A few weeks ago, Kiernan started swim classes. He took a two-week session of the class (courtesy of Gammy and Grance, who gave the lessons as a gift), took two weeks off, then started another two-week session. Today* marks the final day of that second session and he has done extremely well. It's remarkable watching him in the pool now.
The goals of his first swim class were modest, but of great importance. Basically the class was designed to teach Kiernan what to do if he ever fell into a pool. It's a bit more comprehensive than that, to be sure. He's learning kicking and paddling, and practicing jumping into the pool and diving into the pool, but the main goal of the instruction is to make him comfortable with holding onto the edge of the pool, and swimming back to the edge of the pool if he ever falls in. As I said, a modest but important goal, but during the first day of
the first session I really wasn't sure he was going to make it.The very first class was awful. He just cried his eyes out the whole time. Most of that is our fault, though. We really didn't prepare him for what the class was going to be like, neglecting to explain to him that he would be getting in a pool without either one of us for the first time in his life. Well, that's not entirely true. He's been swimming with Grance before without us around, I think. At any rate, while Kiernan likes to play in the pool, he has always been extremely clingly when doing so. In addition to this he has exhibited a general aversion to being under the water, even in the bathtub. He used to hate getting his face wet, especially his eyes. So we really should have transitioned him more carefully for the swim class. The problem was, we didn't really know how exactly it was going to go either. The swim school had been recommended to us by the mom of one of Kiernan's friends at school. I showed up the first day wearing my swim suit, as I didn't even know if this class was going to require me to be in the pool with him, or what.
We arrived at the school--Mrs. B's Swim School--to find it was in the backyard pool of somebody's house. It was clear from the outset, however, that this was a professional operation. It was also clear that Kiernan's teacher, Ms. Leticia, was the one in charge. The first time one of us approached to help with the crying, Ms. Leticia gently but firmly said that it would be better for us to remain seated across the pool from Kiernan, where he could clearly see us (but, the implication stated, we would not be in the way).
This was a bit b
ruising, but it worked. By the next day Kiernan was going into and under the water, and, importantly, he was listening to and paying attention only to his swim instructor.At the end of this, his second session, he has mastered jumping into the pool and swimming back to the edge. He can grasp the edge of the pool and work his way around the entire edge of the pool. He can go under water and hold his breath briefly. He can swim to me from the steps of the pool when I'm a good twelve feet away. He can float on his back, roll over and swim for a bit, then roll back over to his back for a breath (albeit with spotting). He is ready to jump into the pool without the slightest hesitation if there is an adult ready to catch him, but he is still aware enough to be cautious.
So, thanks Gammy and Grance for the swim lessons. They have been a huge success!
The Pictures:
1. Kiernan is hanging onto the side of the pool as Teacher Leticia works with another student. He discovered that this particular corner is the warmest corner in the pool, as Teacher Leticia left the pool heater on and that corner was where the heat came out. She told him this and he responded with, "I would like to stay right here. It's nice!" [A different swimming/heat related post to follow.]
2. Using the kick board. He did fine but had some trouble getting how to balance himself properly.
3. Climbing out to prepare to dive into the deep end. Near the end of almost every class the students would work their way around the entire pool by going hand-over-hand from their starting point in the shallow end to the deep end, and then back around to the shallow end again. Once in the deep end they would practice jumping, or fake-falling, in and swim to the six foot indicator mark. I just like this picture of Kiernan climbing out of the pool on his own.
4. In this picture Teacher Leticia prepares Kiernan for a dive into the keep end. He was not not afraid to do this at all, although it generally resulted in some form of belly flop.
5. Preparing for a mini-race. The kids were taught to do racing dives, that is they reached down for their toes on "On your mark," extended their arms behind them on "Get set," and dove into the pool on "Go!" After they practiced this a bit, Teacher Leticia had them come up and try it in pairs, or teams.
*I originally started this post in August, though I am only publishing it to the blog today, September 15, 2008.
