Swim lessons for cautious 5 year old

I strongly recommend Patti’s swim school in Castro valley. My kids did a bunch of other lessons but really only made progress being firmly guided through Patti’s program. 

I'd actually pause on lessons and just find more time to take him to pools to play. My son is just like this and he needed to drive the "leap" and resisted any formal teaching. At 5 he wouldn't and at 6 basically in one play session in a pool he figured it out - this has been true of most of his physical feats - he does it when he's ready. Both of my kids really taught themselves the basics by just having fun and playing around (with me in the pool of course) and lessons later helped refine that into real strokes, etc. 

Hello - 

Both my children were/are very cautious and I experienced exactly the same thing you are describing when I started swim lessons with my daughter. I spent almost a year bringing her to lessons like you describe here, and after all that time, she was still not putting her face in the water. It seemed like none of the instructors had a strategy for getting a fearful child past that critical point. A friend recommended Harriet Plummer https://harrietplummeraquatics.com/ and my daughter was swimming with her face in the water within two weeks there. I didn't bother bringing my son anywhere else for initial lessons. Harriet Plummer is in Lafayette and is expensive when you're looking at per class price, but they have a method that works, and all instructors teach that specific method - it doesn't typically take long. My kids are 13 and 17 now, and both are proficient swimmers, but it did take persistence on my part. Even after they could swim with their faces in the water, I brought them back to lessons each year, because after a break during winter from swimming, they'd be fearful again. Once my son was past the initial fear of putting his face in and being capable of swimming via Harriet Plummer, in subsequent years I brought him to Ohana Aquatics in Oakland for additional practice - the pool is warm, the lessons are less expensive, it's in Oakland, but they don't have a cohesive method or strategy.  If i remember correctly, Harriet Plummer only offers private lessons (part of the method) and a child starts by doing a 20 minute lesson each day Monday thru Thursday for two weeks in a row. Best of luck.

Hello - 

Both my children were/are very cautious and I experienced exactly the same thing you are describing when I started swim lessons with my daughter. I spent almost a year bringing her to lessons like you describe here, and after all that time, she was still not putting her face in the water. It seemed like none of the instructors had a strategy for getting a fearful child past that critical point. A friend recommended Harriet Plummer https://harrietplummeraquatics.com/ and my daughter was swimming with her face in the water within two weeks there. I didn't bother bringing my son anywhere else for initial lessons. Harriet Plummer is in Lafayette and is expensive when you're looking at per class price, but they have a method that works, and all instructors teach that specific method - it doesn't typically take long. My kids are 13 and 17 now, and both are proficient swimmers, but it did take persistence on my part. Even after they could swim with their faces in the water, I brought them back to lessons each year, because after a break during winter from swimming, they'd be fearful again. Once my son was past the initial fear of putting his face in and being capable of swimming via Harriet Plummer, in subsequent years I brought him to Ohana Aquatics in Oakland for additional practice - the pool is warm, the lessons are less expensive, it's in Oakland, but they don't have a cohesive method or strategy.  If i remember correctly, Harriet Plummer only offers private lessons (part of the method) and a child starts by doing a 20 minute lesson each day Monday thru Thursday for two weeks in a row. Best of luck.

Hi, I think it's great that you want your child to enjoy the water and be safe. It sounds like your child is at a point where play time and family time in the water would work well for him. Keeping it fun and getting his face wet with a wet hand (yours or his) can be practiced in the tub at home and at the pool. Then moving through slow progressions to get his neck wet, chin, lip, and up wet. I prefer to do this while you're moving forward so it's more fun and engaging and part of the movement versus standing there and thinking about it. Some kids respond to finding out how long they can hold their breath with their head out of the water. If he learns that he can hold it for 10 seconds for example, then when his face is in the water he'll know he's good for 10 seconds (or even just a dip). You can build on that on the pool stairs and with games. Once he gets to the point of trusting the water more, then learning to go under the water, his swimming skills will be just around the corner. Be patient and figure out what he needs, then make it fun.  (40 years of swim teaching experience)