Swimming lesson problem

black-saturn

Zaphod_Beblebrocks wrote:

Just sounds like they all subscribe to the sink or swim theory,perhaps I'll try myself,we have already spent £100 with them, she was so upset last night she wet the bed,something that hasn't happened for 2 years!

Perhaps it would be best if you stopped it for a bit then? If she's anxious about it she will never learn.

Jay-Jay_4

black-saturn wrote:

..... she has been on 2 holidays where there are swimming pools and learnt on her own.

After 2 weeks in Lanzarote this year my 6 yr old practically turned into a fish Not the cheapest option for building up confidence but it certainly works. I found that using a snorkel and mask helped as it's practically impossible to sink lol.

funky-footprints

my son gained all his 'skills' swimming under water, when his head is up he honestly resembles a drowning dog !! goggles he says were the best present ever !!!

Savvy_Sue

Zaphod_Beblebrocks wrote:

I have written to the woman outlining my opinion and I did say that had this happened at school I would have reported it but who do you complain to about privately organised swimming classes?

If it wasn't at a local authority swimming pool, then I would look at any publicity from the swimming teacher. See if she is registered with a particular 'style' of swimming instruction and complain to them. It doesn't sound as if all the teenagers are properly qualified, or in tune with children, which is where the problems start.

Edited to add, if you haven't still got the publicity, the pool where the lessons were being held may be able to tell you what qualifications / registration the teacher has.

toozie_2

Zaphod_Beblebrocks wrote:

I have written to the woman outlining my opinion and I did say that had this happened at school I would have reported it but who do you complain to about privately organised swimming classes?

This was totally unexceptable behaviour by the instructor. I take it this isn't a local authority leisure centre, if it is I would write to the person in charge of the leisure centres in the county, and demand a meeting and a full explanation, including proof of the girls qualifications.

If its a privately run pool, possibley write to the manager, and the management board and the comittee, asking for a reply within 7 days.

On hearing the woman's behaviour, I doubt if a letter to her will result in any response-it may be already in the bin. To be honest she should not continue to be employed to teach swimming lessons.

Gook Luck

Becles

My eldest son was paranoid about water (I don't know why as nothing bad happened to him). He would cling onto me and whinge about not being able to let go as he would sink to the bottom and die.

One day I got really fed up as he was clinging and nipping my skin. The little pool was closed that day and we were in the shallow end of the big pool. I got hold of my son and threw him under the water.

He came up coughing and spluttering and crying "what did you do that for?". I calmed him down and we talked through what happened. He realised he'd made himself float back up to the top, and he didn't sink and die!

I know it sounds really cruel thing to do, but it got him over his fear of sinking, and he's swam great ever since.

I pulled my youngest off the swimming course at the local baths due to inconsistancy with instructors. We'd get a different one each week and the notes kept getting lost. It was common for a instructor to walk over and ask parents what level their child was and what they could do. I thought that was ridiculous.

fsdss

this is disgusting, children will only progress with encouragement, praise and confidence. to be forced into something that their not comfortable with can cause terrible problems with their whole wellbeing.

potty training works on a similar theory, if the child is not comfortable or ready, they wont do it, and if their forced it becomes an issue that is harder to overcome

i suggest that you contact the centre where your daughter is having swimming lessons, and see if she can be moved to another class with a different teacher, and outline your concerns. i would also force the issue, that by forcibly moving her hand in the water and thus causing her distress by the teacher is a child protection issue, the teacher is there to encourage, teach and to promote a safe learning environmnent.

Lillibet_2

I am horrified that this kind of "teaching" is still going on! I had something similar happen to me during school swimming lessons at the loacl pool when I was 7 years old, as a direct result I didn't get back in ANY swimming pool until I was 22 and finally felt brave enough to try putting my head under the water again. I can now just about swim & that was with the help of lots of private one-on-one lesseons with a very sympathetic instructor.
I firmly blame the coach who treated me like this for my fear of deep water (hence why Hubby is going to be teaching our son to swim, not me).
I would say let your daughter take it at her own pace from here, if she wants to go to the pool & just paddle then that's fine, I expect she will recover her nerve & want to try again in the future, especially when friends start having birthday parties at pools etc or when she makes firends on beach holidays. Just encourage her but don't force anything. And write to the pool manager, regardless of whether it is local authority run or not, they should know what kind of staff they are employing! In fact, I'd seriously consider writing an open letter to them via the local paper!

Gingham_Ribbon

Becles, you took a big risk that paid off, presumably because you know your child so well and could guess at what his response would be. And you were right.

But if someone who didn't know him employed the same tactics I bet you'd want to rip their head off! I know I would.

Becles

Obviously it depends on the child/parent, but I'm still of the opinion you have to be cruel to be kind sometimes.

It's hard to comment fairly on cases like this as you only get the parents side of the story. I'm not saying the OP is lying, but we all put a bias on our side when we write these type of posts. Some teachers and sports coaches are rougher than parents would be, but it's just the way they are.