Maggie and Bjørn have been splashing about in the water like little dolphins since they were little, but they've never had formal swim lessons. Until today!
I was chatting with one of the other moms pool-side last week when she mentioned how much her 12 year old daughter was enjoying junior life-guarding. Turns out she especially liked working with younger kids. I asked if she thought her daughter would be interested in teaching M&B, and the rest as they say, is history.
My young neighbor did such an amazing job with them. She came prepared with laminated lesson plans and gave them each a full half hour of dedicated one-on-one time. Each lesson was peppered with wonderfully sweet exclamations of encouragement and praise. At the end she sent them off with specific instructions of what she expected them to practice between lessons.
This is one spur-of-the-moment idea I've had that I am especially happy with! I know the kids can't wait for their next classes :-)
Amy is terrified of the swimming pool, despite me taking her very regularly. She always is excited to go, but once we're in she refuses to let go of me. This is a regression, a year ago she was floating around very hapily with her arm bands on.
Ah well, it will come in time.
Posted by: Dan | July 23, 2007 at 04:45 PM
When Bjørn was little we had one of those swim vests for him where you can take out the floats one by one. That worked wonders for letting him get used to the water in a way that he controlled. We'd give him tons of praise for *getting his swim back* each summer :-)
Sending you wishes for warm sunshine!
Posted by: Veronique | July 23, 2007 at 05:14 PM
i LOVE it when things come together like this. perfect.
Posted by: molly | July 24, 2007 at 06:44 AM