Teaching your children to swim is a wonderful summertime activity that allows you some quality time with them. However, before you begin, make sure that you are comfortable with the water. If you are afraid of the water, even if you know how to swim, you may not be the right teacher for your children. Also, any time you are around the water, make sure there are some floatation devices and a first aid kit. A little preparation can ensure a fun and productive swimming lesson for both student and teacher.

Conquering Fear

Most children have a natural fear of putting their faces in the water. This fear makes sense for two obvious reasons: 1. Water gets in their eyes, up their noses, and in their ears. 2. They can't breathe. It is natural that they are afraid. Your job as their teacher is to help them conquer this fear. Unfortunately, some adults try to force children to put their faces in the water. Then, they are surprised when the child hates the water and refuses to get in the pool. Imagine this, someone asks you to put a plastic bag filled with goo over your head. You don't understand why and the last thing you want to do is have goo in your eyes, ears, and nose. Plus, you are worried you won't be able to breathe. Since the person is bigger than you, he forces the bag over your head. How do you feel? Now, he explains that it is all part of a very fun game, but you have to be able to put the bag on your head. How do you feel now? Do you trust him? Do you even want to play the game? Most people would answer no. The way to help children get over their fear of the water is not to force them and never, never, never throw them into the deep end and expect them to swim, even if that is the way you were taught. True, some people actually learned to swim this way, but very few of them enjoyed the experience. They were just thankful they didn't drown. Leaning to swim should be fun; it shouldn't be terrifying.

So if you don't force children to put their faces in the water, what do you do when they refuse? Be very patient. When children are no longer afraid, they will put their faces in the water. It will take some children one day, some children one week, and others much longer. Usually, you can help them conquer their fears by following these steps:

1. Begin by making the bathtub a fun place to be, fill it with toys, bath crayons, plastic containers, and fun soaps. Leave out the bubbles, since your goal is to get them to put their faces in the water. Then, get down beside the tub and play with your children before you bathe them. Encourage them to use plastic containers to dump water over their hands, toes, and shoulders. If they dump water over their heads, clap for them and then dry their faces with a towel. Try to get them to bend over and blow bubbles for you in the water.
2. When it is time to bathe them, let a little water drip onto their faces, but have a towel handy so they can wipe it off.
3. When you believe they are getting comfortable with the water, move outside to a baby pool. Let them run around in the pool as it fills. If they will let you, spray them with the hose as the pool fills. You may want to take some of the toys from the house and transfer them to the baby pool. Also, include something that will stay on the bottom. For older children, coins work well. For younger children, diving eggs, or diving rings are available at dollar stores. Throw the eggs or rings in the pool and let the children race to see who can collect them all.
4. Now, it is time to try the big pool. Make sure the pool you select has steps. First, hold your children and let them play in your arms. Let them kick and pretend to be motorboats. Tell them motorboats go faster if they have bubbles. Encourage them to blow bubbles. Then, take the rings or eggs and put them on the second step. Gradually, move them down until the children have to put their faces in the water to get the toys. Again, not all children will move at the same speed, so be patient. Hint: Teaching more than one child at a time sometimes helps, too. Often, they will not put their face in the water for you, but they will do it for each other.

Learning to Float

Believe it or not, helping children conquer their fear of the water is the hardest part of teaching them to swim. After the children learn to relax in the water, the rest is relatively easy to teach, with the exception of the last step, breathing to the side.

The first step after conquering the fear of the water is floating. Begin teaching this activity by having the children turn around and grab the step, lying prone with their legs out behind them. Usually, they can leave their heads up and still feel their legs floating. When, they get used to the feeling of floating, get them to put their faces in the water until you count to five. Gradually increase the time until they can leave their faces in the water to ten. Then, get them to turn around, put their hands on your hands, and slowly pull them around the water. Again, try to get them to put their faces in the water for five to ten seconds. Hint: Make a contest. See who can leave his/her face in the longest.

When they have mastered this step, let them stand on the step, put their faces in the water and push off to you. At this point, they will be doing a front float. When they get comfortable with this step, ask them to add an easy little kick with it. Hint: If they are kicking correctly, they are barely bending their knees. Their feet should flutter through the water. They should not beat the water with their legs.

Now, that they can float on their front, it is time to work on the back. The back floats frighten most children, so again, be patient and don't force them. Begin teaching them by letting them lie in your arms. Support their head and feet. Ask them to pretend they are lying in their bed. Talk to them and ask them to look up at the sky and tell you what shapes they see in the clouds. Then, when they are comfortable, see if they can lie on their backs until you count to five. Then, gradually increase the time to 20 seconds. You should encourage them to keep their tummies up like Santa Clause and their chins back. Tell them that you are going to let go of their legs, but continue to hold their heads. When they are comfortable with that, try letting go of their heads for a few seconds. Always warn them before you let go. Don't surprise them. Hint: Remember some children will not float as well as others. Buoyancy is determined by body fat. A child who is very thin or muscular may have a tendency to sink. If they sink on the back float, they can move their arms and legs to help them stay afloat. Hint: If you have a life vest, you may want to begin teaching them by letting them float on their backs in the vest, just to give them a chance to adapt to the feeling.

Beginning The American Crawl Stroke

When your children feel comfortable in a front float with a little kick, it is time to add the arms. Tell them that you are going to take one arm and reach for cookies in your pocket. Then, let the other arm reach for another cookie in the other pocket. Demonstrate how to swim with your face in the water. Let them practice until they can swim about half way across the shallow end. Explain that for them to be able to swim long distances, they will need to be able to breathe. Tell them that as their right arm (if they are right handed, left arm if they are left handed) goes around, their head follows their hand, exhaling as they swim. When the hand is where their pocket would be, their head should be turned toward their shoulder and they should be ready to inhale.

Remember, you will need to be patient and let them practice. Learning the American Crawl is like riding a bike or typing. Children usually need to practice a lot before breathing to the side looks and feels natural. However, just like riding a bike or typing, once the children get the rhythm, they will never forget it. After they are able to take even one breath to the side, they will be able to take others.

The entire process of teaching your children to swim usually takes about two weeks. At the end of that time, they will not be expert swimmers, but, usually, they will be good beginning swimmers who with practice will become strong swimmers.