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For the simple reason that the more the children practice the faster they will learn and acquire strong swimming skills.
Think about it if you bring your child to one half hour lesson per week they are receiving a total of 26 hours of swimming per year.

There are many reasons for this including:

First and foremost you need to determine what is frightening your child. Have they had a bad experience, have you unintentionally scared them (eg saying things like “don’t ever go near water you’ll drown”)?

One of the most common reasons for children to become scared is lack of control. For a child to be in control in the water they need shallow water. They need to be able to either sit on a ledge or stand up on the bottom of the pool by themselves. When they are doing this they are in control. If you are holding your child in deep water they are not in control you are. Therefore playing in a pool that is shallow or on a ledge is essential for the frightened beginner.

Once they have built up their confidence in the shallow you can gradually introduce them to the deeper water. This can be done through reassuring your child that you are there with them and through setting small tasks for your child to accomplish. For example letting them play on the ledge and then saying lets go and touch the lane rope (out in the deep) and then we’ll come straight back and play on the ledge. Slowly but surely your child will build confidence.

Remember if your child is frightened go very slowly all it takes is patience and time with frightened children.

First try to determine what is making the child upset. Are they hungry? Are they tired? Are they cold? Did they swallow some water? Once you know what the problem is then it is a lot easier to fix it. For instance you may simply need to feed them at a suitable time before they have their lesson or you may need to put a sun shirt on the baby to keep them warm.

Another way to stop a baby crying is through distraction. Toys are excellent stimulants and great distractions for babies. Noise is also great for distraction e.g. tapping a cup on the side of the pool. Importantly talking, soothing and reassuring your baby is vital for them to feel comfortable and at ease.

Finally if your baby cries avoid getting out of the water. Try to comfort the baby while still in the pool. If you get out of the pool every time they baby cries then they are going to associate being upset with getting out of the pool.

LLSS recommends caps to children participating in learn to swim classes and above. Caps are great for keeping long hair out of faces and they also assist in hygiene allowing us to keep our pool clean and tidy.

Goggles are not a necessity. However they may help if children have sensitive or sore eyes. With goggles it is important that children do not become reliant on them. This means leaving goggles at home every second week or only allowing children to wear goggles for half the lesson. Remember children need to learn to swim without goggles for safety reasons e.g. if they fall in.

Every child is different and therefore it is impossible to give an exact answer to this question. However practice and exposure are the keys to learning therefore if you want your child to learn fast you need to take them to the pool regularly this means two or more times per week. Holiday courses are a great opportunity for fast progression because the children get to practice every day.

As well as teaching Laurie’s methods, all staff at LLSS are nationally qualified with AUSTSWIM certification and resuscitation qualifications. Furthermore to ensure the highest level of teaching within the LLSS all staff receive regular performance appraisals and must attend regular staff in-services with Laurie.

At LLSS we start babies in the pool at four months. However parents can begin swimming lessons at home in the bath tub from the day a baby is born. Laurie’s Teach Your Baby to Swim DVD shows parents what to do with their baby during the first 4 months. 

Give them opportunities to practice. The more they practice the better they will get so take your children to friends’ pools, public pools or book in for an additional lesson. Also think about things that you can practice out of the water. Eg. “high elbows”