Drowning is the leading cause of injury death in kids 1 - 4 years old in the U.S. As a parent, this is not a statistic I want to hear, especially since it is preventable. As a young child, I had a healthy fear of the water. My parents enrolled me in swim lessons, but for (what seemed like) a long time, I remember always telling my swim instructors that I couldn't swim to ensure that they caught me when I jumped in the pool. When I was in a public pool, I remember staying along the edge or in shallow water because of that fear. But soon, my swim lessons paid off and I became an avid swimmer, participating in competitions by second grade. Unfortunately, not all kids have that fear that I did, which kept me close to safety.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recently updated their recommendations on water safety. Along with recommendations that kids are always supervised around water, and recommendations that pool areas be secured so that children cannot gain access without help from an adult, they also recommend that kids learn basic water competency skills. This can be done through learn to swim programs, starting at a young age. Swim lessons have been proven to reduce the risk of drowning in kids as young as 1 - 4 years old.
When my daughter was two years old, I enrolled her in parent child swim lessons at Goldfish Swim School. These classes are aimed at getting kids used to the water and starting to teach both parents and kids water safety skills that are reinforced at all levels.
As the weather gets warmer, and we prepare for outdoor swimming at the pool or the lake, we also need to prepare our kids and help them practice their water safety skills. Goldfish Swim School in Park Ridge is now offering Jump Start Clinics, to help your child progress quickly towards their goals. During a Jump Start Clinic, your child will have 4 lessons (that one month's worth) in one week! They will have the same instructor at the same time, four days in a row (Tuesday through Friday) to help them progress quickly and meet their goals.
Jump Start Clinics will be offered the weeks of June 11th, June 18th, July 9th, July 16th, July 30th and August 6th. The clinic costs $90 for members and $115 for non-members. And, if you sign up before the end of April, you can get a second Jump Start Clinic for half off!
For more information on the AAP's new prevention guidelines, click here and for their drowning prevention toolkit, click here.
