Why I Put My Daughter in Private Swim Lessons

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When my girls told me that they wanted to take swim lessons, I was thrilled. My girls have always been scared of the water so I never pushed or forced them to take swim lessons, so when my daughter told me that she wanted to take swim lessons, I immediately asked her if she had an idea of where she would like to take lessons. Knowing my daughter, I was not surprised when she told me that she had already researched places that provide swim lessons.

I researched the company that she suggested and contacted the owner to ask about prices and procedures. After visiting the facility and having my girls complete their first complementary lesson I decided to sign them up for Saturday classes.

Little did I know that I would soon be removing them from these classes and signing them up for private swim lessons with a personal swim coach. Since summer is right around the corner, I want to share with you why I put my daughter in private swim lessons. 

The reasons that I pulled my girls from a well-known swim facility and put them in private lessons with a personal swim coach, is not because they were not learning.

My girls actually left most of the classes having learned some type of swim technique or at least becoming better at a swim technique. The reasons that I put my girls in private swim lessons go beyond them learning.

Why I Put My Daughter in Private Swim Lessons – While I won’t mention the name of the well-known company that I originally signed my girls up to take swim lessons at, I will tell you the reasons that I decided to remove them from this facility and put them in private swim lessons. 

• Limited Space– There was one pool in the facility. This pool had at least 5-6 classes being held in it at one time. Each class had at least 4-5 students. With that said, in order to fit everyone, the facility had to rope off sections of the pool so that each group could stay together. This did not allow the students to have a lot of room to move around. It limited them quite a bit. 
• Length of Class– Each class was 30 minutes, which is a good amount of time if the class had 1-2 students but since each class had 4-5 students each child’s time was limited to around 6 minutes each per class. This was not worth the money I was spending for my girls to get lessons. There is not a lot that a child can learn in 6 minutes. 
• Chaos– At times there was chaos that made me, as a previous childcare provider, want to walk into the pool area and gain control. From kids crying/screaming because they were scared of the water or didn’t want to be separated from their mom to kids clinging onto the swim instructor and refusing to get off to older kids swimming under, around and splashing at the child whose turn it was to swim with the instructor, it created a huge distraction for the other students that wanted to learn. 
• Inexperienced Coaches– This company hired swim coaches that were young. I will give credit and say that most of the swim coaches were kind, did very well with the kids, and spoke to the parents in a professional manner. On the flip side, there were coaches that liked to chat with other coaches during class, couldn’t remember kid’s names, didn’t know how to handle kids that were not following the rules and were not consistent with communicating with the child or parents. 
• Poop Happens– With such a large number of kids in a pool with classes that alternated every 30-40 minutes, pee and poop were bound to happen. I remember driving 20 minutes to the swim facility only to learn that class had been canceled because a child had pooped in the pool and the pool had to be drained and cleaned. I am thankful that the facility followed the proper cleaning procedures but wasn’t happy that the chances of this happening were much greater versus in a pool that didn’t always have as many kids. 
• Lack of Coach and Student Relationship– Even though the facility tried to keep each class with the same coaches it was not always possible. Coaches were either leaving for new employment, going back to school, had the day off or were changing their hours. Consistency is key so when your child’s coach continues to change it makes it hard for the child to learn because the coach is having to get to know your child and discover what they know and what they don’t know. 
• Front Office Staff– From my experience, the front office at this facility was kind but not always organized or experienced. Unfortunately, I observed that too often a child was placed in the wrong class. They were placed in a class that was below their age level. It was frustrating to see this especially when it happened to my kid. 
• Lack of Management– They are never there when you need them and they don’t contact you back. 
• Safety– This is the #1 reason that I wrote this post. As I sat and watched my young 7-year-old wait for her turn on the ledge in the pool, I saw a girl, that in my opinion was placed in a class that was too advanced for her, crawl on the bench, over my daughter and then start to tumble into the water. I immediately jumped up and then saw my young 7-year-old grab her by the arm and pull her back up onto the bench. The coach never knew that this happened! At the time, the coach was doing his job and working with one of the kids but unfortunately, his back was to the other 3 kids that were waiting. I observed this happening 2 other times. When I pulled my girls from swim lessons at this facility, I completed a ‘Why Are You Leaving’ questionnaire form. I told them about these incidences along with everything else that was on my mind. I suggested that they have someone lifeguard and walk the pool during these lessons because one coach cannot safely manage 4-5 kids especially when the kids are under the age of 6 and cannot always seem to sit still and wait for their turn. It didn’t happen, so I left and stopped referring them to my friends and family. 

There are a lot of private / semi-private swim lesson options that are available. My advice before choosing a swim coach is:

• Ask your local community for recommendations and read online reviews. 
• Observe a class.
• Ask questions. Don’t be too shy to ask questions. 

Oftentimes parents wait until the summer to sign their child up for swim class. There are swim classes that are held indoors and given throughout the entire year. This is the best time to get your child into swim lessons because not only are there more time options available but it gives your child an opportunity to learn before swim season arrives.

Drowning is the silent killer, so please carefully choose who you have teach your kids how to swim and never question yourself. If you see something that does not make you feel comfortable, speak up and talk to the coach.