A note from the Aquatics Department  😊

With Summer fast approaching, I want to give you all a little insight into our swim lesson program. We offer 2 basic types of lessons here at Highlands. They are; Group lessons broken down into individual levels, and private lessons.

The first question to ask is “What do I want out of swim lessons for my children?”. This is an extremely important question to ask. Are you looking to make your child water safe? Are you looking to make them a stronger swimmer? Do you want them to learn advanced strokes because they only know freestyle and backstroke? How you answer that question will impact what you are looking for.

Fortunately, our group lessons will address a majority of goals for swim lessons. Each level has specific set of benchmarks to pass to the next level. Also, learning a physical skill in a group is better for a majority of children. First, they get to socially interact with the other students, and second, they can see multiple examples of the skill demonstrated. If a child is a visual learner, this is the ideal situation! Also, group lessons are ideal for the child who is nervous getting in the water. Seeing the other students in the water can encourage the nervous child to try new skills.

Private lessons are more for students that have reached a limit of growth in group lessons. This is when there may be a need to have some stroke refinement before signing up for swim team, trying to master a specific skill that there seems to be either a physical or mental block with, or even just building endurance through a guided workout. In these cases, private lessons would be better than group lessons.

The reason we offer more group lessons, is that we have found it is more effective for those who are just starting out in the water, which is a majority of our students. As a child progresses, that is when private lessons might be an option. Expect both to be available this summer!

Finally, if you want to sample our lesson program, we are offering one free class of each level on Saturday, April 9. You can sign up for these lessons by calling the registration office beginning on March 8th.  All lessons will be filled on a first come/first served basis.

Thank you for your time and your support of the Highlands Pool!

Dan Ryken

Aquatics Supervisor