but not nearly as good as my oldest girl. She dives with barely a splash and can easily swim the full length of the pool underwater.
Totally worth it IMO.

Wow, the YMCA only costs $26 per session. That's 6 weeks of classes. I'd look into finding different places that offer lessons.

Definitely worth it. Your child could fall into a pool at this age in the blink of an eye and you want him to know how to come up and get to the side safely.

You can do a lot of teaching on your own, but I've found that most kids respond better to someone other than their parent. Try teaching basic skills such as blowing bubbles, bobbing, floating on his back and holding your hands out front and kicking to get him used to being in the water and getting his face wet. Don't use the arm swimmie things while you do this as you're defeating the purpose of teaching to self float.

Good luck!

It is sooo worth it. I tried to teach mine on my own, but something about being in class with other kids their age takes away a lot of the fear.

Absolutely worth it. Our daughter did 3 summers of swim classes and now at 8 is an excellent swimmer and is on a swim team. We found the one-on-one classes to be the most beneficial by far.

If you can afford them, they are worth it. But if you can't afford them, you can totally figure out how to teach your own child, the key is pool access and time in the water. I used to be a certified swim teacher in high school and college and now I pay to have someone teach my kids even though I know how to teach. here's why: i don't have regular access to a pool. I have multiple small children and cannot safety focus on one at a time. I am pregnant and don't have time or energy to take them to a public pool by my self and get in every week. Once comfortable in water, they respond better to a stranger to work on skills than they do with mom.
If this is your only small kid and you have access to a pool, time and and energy to teach, then pay for a few classes to pick up on tips and take it over yourself. Time in the water is the key. I used to teach the American Red Cross skill levels. Here are a list of skills to work on and master per level (see link). Check out youtube for ideas on how to teach and equipment that can help you. At age 4 and unable to swim, he may be at a level 2 and level 3 is a good goal for summers end at this age.
Weither you pay or just teach them to swim yourself, its so important to have water safe kids at this age. My 4-year-old aunt drown, so to me the money is worth it. I'm $500 in this summer for lessons for both, but I try not to cringe too much when you consider that the skill of swimming may save their life.

http://www.larpd.dst.ca.us/aquatics/ARCSwimLevelsChart.pdf

Couple of tips:
don't allow nose plugging ever! Teach them to blow bubbles first through their mouth, then through the nose with eyes in the water.

Goggles are fine and even quite helpful for learning

Don't use water wings or life vests while actively teaching skills (though they do have their place)
Do use other toys and props like floating bar bells and noodles (for under the armpits) to give them bouncy while learning to kick and propel themselves in water.
Other good props: kick boards, diving rings, toys, hoola hoops (for diving through)
songs, praise and patients. Try to keep it fun.
Focus on comfort in water before you force skills. They can't learn skills when they feel unsafe. So push, but don't push too hard. Don't be surprised if you see regression if your child is particularly skittish in water. Lay off and focus on easy skills until you reestablish trust.

Have you checked out classes at your local YMCA? Ours work out to $8/lesson and my kids love them.

How comfortable is your kid in the water? Mine was petrified of being separated from me until just a few months ago. 2 sessions of swimming lessons brought him from desperately clinging to my neck to now using a swim stick and floaty belt and trying to swim far away from me.

Basically at this point we are just encouraging lots of putting his face in the water, blowing bubbles, tossing squirty toys across the pool and making him kick his legs and reach his arms out for them, floating on his back, being comfortable with water being splashed in his face, etc.

Yes, they are worth it, especially since you've admitted that you don't know the first thing about teaching him yourself. A swim instructor will start with teaching him to float and feel comfortable with his face in the water. He'll learn the proper way to kick and move his arms, as well as how to breathe. It will take time, but it depends on how many lessons you do each week. Many people do intense two week programs where they go every day for 20-30 minutes; others go once a week. Totally depends on you.

I don't know where you are in LA, but if you can, check out Waterworks Aquatics in Beverly Hills. We go to the one in Irvine and it's fantastic.

I would enroll him in lessons. If he were younger and you were asking about the mommy-and-me classes where the goal is just to make him comfortable in the water and learn to put his face under, then I'd say skip it. However, given that he's now four and doesn't know how to swim, and you admittedly don't know how to teach him (or you would have by now) I think you need to hire someone.

There are less expensive options for lessons. Group lessons at YMCA or your local parks and rec department will cost substantially less, BUT your child is unlikely to actually walk away knowing how to swim in one session (usually 4-6 weekly lessons or one full week of daily lessons). If you just want to get the ball rolling, sign him up for a session at the local pool. If you want him to learn how to swim NOW, register him for private lessons and get it taken care of.

