We call them swimming lessons, but the real purpose is to teach the children about water safety and to equip them with enough knowledge/experience to remain calm and safe in the event of an accident.
According to Healthy Children and The American Academy of Pediatrics, “Learning to swim should be a priority for every family. It’s an important life skill that can play a key role in helping to prevent drowning―a top cause of death among children. Children, and their parents, need to learn how to swim to help keep time in the water safe and fun! Recent studies suggest that water survival skills training and swim lessons can help reduce drowning risk for children between ages 1-4.”
Healthy Children also advises …..
“Always keep in mind that swim lessons are just one of several important layers of protection needed to help prevent drowning. Another layer includes constant, focused supervision when your child is in or near a pool or any body of water. It also is essential to block access to pools during non-swim time. The Consumer Product Safety Commission found that 69% of children under the age of 5 years were not expected to be in the water at the time of a drowning.”
To help keep our kids safe, we partner with the Penn West California Swim Team to provide swim lessons for all preschool and pre-K students at The Rutledge Institute and The Village at Liberty Street. This provides another option for families that may have conflicts with other activities or plans after school. These are not a requirement of enrollment but they are a favorite among the kids and families. Also, children mature at different rates so some preschoolers may not be ready for lessons.
