As a parent, you’ve likely had your kids in other activities – and many of them consist of lessons or practices that are an hour long. But when it comes to swimming, our lessons at Goldfish Swim School are only a half-hour for a reason: Because that’s what works best.
“The 30-minute time frame is a great release for them, and we know how important physical activity is for kids,” said Clarey Collins, Curriculum Development Manager for Goldfish Swim School.
How many times have you done something fun with your child only to discover that after a while you’re spending most of your time making sure your little one stays on task? Yep, we know. That’s why our swim lessons are the way they are: Because 30-minute swimming lesson captures kids’ attention span most.
“What happens with the attention span, when you go beyond that, that’s when bad habits start to form,” Clarey said.
Once kids aren’t actively involved or paying attention, their mind starts to wander and they aren’t as focused – meaning they likely won’t retain the information anyway, as they’re off doing their own thing in their mind.
“Being able to focus on proper technique and water safety skills is really important,” Clarey said. “We want them to be really engaged during that time. We would rather have them sign up for lessons twice a week than a one hour-long lesson.”
Plus, we implement the 30-minute lessons for YOU – so you can have a GOLDEN experience.
“At Goldfish, we value family time,” Clarey said. “We encourage that and try to be cognizant of people’s family time. We feel 30-minutes is the perfect time frame. We know you have to get home and not feel so overwhelmed.”
What happens during our 30-minute lessons?
“It’s not just about the swimming and the water safety skills,” Clarey said.
Kids learn behind-the-scenes life skills during their swim lessons at Goldfish Swim School, such as:
- Learning – Using their building blocks to learn new swim skills.
- Observing – Watching the teacher and others helps kids learn what to do.
- Actively doing – Repeatedly practicing until they master new skills.
- Building trust – Knowing how to trust their instructor.
- Confidence – Building confidence in themselves and their abilities week to week.
- Independence – Learning to do things on their own.
- Peer relationships – Building relationships and learning how to get along with others.
It may seem like a short time span, but every minute is used effectively, and no time is wasted.
“In that thirty minutes, there’s so much value,” Clarey said.
At the beginning of each lesson, children go over Goldfish Swim School’s “Golden Safety Rule:” Respect teachers and peers, and keep hands to yourselves.
Then, kids work on practicing the skills they’ve been working on and incorporating new skills – but in a fun way: Using The Science of SwimPlay®! The Science of SwimPlay® goes beyond just telling the kids, “Hey, do this.” Our instructors use integrity, trust and compassion to teach kids how to swim through guided play. Kids – and instructors – celebrate extraordinary results through this method of learning.
During each lesson, there is a visual demonstration of the skill. Then, there’s a hands-on approach, where the instructor helps guide kids. The last stage of the lesson is autonomous – when kids are ready – where kids work on skills themselves. But the goal is that by this point it’s already more of a habit, so kids are practicing instead of floundering and picking up bad habits.
“We know that all children don’t learn or retain skills in the same way. We think it’s important to communicate the skills through a verbal explanation and visual demonstration. In addition, students will have the opportunity to practice the skill with the teacher’s assistance,” Clarey said. “It’s important for kids to feel the proper motion of a stroke or proper technique. It’s beneficial for them to have control of the skill. If a child progresses past the “practice stage” without learning the correct form, it can lead to developing bad habits in terms of technique.”
“We use The Science of SwimPlay® in every level we teach. For our younger levels it may be more songs to make it fun and engaging. And the older levels may focus on treading water in a fun way, like spreading peanut butter and jelly on a sandwich or frosting a cake. This approach also allows more focus on the instructors being able to demonstrate skills – and providing feedback to students and parents at the end of class, so everyone is on the same page.”
swim lessons at Goldfish Swim School
Stop by a Goldfish Swim School location near you to sign up for swim lessons today! You’ll love our WOW! customer service, and our bright, engaging atmosphere that makes us a fin above the rest. Oh – and our pools are always a balmy 90 degrees!
