Life Skills and Learning to Swim
Did you know that enrolling your child in swimming lessons at a young age, could spark a passion for an abundance of different activities, not just competitive swimming. From surfing and wake boarding, to future careers in oceanography or marine biology, the options are limitless. By exposing your child to positive experiences with water at an early age, you not only boost their confidence, but could be setting them up for their future. Outside of the physical skills your children will be developing through swimming, they will also be learning fundamental lifeskills, that can be used in order to find success in many aspects of their lives.
The first thing that swimming does is introduce children to the importance of lifelong healthy habits. They learn the importance of taking care of their bodies, and the difference that exercise and nutrition can make. Continued participation in organized sport throughout adolescence can significantly reduce the risk for obesity and cardiovascular disease.
The next thing that swimming does, is help encourage your child’s development of social skills. This becomes a time for them to not only interact with other children their age, but also with older kids, coaches, and mentors. Through these reinforced, positive, social interactions, your child will begin to learn the importance of communication, team-building, and leadership. Three skills that are fundamentally imperative to them finding success in school, future careers, and personal relationships.
As your child continues to progress through lessons, you will begin to see their confidence grow. Continued exposure to the water, and continued practice, will lead to progress, and will, as a result, boost water confidence. With confidence also comes resilience, because with success always comes failure. Through swimming, your children will learn the importance of resilience. They will learn what it is like to fail, and what it takes to push themselves to try again. So when they do find success, they will also understand the feeling of pride that comes along with reaching a challenging goal. They will learnt the importance of hard work, and that nothing (success nor failure) lasts forever. They will learn that every challenge, every road block, is there to push them to get better. Can you imagine them taking that attitude into the classroom as well?
They will learn how to deal with conflict, and the importance of having respect for their coaches, teammates, and (future) opponents. They will learn how to follow the rules, focus on the task in front of them, and how to have self-discipline.