Slade Family Blog: Swim Lessons

So, we finished swimming lessons today. I'm so glad that we chose to put Andrew & Ethan into lessons. They had so much fun and learned so much! I loved that the instructors used games to teach them the skills that help them swim. Andrew and Ethan both loved the games, and since they learned the same games, they can play them together now whenever we go swimming anywhere.

Andrew's class had only two students - perfect for direct instruction!(especially since this was Andrew's first time having lessons.

Here's Ethan's class playing "Walking Through the Forest." The instructors (two for his large class of about 7 Preschoolers) would pick a child to tell them an animal and if it was mean or nice. If it was "mean," they would have to run away fast, splashing with their legs. If it was "nice," they would "pet" the animal with "Big Arms."

Here they're playing "Monkeys Dancing on the Wall." I was so proud of Ethan's adorable little dance! By the end of the lessons, he was the only one that would still wiggle & dance.

Every time I looked at them, they had big smiles on their faces. Once Andrew got his goggles, he was always going under water. I wonder why he still doesn't like getting water on his face when he's in the tub? Maybe I should let him wear his goggles for his baths!
Today, as a graduation reward, the kids in our classes got to go down the yellow slide. I found Ethan just sitting on the wall, near the base of the slide. He told me afterward that he didn't want to go down the slide because he didn't want to get water in his ears. (He has special ear plugs, to protect his tubes, but he says a little water still gets in when he goes all the way under.) In this picture, Andrew has just come out of the slide, and his instructor caught him.

During the lessons I would alternate between entertaining Alex (poor guy has to wait until next year for his lessons), and watching the big boys. Finally, today, I remembered to bring Alex's swim suit too, so he could play on the Splash Pad. (Luckily it was a day when it was on, since it only seemed to be working on random days, during the lessons.)