Frequently Asked Questions
What are mobile swim lessons?
Mobile swim lessons are where a swim instructor comes to you! The parent or guardian filling out the registration form is responsible for providing a suitable swim lesson location. Lessons are done in a backyard pool, a family member’s backyard pool, a community pool, or an apartment complex pool.
How do lessons work?
Lessons are 20-minutes, 30-minutes, or 60-minutes in length. If we are meeting at your home in a backyard swimming pool, plan to be outside with your little one, dressed and ready to go for swim lessons. You and your swim instructor will correspond prior on how to enter the backyard. If it is an apartment complex or community pool, please plan to be there 5 minutes prior to when your lesson starts. Once your instructor has arrived, there will be a few minutes of introduction and conversation. At this point, we will decide whether it would be best for parents to stay outside or go inside. All parents are more than welcome to stay outside and watch the lesson, many will choose to be "out of sight and out of mind" if they believe that will be helpful for the child. At that point, the swim instructor will enter the water with your child. Read more about What to Expect.
Can we do 60-minute lessons even though lessons are priced for 30-minutes?
You may choose to enroll in 60-minute lessons rather than 30-minutes if your child is over the age of 2 years. By doing this, you will still purchase packages as stated above, but we will schedule 2 30-minute lessons together, equaling a 60-minute lesson. (Ex. Purchase 12 x 30-minute lessons at the prices stated above and request for your package to be scheduled as 6 x 60-minute lessons) This can be done for private lessons or group lessons, but is not available for children under 2 years old.
How many lessons does it take for my child to learn to swim?
Swim lessons will be different for every child. We understand and appreciate that learning how to swim is not one size fits all. Our top priority is to make sure your little ones are safe and comfortable in the water. Every swimmer will learn at a different pace. Some children will jump right into the water without hesitation while others will take several lessons before they ever leave the steps. To read more about what is taught during swim lessons, visit our Lesson Plans page.
What should I have prepared before lessons?
Make sure pools are clean and of a comfortable temperature for lessons. Have your child dressed and waiting by the pool at the time of the lesson. If your child is using goggles during their lesson, please make sure that they fit correctly and only cover their eyes. (No snorkeling masks or goggles that cover the nose!) If your child has pool toys appropriate for swim lessons (floating toys, sinking toys, noodles) and would like to use them during lessons, they may have those in the pool. Please refrain from having distractions in the pool such as blow up rafts, squirt guns, and large disruptive toys.
What about the weather?
Swim lessons needing to be cancelled due to inclement weather will be rescheduled for a later date. This includes thunder, lightening, and rain if the bottom of the pool is not visible. You will be contacted by your swim instructor within 4 hours prior to the lesson to discuss whether or not to cancel. We use The Weather Channel official weather report to decide if it is going to be safe to have a swim lesson. If we start the lesson and then thunder is heard or lightening is seen mid-lesson, we will stop there and take the remaining time and add it to the next lesson.
What if I have to cancel a lesson?
If families are needing to cancel or reschedule lessons for any reason, please notify instructor 24 hours prior to the lesson start time. Lessons cancelled 24 hours prior to start time will be either rescheduled for another day that week or added on to the end of the lesson package. If a lesson is cancelled by swim instructor, the lesson will be rescheduled. See our calendar page to see a list of holidays we will be closed.
What are some benefits of swim lessons besides just learning to swim?
Learning to swim at an early age increases a child's physical development but also their concentration and coordination. Swim lessons on a regular schedule can help put some structure into your child's schedule. Once they start seeing progress made in their swimming, it will build their self-confidence and self esteem. Swim lessons also help keep active minds busy during the summer. Summer can get boring sometimes and stimulation is important for young ones.
What is your teaching style?
I learned how to be a swim instructor when I was 16 years old at The YMCA. I learned a lot of skills there for handling large groups of children in the water at a time, working with all different ages, working with children with disabilities, and even working with kids/adults who have had drowning experiences in the past and had a lot of fears to overcome. I later went on to teach swim lessons at a small park for years and I was able to work with children for many years in a row and got to see them develop from doggy paddle in the shallow end to diving in, swimming laps, and doing flip turns. Once I moved to Florida and realized how much access we have to water, I knew I wanted to start lessons right away. I don’t teach based off any particular program, I teach based off my experience. I’ve worked at many different pools over the past 9 years where I’ve used YMCA progress reports, American Red Cross curriculum, and some ISR check points and resources. I think all of those options are great, but I really respect the idea that nothing is one size fits all. I’ve never been a fan of categorizing by levels or of final exams. My style of teaching is much more based around positive water experiences, building confidence, and achieving goals. Day one, we talk goals. What are you looking to get out of swim lessons? I want to know what goals the parents have but also what goals the kids have. There’s no point in doing lessons if we don’t know what we’re working towards. I’ll then get in the water and assess what skills we already have. From there, I can go home and develop lesson plans specifically for the child. Instead of checking things off a checklist I pulled from a program online, I’m building a roadmap from the first swim lesson to the last swim lesson that is specific to your child’s skills and goals. Throughout your swim lessons you’ll receive progress reports so that everyone is always on the same page about where we started, how it’s going, and how we want to finish. Doing it this way, there’s no passing or failing. There’s just achieving our goals or still working towards our goals.
How do you handle screaming and crying babies/toddlers?
It’s definitely a “trust the process” situation. My approach for a swimmer under the age of 2 is going to mostly be getting them comfortable with the idea of leaving mom and dad for 20-minutes and swimming with an instructor, helping them understand the water, and building some muscle memory. It’s pretty typical that the first couple lessons are going to involve a lot of crying. For most toddlers, this is their first time doing some sort of sport/activity. I will have them do things such as assisted back floats, holding on to the wall independently, standing on the stairs independently, getting their face wet, blowing bubbles, kicks, splashing hands, sitting on the edge and sliding in and out of the pool, and much more. Just because the child is crying the whole time doesn't mean the lesson wasn't productive.
What should we be practicing between lessons?
What areas do you service?
Barefoot Bay, Cape Canaveral, Cocoa, Cocoa West, Grant-Valkaria, Indialantic, Indian Harbor Beach, Malabar, Melbourne, Melbourne Beach, Merritt Island, Palm Bay, Palm Shores, Patrick Air Force Base, Port St. John, Rockledge, Satellite Beach, Sebastian, South Patrick Shores, Suntree, Titusville, Vero Beach, Viera, and West Melbourne.