Like all classes, it is normal for some kids to hate attending swimming lessons and try to protest against having to attend lessons every week. If your child is one of them and it is getting very draining for you to drag them to classes every week, here are 5 secrets to get them to start loving swimming lessons. Combining these secrets with knowledge of “How to overcome water phobia” and “What to do when your kids are afraid of swimming”, they would be ready for their own classes in no time!

Learning with friends

Like many other things in life, learning is usually more enjoyable with friends. If your children are attending swimming lessons with their friends, they are accountable to more than just themselves! Weekly swimming lessons are no longer merely lessons but bonding sessions for them. If they are unsure about a new stroke that the instructor taught, they can also ask and help each other out. With friends, not only does this make lessons more interesting and fun for your child, the additional social interaction can help your child develop important social skills which will come in handy later on in their life.

Therefore, do ask your children if they have friends who are interested in learning swimming together with him and consider arranging a private swimming lesson for them! Do take note that it should still be a private class to limit the group size and maximise efficiency!

Recognise and celebrate achievements

As a parent, you can set goals or small milestones together with your kids. It may be as simple as successfully learning a certain swimming stroke or something more difficult like passing their swimming proficiency award tests. However small it may be, it is important to recognise and celebrate their achievements and efforts with them. This gives them a constant positive reinforcement that keeps them motivated to continue learning and always strive to improve.

Don’t get me wrong! I am not saying that there needs to be a huge celebration all the time but if they did something well, praising them or treating them to some ice-cream is good too!

Open communication

Be open to their opinions! Although your kids might be still young, they should still be given the opportunity to share their opinions because ultimately, it is them who are attending the lessons. Create an atmosphere that makes them feel comfortable expressing their likes, dislikes and concerns as they are likely to lose interest in the lessons if they feel that their opinions are disregarded. 

However, this does not mean that you need to be agreeable to everything they say. Do validate how they feel and express your take on the issue even if you disagree. This allows them to look at the issue from a different perspective, which might allow them to change the negative opinion that they have previously. Encourage an open and two-way communication all the time!

Let your child choose

When it comes to lessons and classes, it is common for some kids to feel that it is out of their control and all they can do is to listen to their parents’ arrangements. However, more often than not, this causes them to be disengaged from learning and lose interest in the activity, which is certainly not what all of us hope for.

What we would hope for is for them to enjoy attending the lessons themselves and one way you can do that is to give them control of their own learning experience. That is, to give them options and let them choose their private swimming coach, location or their lesson timings for example.

Different instructors have different teaching styles and some might be more suitable for your kids over others. As such, booking lessons with the instructor of their preference can allow them to be more receptive to the skills taught. This would make lessons more effective and efficient and would be more likely to make them look forward to their weekly classes. Take a look at our article of “How to choose a Private Swimming Coach” for an in depth analysis of what fits your child best.

Not only does respecting your children’s choices make lessons more enjoyable for them, it also makes them feel that their opinions are valued which can strengthen parent-child bonds as a potential side effect.

Check in on their progress

Yet another way to get your children to enjoy swimming lessons is to check on their progress after every lesson. Remember, focus on the learning and not the performance! Yes, performance might be important to a certain extent but this takes time and it is the consistent learning that will bring them to the final goal.

Getting them to share with you their learning experience is a good way to show them that you are more concerned about them than their results. It also provides them the opportunity to put their lessons into their own words and solidify what they have learnt. Not only is it a chance for you to bond and communicate with your children, it might also allow them to look forward to learning new things every session so that they can share with you at the end of the class.

Conclusion

The best solution would be to sign up your children for kids swimming lessons with a professional. The choice of the coach is important, and one that is not appropriate and not well trained may prove detrimental in the long run. Thus, make the wise choice and enquire with us now!

Hi all! I am an avid traveller, baker and avid childhood education writer. Being able to share my experience through words has always been a passion of mine. Through my writing, I hope you will gain more knowledge of the swimming world and share my passion for swimming too!