Making Swimming Progress

I'm thankful that we switched to the homeschool swimming classes at the YMCA. Not only are they going much better than the evening swimming classes went, but my kids are actually enjoying swimming class and making progress.

There are three class sessions available for homeschoolers. I had the chance to see the class following ours and realized it would have been disasterous for my children had I picked that class time. There are more students in that class and they all know how to swim somewhat independently; mine are still working on getting their face wet and floating/swimming with the teacher holding them up. Fortunately, I chose the class time that I did because the parent volunteer teaching the class is just perfect. She understands, first-hand, what it's like to be afraid of the water and has exceptional patience. Because of her, my children are enjoying their class and making real progress. Yesterday, they begged to stay for free swim. Here they are having fun.

Yesterday, Mika was able to swim on her back ("arrow arms" style not backstroke) by herself for a short distance. Both her and Sammy are able to swim on their tummies and backs using the kickboards. If you knew where Mika was just a couple months ago, you'd be astounded by this. Because they are doing so well, we'll stay with the YMCA for the remainder of the school year.

Unfortunately, the teacher will be moving to her local YMCA next year. Unless we want to travel 20-30 minutes twice a week, over a bridge, and pay a toll each time, we'll be losing this wonderful teacher. We'll miss her. I hope my kids make enough progress to be able to continue regular swimming lessons somewhere else since I doubt we'll be continuing with the YMCA next year.