the Price of Swim Lessons

For $200 my sons got 2 swimming lessons a week, for 10 weeks. With 2 children, that worked out to $100 for each child, or $5 per child, per lesson. Our local YMCA offers swimming lessons, but I wanted to have someone more experienced.

Twice a week I would meet my sons' swim instructor at the city pool. We went around 8:30 in the morning, before the pool was filled with children escaping the summer heat. Although my kids already "knew" how to swim, the instructor started by observing them "swim" and offered constructive criticism on why they might want to try her way. Doing this, she got their respect and undivided attention. I still won't let my sons swim without an adult present but I feel safer about them respecting a swimming pool now.

If your local youth organizations offer swim lessons, make sure they're taught by a responsible adult and not a teen lifeguard. Although there are some excellent teen swimmers out there, most of them teaching swimming are also lifeguarding at the same time and can't concentrate on your children. Likewise, if my child was in a pool with a lifeguard, I would want the lifeguard to be watching for accidents instead of teaching someone to swim.