Swimming is an essential life skill. The earlier people learn to swim, the better off they will be later in life. While there are many reasons why swimming is an essential life skill for kids, I will focus on three main reasons in this blog post. For children, learning how to swim is an essential life skill because of the three S's: safety, social, and self-esteem. These three key skills are valuable in and out of the water. Kids who learn to swim at an early age grow in these three S’s not only in swimming, but in all aspects of their life. Safety, social, and self-esteem skills are all learned through swimming lessons.
Safety: While every child progresses differently when learning how to swim, the end goal is for them to learn how to stay safe in the water. This is a vital skill that will help children for the remainder of their lives. While in swim lessons, children are exposed to body movements and techniques that will teach them how to remain above water and breathing techniques for when they are underwater. Gaining the ability to stay afloat and bring the head above the water to take a breath when necessary is crucial for overall water safety.
Social: Kids who learn at a young age how to swim and stay safe in the water will be able to enjoy their time and soak up each memory made in the water. Coming from a girl who has loved being in the pool, lake, and ocean with family and friends, the water opens a whole new part of life! On the other hand, kids who lack the ability to know how to properly swim will not feel safe and therefore will not be able to experience what the pool, lake, and ocean have to offer.
Self-esteem: If you ask any FINS families from previous years, seeing their kids successfully learn a new skill and feel confident in the water provides unmatched joy. Most kids come to FINS skeptical of the water, but once they start to accomplish little goals, their confidence soars. This lifts their spirits, and they learn that with hard work and determination, they can do it! Clearly, having a mindset of “I can do this if I really try and put my mind to it” is the most valuable thing to carry on through life, and learning this at such a young age will only have positive effects on them throughout their life.
FINS helps children achieve each of the three S’s in the water. FINS instructors are equipped with experience, teaching tools, and great attitudes to guide your child through their lessons in order to achieve feeling safe, experience socialization in the water, and grow in self-esteem.
Annie Grant will be returning to FINS for her third summer! She serves on the FINS Administrative Team and works as an instructor.
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