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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2014 12:15:04 GMT -5
My oldest DS was petrified of the water at that age too. He liked to play, but not go anywhere near over his head. We tried the Y, no luck. Last year we found an instructor (she is amazing) who gave lessons at an outside pool (summer only). he did 2 sessions last year and was jumping off the diving board (instructor caught him) and swimming to the edge. This year, he did 3 sessions over the summer and now jumps off the diving board (no help) and swims to the edge. He actually runs on the diving board and jumps - no fear. We were so proud of him. He is 8. Took a long time to get him to this point.
DS#2 is stubborn. He won't jump off the diving board without the instructor catching him. She gives him a push and he swam to the edge. He has to do more lessons next summer.
My older DS now wants to learn how to dive so we will sign him up again next summer as well.
My only advice, be persistent. This is a life lesson they had to learn. They need to know how to swim. (in our opinion) Good luck!
Definitely! I live on the Mississippi in the Land of 10,000 lakes. No avoiding water here. |
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Sept 18, 2014 12:17:19 GMT -5
My oldest DS was petrified of the water at that age too. He liked to play, but not go anywhere near over his head. We tried the Y, no luck. Last year we found an instructor (she is amazing) who gave lessons at an outside pool (summer only). he did 2 sessions last year and was jumping off the diving board (instructor caught him) and swimming to the edge. This year, he did 3 sessions over the summer and now jumps off the diving board (no help) and swims to the edge. He actually runs on the diving board and jumps - no fear. We were so proud of him. He is 8. Took a long time to get him to this point.
DS#2 is stubborn. He won't jump off the diving board without the instructor catching him. She gives him a push and he swam to the edge. He has to do more lessons next summer.
My older DS now wants to learn how to dive so we will sign him up again next summer as well.
My only advice, be persistent. This is a life lesson they had to learn. They need to know how to swim. (in our opinion) Good luck!
Definitely! I live on the Mississippi in the Land of 10,000 lakes. No avoiding water here. (  Isn't that Minnesota?) Whoops! Never mind, ON the mississipps, not in the Mississippi... |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2014 12:18:54 GMT -5
Yeah, I don't want to live in the Mississippi. It's icky.  |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2014 12:23:26 GMT -5
Update. Swim lesson number 2. I think he was thinking he was going to get carried around by the instructor to start out again and when this little girl started screaming and having a fit right away and she took her out I could see the "uh-oh" panic in DS's eyes, BUT...he got in and after only a little arguing about drowning even monkey crawled along the wall to the deep end. He refused to do a lot of things, (like dunk his head), but she got him to try darn near everything (he'd put his nose or ear in). And, he actually (kind of) jumped off the diving board. He's very excited about swimming now.  Next week I'm hoping to transition his brother from swim lessons, he's a really good swimmer, but that's all he's ever done is lesson after lesson. He's starting the swim team and not terribly thrilled, but at the advice of his pediatrician he really needs more exercise so I told him to pick a sport, any sport. <sigh> "I guess swimming". |
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Abby Normal
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Post by Abby Normal on Sept 30, 2014 12:27:04 GMT -5
Update. Swim lesson number 2. I think he was thinking he was going to get carried around by the instructor to start out again and when this little girl started screaming and having a fit right away and she took her out I could see the "uh-oh" panic in DS's eyes, BUT...he got in and after only a little arguing about drowning even monkey crawled along the wall to the deep end. He refused to do a lot of things, (like dunk his head), but she got him to try darn near everything (he'd put his nose or ear in). And, he actually (kind of) jumped off the diving board. He's very excited about swimming now. Next week I'm hoping to transition his brother from swim lessons, he's a really good swimmer, but that's all he's ever done is lesson after lesson. He's starting the swim team and not terribly thrilled, but at the advice of his pediatrician he really needs more exercise so I told him to pick a sport, any sport. <sigh> "I guess swimming". Glad to hear it's going well. Does the older have the swimming merit badge yet? |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2014 12:30:21 GMT -5
Update. Swim lesson number 2. I think he was thinking he was going to get carried around by the instructor to start out again and when this little girl started screaming and having a fit right away and she took her out I could see the "uh-oh" panic in DS's eyes, BUT...he got in and after only a little arguing about drowning even monkey crawled along the wall to the deep end. He refused to do a lot of things, (like dunk his head), but she got him to try darn near everything (he'd put his nose or ear in). And, he actually (kind of) jumped off the diving board. He's very excited about swimming now. Next week I'm hoping to transition his brother from swim lessons, he's a really good swimmer, but that's all he's ever done is lesson after lesson. He's starting the swim team and not terribly thrilled, but at the advice of his pediatrician he really needs more exercise so I told him to pick a sport, any sport. <sigh> "I guess swimming". Glad to hear it's going well. Does the older have the swimming merit badge yet? No, he doesn't. He chose Cycling for that Eagle badge, but still isn't done. He has all the rides in but as usual, has a few requirements that he just lets hang forever. |
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Abby Normal
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Post by Abby Normal on Sept 30, 2014 12:39:05 GMT -5
Glad to hear it's going well. Does the older have the swimming merit badge yet? No, he doesn't. He chose Cycling for that Eagle badge, but still isn't done. He has all the rides in but as usual, has a few requirements that he just lets hang forever. Ds ended up doing both. The swimming one was a good motivator to start working distances in the pool. That was why I was asking. If he's doing a team anyway, you might look at the requirements. He might be able to easily get it, with just a couple add ons. He's hoping to do the mile swim at camp next year.  |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2014 12:51:43 GMT -5
It looks easy enough as far as the requirements go, I'm sure he could do most of it right now. The question would be who could sign him off. Our troop is really picky about it being just a merit badge counselor, but I'll have DS ask the Troop Master at the next meeting.
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Abby Normal
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Post by Abby Normal on Sept 30, 2014 13:08:46 GMT -5
It looks easy enough as far as the requirements go, I'm sure he could do most of it right now. The question would be who could sign him off. Our troop is really picky about it being just a merit badge counselor, but I'll have DS ask the Troop Master at the next meeting. Assuming they have a counselor, I would think they could go down to the pool and watch him. How else would they ever do it? We were lucky in that one of the swim classes the local university offers meets most of the requirements. The MBC just asked for the instructor to sign off on those covered in the class, then he evaluated the rest. But the MBC is also a life guard at one of the other pools and already knew DS was a strong swimmer. I just cant get him interested in swim team. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2014 13:14:55 GMT -5
It looks easy enough as far as the requirements go, I'm sure he could do most of it right now. The question would be who could sign him off. Our troop is really picky about it being just a merit badge counselor, but I'll have DS ask the Troop Master at the next meeting. Assuming they have a counselor, I would think they could go down to the pool and watch him. How else would they ever do it? We were lucky in that one of the swim classes the local university offers meets most of the requirements. The MBC just asked for the instructor to sign off on those covered in the class, then he evaluated the rest. But the MBC is also a life guard at one of the other pools and already knew DS was a strong swimmer. I just cant get him interested in swim team. Swimming is one of the badges that they always offer at summer camp, so I don't know if we have a local counselor. The kids that want swimming usually take it then...but we'll ask. Oh, and my son is not interested in swim team either. I'm being mean.  |
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