HTH
T.

Totally worth it. Private lessons are best if you can afford them. If you want him swimming right away, get him in 3 times a week (more if possible) for a 2 week boot camp. He's be awesome in no time.

Is the YMCA THAT expensive? Check around.

Yes, lessons are worth it. Both of my sons are great simmers. My younger son is a rising senior and on his school's swim team, and just won MVP of the year. If I hadn't done the hard mommy work when he was little of taking him and his brother to swim lessons, he would not have had this wonderful school swim career. But more important than the sport itself is that my son is SAFE in the water. Strong mind, strong body, and an understanding of water safety.

I will tell you something that has always stuck with me since my freshman year in college. I took beginning swimming at my college because I had to pass a swim test in order to graduate. (Plus, it would cover one of my PE requirements.) There were a lot of kids who had NEVER been in a pool. I watched 18 year old good looking guys with MUSCLES who, in their jeans and shirts, looked like they owned the world. In the pool, however, they shook like leaves in a storm and were SO afraid of putting their faces in the water, that I hid behind others because it made me cry. I thought of that when my kids were little and my husband asked me about getting them swim lessons. My husband was a college swimmer and he knew how important it was. I made it part of my job to be sure that MY kids wouldn't be the ones shaking in a pool as college kids, afraid to put their faces in the water.

I hope that my sons' wives will do the same for their children.

Worth every penny. Here in Vegas we have at least 1 - 2 swimming pool fatalities per year.

I didn't do swim lessons for any of my kids. We have a pool in our backyard and they learned there, and my mom taught them as well when they would swim in the pool in her retirement complex. My kids were between 4 and 6 when they learned.

My 2 year old and my 4 year old both go to swim lessons. To me they are worth it. Especially since you don't know how to teach them, are they worth the $20 to you, or are you willing to keep them out of the pool/lake/ocean etc.. If they are going to be near water, they are worth it.

I think so. I learned on my own, but lived in FL at the time and had lots of access to a pool and water. Also, in elementary school, my friends and I would go to the pool everyday after school until it closed for the season. That being said, I can only swim enough to keep myself safe in calm water.

I'm putting my kids through all the lessons because I want them to be strong swimmers for safety reasons, and it's a social thing if you can't swim. Already, my daughter has been invited to friends homes with pools and I'm happy to let her go because she is ok in the water. If she didn't know how to swim, I'd be much more cautious.

Also, turns out, swimming is my daughters sport and she's already talking about working towards being on the swim team.

Do you have a park district? $20 a lesson sounds steep and maybe it's for private lessons? We've always gone to the public pool which offers lessons at reasonable prices. I'd look around in your area for different options.

Swim lessons are definitely worth it. They are the only extra curricular activity that I consider mandatory. I started both of my boys in swim classes as toddlers, and they have had weekly lessons ever since, except for in the summer they do daily for a two week block. Do you have a YMCA near you? At our Y swim lessons are included in membership, and a child's membership is only $17/month. We spend lots of time in and around pools, lakes and at waterparks, so swimming is a necessary skill.

They were worth it to us. I have no idea how to teach young children how to swim..

Our parks depts offer swimming lessons.. Of course the YMCA also has them. Sometimes some of the Country clubs offer them.

We were fortunate o have our daughters daycare teach all of the children how to swim. They had a private pool, with a private instructor.

I think it worked well because there were not a bunch nervous parents hanging around.

I think they are worth it but you have to find the right fit for your child...that's the hard part!! :)

Is your child comfortable or afraid of the water? If they are afraid then I would get him in a class to help with that. If he's comfortable then absolutely go ahead and try to teach him some basic stuff like bubbles, going under, floating, etc.

Sometimes kids need someone besides mom or dad doing the teaching and sometimes they also need their peers to encourage them and model for them, which is why classes are great!

I also agree that you should be able to find cheaper lessons that $20 a pop! Group lessons are usually much cheaper than that and if your child doesn't have a lot of skills, groups are a good beginning point.

My kids are 5 and 3 and both can swim. My 5 y/o basically taught herself how to swim b/c we went to the pool ALL the time and she was around an older girl (sibling of her friend) that could swim. She wanted to do it too, so she did...it was kind of amazing! She's been going off diving boards since she was 3 and started swim team a few weeks ago. She is and has been in private lessons for years b/c the group lessons don't fit her needs.

My 3 y/o can swim but he isn't super great at it. He has less motivation than his sister, but he still caught on pretty quickly. He has also been going tot he pool since he was 3 months old. That helps. He sees her going off the boards and wants to do it too so he's really been doing a lot of practicing lately.

