Homeschool Swimming Lessons

Learning how to swim is a life skill that all children should have for their own safety and personal enjoyment. However, lessons can often be expensive or scheduled at a time that’s inconvenient for your busy family. While you may eventually still want to enroll your child in formal lessons, Lizzy Bullock, a Red Cross-Certified Water Safety instructor, offers these five practical activities as a helpful guide for starting your homeschool swimming lessons.

Bubble Blowing
Breathing comes naturally until you start thinking about it. When it comes to pool time, that means your child needs to be comfortable with his or her face in the water.

Pro Tip: “There’s nothing more important than exhaling when your child’s face is in the water, and your goal is to make this an automatic response. That way, if your child falls or is pushed into a pool, she’ll start exhaling immediately and won’t choke on water. This can be a life-saving measure in many cases.”

Kicking
A game of red light/green light is a good way to teach this skill while holding on to the edge of the pool.

Pro Tip: “This is one instance where ‘bigger’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘better.’ Some beginning swimmers confuse big splashing with effective movement.”

Submersion/Bobbing
At first, you can practice by submerging next to the edge, but you can advance breath holding by asking your child to retrieve objects from the bottom of the shallow end.

Pro Tip: “As she goes under, she should exhale fully. Each time she pops up, she should take a sharp inhale and immediately re-submerge and exhale again. This prepares your child to regulate her breath when it comes to swimming a more traditional stroke.”

Back Floating
Head position is paramount to this skill as children need to become comfortable pointing their chin and belly button to the sky. In teaching this skill, it’s vital that you communicate clearly with your child what you’re going to do next and when you’re removing support. To begin, try resting your child’s head on your shoulder before supporting their lower back and neck.

Pro Tip: “To float, all your child will need to do is spread her arms and legs across the water (like a starfish) and lean her head back until all of her hair is wet. Your child’s ears should be submerged and the water line should be up around her face.”

Treading Water
Some instructors suggest starting this skill by sitting on a noodle like you’re riding a bike. After learning how to balance that way, next try to balance on the noodle like sitting on a swing. When both balancing steps are mastered, move on to teaching the proper treading motions and moving away from reliance on the noodle.

Pro Tip: “Treading water is an ideal skill to use when a child finds herself in need of rescuing. With her head out, she can see and hear her surroundings, as well as call for help. Your child can practice treading water by grabbing the pool wall and practicing a bicycle movement with her legs. Once she feels comfortable with that, she can let go of the wall with one hand and begin the arm-pulling movement. As with most swimming skills, a broader motion requires less work and won’t wear your child out as quickly.”