Well, we've had our 2nd week of swimming lessons. Hannah has taken to water wonderfully! I remember her balking about going. "I won't go." This was replaced by "I'll go, but I won't put my face under water."
After being one of 3 kids assigned to "station 1" (the very beginner, where she had to d0 10 relaxed bobs, head fully under), she was determined to get her face under water. She managed to get her head wet the next day. And she worked and worked...and by the end of the first week, she was in "station 2" (being able to front float and back float for 5 seconds without sinking). Yesterday, she passed to "station 3" (front glide, back glide, front kick, back kick, dolphin kick). What an amazing improvement from 2 weeks ago. She went from a kid who was afraid to jump into the pool to the kid who FELL BACKWARDS...deliberately!
last week's front float and kick
front float and kick two weeks later
another front float and kick today
Cannonball!!!!
BELLY FLOP!!!!
Scotty, on the other hand, has decided he wants nothing to do with swim lessons. But that's okay...we'll try again next session, I think. I want him to not be afraid, but to have respect for water as well.
And here's one last shot of the kids playing "karate". They are wearing headbands made of leftover edges from my rag-tie blankets!!!
Friday, July 06, 2007
Kid fun
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7 comments:
I love the photo montage of Hannah learning to swim....
It's such a pleasure to watch children learn skills day by day and swimming is such an important thing to learn.
Well done, Hannah!!
Here's hoping Scotty takes the plunge soon so he and his sister can play in the pool together...
Michele sent me to read more about your lovely family.
cq
You've reminded me why I loved being a swim instructor all those years ago. I loved being there to witness the eureka moments, to watch "my" kids blossom from fearful wall-clingers to confident swimmers who babbled with me every time they saw me.
I also loved working with the kids who didn't become Olympians overnight. There was something amazing about being a part of each of these kids' lives...it prepared me for everything that's happened since: career, marriage, parenthood...
Oh swimming lessons. those were the days. Last night I was trying to teach my 3-year-old nephew to step up over the grate to the sewer. I was scared of these things for a long time. Why? An overactive imagination. So I was trying to show him that it wasn't scary at all. Definitely better to have kids not afraid of something, especially something that has the potential to be dangerous. Oh, and I succeeded. He stepped up over the grate.
We have a wonderful instructor teaching Boo (4) and Skibo (2) to swim --- she teaches them gymnastics during the year, so they are used to her, which helps. The only difficult thing is that LOML and I are not supposed to be there when she is teaching them (there are other people we know and trust there, she just doesn't want the parents distracting the children) --- so we have to rely on the wonderful feedback our friends are giving us about how well they are doing!
Oh well, in a week we'll go to the pool and they can demonstrate everything that they have learned:-)
N.
YAY, Hannah!!!! I love to see my kids learning new things...Garrett is doing Golf Camp this week and now according to him he is an expert golfer...lol....cute karate shot!!!!
Hey lin 'member how much we loved swimming lessons :) -- oh and those wonderful year end queen competitions LOL -- I just saw pictures of some of those LOL -- the one where Judy McHenry won (why I remember her name I have no idea) and I absolutely adore the karate picture :)
So how have the swimming lessons been going??
Here from Michele's tonight...
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