The key I think is to go to the pool often, all year long. Also model behaviors for him to see and I highly suggest lessons.

We are doing very cheap -4 bucks a class-- classes at our public park district. My kids are learning tons from some really sweet teen instructors.

We are going to do another session in fac.

Absolutely worth it! It is one of the best things that I have done for my children. My kids have been in weekly swimming lessons for the past 4 years. At 5 and 7, they are both VERY strong swimmers for their age group. My goal here is to get them to the point that they won't drown...I don't care if they every compete. It makes a difference. What happens if your child gets older and is invited to a pool party where parents are expected to drop off? I live in Florida so it is even more important that my kids swim well...

$20.00 + swimming lessons = my child won't drown...PRICELESS!

All of my kids have done lessons. The girl we use is a PE teacher at a local middle school and a friend of mine for over 12 years. She is fabulous. I don't evpect her to know my job (finance) and I have actually helped her with ehr budget, anymore than I would expect to know her job.

She charges $60 for 8 30 minute classes. The local base pool is $65 for the same. The "out-in-town" pool is I think $80 for the same. My friend is by far the BEST price and most highly skilled.

It is absolutely necessary for your child to know how to swim. I would look for cheaper lessons if you can, but if you can't, I'd pay it to keep my kids safe in the water.

Kick and paddle...kick and paddle!!

I taught all my kids how to swim AND paid for ALL years (5 here) of swimming lessons thru the Red Cross...we have a pool and they really needed to learn how to swim!

So, you can teach them, it's totally doable but I think you should find the $ for professional lessons.

In my area, through our 'Parks & Recreation Department' the lessons are $35 for two weeks/only 8 days M-Th...Totally worth it!!

My daughter started going to the pool once a week at 6 months old, when she was in daycare at the YMCA. She had lessons once a week, through the Y until she was all the way through the levels, at age 9. She is a very strong swimmer now and is considering joining a swim team.

No teacher or school can guarantee that a child can "learn to swim" in one summer. There are basics they will/should learn, but not all kids are even comfortable in the water to begin with, so that takes time to overcome. Some can "swim like a fish" at 4 or 5. Some will celebrate putting their head under water at age 9. All depends.

I would look around for cheaper lessons, but I would recommend lessons. Here in MN (land of 10,000+ lakes) most of us consider the ability to swim an absolute necessity.

I didn't take any and learned on my own . However, I had constant access to a city pool at that time where I went and played .. My son didn't learn to swim until he was about 10.. By this age, he had developed a fear... We tried GROUP lessons, but there always seemed to be one other kid who needed more help and got most of the attention.. which is why for all the other kids, I think group lessons aren't worth it..
We ended up putting my son in private for about 10 sessions and what a HUGE difference. What he learned in just the first couple was so much more than what he ever did in group lessons..
I think lessons are so worth the money.... Whether you do lessons or teach your child, do it while he/she is young and may not have the fear of swimming..

good luck

If you have daily access to a pool and he is not afraid of the water, chances are he will just learn. My kids learned that way. I would go to your local Y for lessons. They are much cheaper. So my suggestion is daily access if possible, and some lessons seems like a good mix.

swim classes are fun and worth it..

in Michigan.. local parks and rec departments offer classes for about $60 for 8 - 30 minutes sessions. of course there are 7 or so kids in the class... so not much time per kid.

I would work with him on some basic stuff.. face in the water.. jump to you in the pool.. basic arm and leg movements.. teach him to float..

wait till he is 5 or 6 for real lessons. at 4 they are too young to really coordinate swimming movements..

my kids started lessons at 3 but they are barely swimming at 6...

We have done both YMCA and swim school lessons. I found you got what you paid for. Yes, the Y is cheaper but the classes are jammed packed and the kids get less attention. You hope for a good instructor but it still a poor child to teacher ratio. The swim school we use is about the price per child per lesson but to me it is worth it. The instructors are amazing and the group sizes are small (four kids to one instructor max). The skills seem deceptively simple (blow bubbles, face under water, etc) but the key is repetition and water safety. The swim school is not training Phelps juniors. They are teaching safety and water respect above all else. We go year round. I have noticed a significant improvement in my two and half year old's skills and confidence in and around water. We own a pool so water safety is a huge thing in our house. My son has been knocked into very cold Texas winter water, fully clothed, in an unfamiliar pool and he had the skills to get out safely on his own. That incident made it worth it right there as our instructor pointed out he was learning how to react appropriately regardless of setting. Good luck whatever you decide. I am a big advocate of paid lessons in any form.

