They's Bona Fide!

My three middle kids are now officially little fishies!  (note:  none of them have ever had swim lessons before!)  They completed three weeks of American Red Cross swim lessons, and were certified through Level 2.  The oldest fishy (M11, on the right) was a little disappointed – it was hard to explain to her why (even though she was MUCH more adept at each of the skills) she achieved only the same level as her brother, who is 7.  I had to tell her that it wasn’t as if they were being GRADED on how they swam, it’s just that the teacher had a very strict list of requirements that she taught and that each student had to pass.  There ended up being 6 kids in their class – ages 6, 7, 8, 9, 9, and 11.  That’s a huge range!  The teacher didn’t even bother to teach the requirements for Level 3, because I’m sure she knew that the entire class would not be able to pass them.

All three of the kids made MAJOR improvements over these three weeks, and although I think my son could benefit from one more round of Level 2 classes and LOTS of practice, the girls could easily breeze through Level 3.  I’m looking right now to see what other pools offer this instruction.  They’ve also both said that they absolutely, positively want to be on a swim team next summer.  Swim teams are huge here – it’s really a new concept to me – and I think they’d be more than ready next year.  So…looks like we’ll get to add something new to the family resume!

***********and now, unless your name is Grammie or you’ve got 5 minutes you wouldn’t mind killing, you can probably end here.  Here’s video I took at today’s class.  Remember – the only swimming they’ve done previous to this has been in hotel pools and with floaties on at their Uncle Eric’s house!***************************************

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoyogDIiE8g]

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