Swimming is a skill which every child should be able to know and being able to teach him/her swim can be very beneficial. Selecting the right swim instructor for your child is very crucial. You need an instructor who has the right qualifications, mannerisms and approaches to children that will suit your child. Here, you’ll find tips and things that can help in choosing the right instructor to teach swimming to your kid.
Instructor Qualifications
For anyone looking to hire an independent swim instructor for children the most important thing to look for is credibility. But in the least, the instructor should possess certification in both child CPR and first aid. This makes them be prepared on what to do incase of an added unexpected event.
Of course, it would be even better if the instructor is certified by a large teaching organization like the American Red Cross or YMCA. These certifications take several hours to complete and involve training and completion of courses on matters such as water safety, stroke development, teaching strategies relevant to age differentiation among others. An instructor that has been certified by one of these organizations has gone through a screening and tutored on how to handle children.
In terms of this, you can query prospective instructors regarding specific training and certification. There are professionals with multiple teaching certifications obtained, to ensure kids are taught how to swim safely.
Teacher personality and his or her teaching style
It also would also be important to have a formal qualification of an instructor and most importantly has to do with the personality and method of handling your child. Since you will have the same instructor close to your kid for several lessons, you would require an instructor who on the first instance would help your kid develop interest in learning from him or her.
Positive attributes that human resources should seek to find include; friendliness, encouragement, flexibility, attentiveness, and patience. The perfect teacher will also get to understand your child and work with him or her, advancing as the child maybe. For instance, a good teacher will be able to help a withdrawn kid to respond positively through encouragement and other incentives such as stickers. It could entertain an often moving and unmanageable energetic child with wonderful teaching aids.
Make some efforts towards watching the personalities you may wish to choose as teachers interact with the kids in their classes. Are they sweating, yawning and looking bored? Or are they busy or even annoyed? An instructor should teach depending on a learner rather than following a standard procedure which is adopted by others. Also, they should inquire if you can have a brief introduction so you can introduce your child to his/her new teacher. Observe how they interact and by the reactions of your child parents or guardians can know the level of comfort.
Other Key Considerations
Here are a few other tips when vetting swim instructors:
Asking about the size of the class and the ration of student to instructor. Small classes provide an opportunity to engage the student learning to get more attention and individual attention. Ideally, instructor-to-student ratios should not exceed 1:children attending preschool- 4:1 and school age – 1:6.
Ensure that the instructor being chosen has prior experience in teaching only children in the age group of your kid. Each group of students has its own characteristics and needs, so teaching a toddler is completely different from teaching students of ten. Many certification programs are designed with regard to certain ages of learners.
- In the reference section of the website, check out comments from other students as well as parents. Speak to those who have ever worked with that instructor in the past.
- Assess the level of freeedom an employee has in regard to lesson scheduling, how this is plussed to entice consumers, and make-up policies to compensate for a missed session. Life happens so find an instructor willing to schedule lessons in a manner that will allow your child to get all those hours in.
To do this, you will need to follow the guidance mentioned above so that you get the right swim instructor for your child. If you introduce good lessons in line with the kid’s capability and the ease with which they are comfortable in water, your child will lay fundamental water safety skills he/she will have gained confidence and fully enjoying his/her time in water. The trainer can influence the effectiveness of the group sessions greatly so be patient and do your homework first.