Swimming classes totally worth it. Stay with your child during the class so you can watch what the instructor does and then practice the same things with your child on your own.

Definitely worth it if you find some good lessons. My husband always said he would teach his daughter, but then she was 7 and still didn't really know how to swim! So we signed her up for lessons. First at the park district, but she wasn't learning anything. Then we found different lessons and she really learned a lot in the last 3 years. She's now up to junior lifeguard. It was definitely worth it, not only does she know water safety but she also knows a variety of swimming strokes and how to save someone.

Have you looked into the YMCA swim lessons? They have a scholarship program that you can apply for if you qualify....just a thought. Being that you live in Los Angeles, I would say swim lessons are worth it. Does your child generally like the water and want to learn to swim? Paying or even teaching yourself will be difficult and not worth it at this point if your child is combative and crying most of the lessons (I see it all the time in other kids at the YMCA by my home). We pay the money and do the lessons because my parents have a vacation home at a beach with a river behind it and my in-laws have a 2nd home a block of a huge deep lake. For us, it is a necessary life skill they must acquire. As for teaching yourself, you focus on comfort in the water, floating, kicking, doggy paddle and then work up to actual strokes. You want the child to be comfortable on all sides and able to tread water as necessary or float properly. Did you consider seeing if area lifeguards are willing to give lessons at a lower cost? My kids started between 18 mos and 3 years. My one who started at age 3 was our first in lessons and she progressed quickly...the boys started younger but have progressed slower. Starting at age 3, it took her a year and a half of 1 time a week to be at the point of swimming completely across the long lap pool by herself.

Oh, I just started my daughter in swim classes! She goes to her second class tonight.

After one class the teacher already has her floating on her back better than I ever did. Sometimes it takes someone else to show them how to do it before they really listen.

My husband came up with a brilliant idea. He got some diving rings (2 dollars from a athletic store) and tossed them in the pool. Within 5 minutes she was swimming underwater! It was crazy. Of course we were right there with her in the shallow end of the pool to monitor.

She learned that if she got in over her head, she could swim underwater until she got to a safe place where she could touch. :)

Worth it! I'm paying much more then that so 20 bucks for our area is really a low rate. Mines swimming much better with lessons then he was with me teaching on my own.

our swim lessons include a safey day that i feel is pretty powerful stuff coming from a teacher.

I would take kiddo to the pool as much as you can and play play play then at 5 or 6 start real lessons.

edited: I just happened to wonder what was going on on the mamapedia facebook page and went to check and saw your post retited "THIS MOM CAN'T AFFORD SWIM LESSONS, DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS ON HOW TO TEACH A 4 YO TO SWIM"-- i love (sarcasm) how they ASSUME you can't afford it swim lessons I read your message as asking if it was WORTH $20 totally different in my mind.

I have been wondering the same thing! My child is also four. I've watched other four year olds take swimming lessons, and it seems like I could teach him the same things for free - - put your face in the water, blow bubbles, practice kicking! I feel like if I try to teach my son something myself, ie, tennis, skiing, swimming, I get a lot of criticism from other moms, saying I have to put him in classes, and that kids can't properly learn from their parents! Then I start second guessing myself, especially w/ something as important as learning to swim! Ugh. So, I don't know the answer, but I really wish I did!

It depends on your kids.

My then 5 and 2yo did not get much pool time until last year. One day we were invited to a nice outdoor pool, and my 5yo decided to start going under the water to retrieve items from the bottom of the pool (she was taller than the water and could stand in it). I had nothing to with her decision or actions. After that, we decided to make sure both kids got more pool time. The 5yo, now 6yo, started teaching herself to swim, with a little bit of input from her dad and I. She mostly started by learning to swim under water and eventually figured out how to swim on top of water. I want her to get lessons to learn the different swim strokes so she could be on a team, but that is a different question. (And this is the daughter who potty-trained herself, so she is pretty independent when she gets ready to do something.)

The second, then 2yo now 3yo, was not at all scared of the water (or much of anything) and would jump into the pool with her life vest on. She recently decided she wants to swim like a big girl and started working on keeping her head above water without the life vest but with a parent in arms reach. This was also self-motivated and pretty much self taught. She recently made it almost the entire length of the pool swimming on her back. She will also try to swim under water.

So, if you are in the pool one or two days every week, they could (if self-motivated) figure it out mostly by themselves. But, if your 4yo seems tentative of putting his head under water, or if you're not likely to hang out in the pool with him for long periods of time, I'd suggest lessons.

Swim lessons are much less expensive when you do it in groups. My daughter took group lessons at the local YMCA and also one of the local public pools. It was about $40 for 8-10 sessions I believe.