Every reasonable parent should want their children to learn to swim. The most challenging part about your children and swimming is deciding when you should make them start with lessons. Is there such a thing as toddler swimming lessons? Something even more specific like: swimming lessons for 3 year olds?
The best way to answer this is by asking the pediatric specialist. On their most recent statement regarding this topic, the APP has recommended that the ideal age to start with swimming lessons is 1. Which makes it clear that there are toddler swimming lessons and swimming lessons for 3 year olds too.
With that out of the way we can now begin understanding another thing, how fast will a 3 year old learn to swim?
The effectiveness of swimming lessons for 3 year olds
To determine how long does it take a three year old to learn swimming we need to understand how efficient are swimming lessons for this age group.
Swimming lessons for Toddler and Infants – Previously we have mentioned that the group of people hardest to teach swimming are toddler and infants. Toddler swimming lessons are on average, supposed to achieve their goal for 1 and half or 2 years. Making the total amount of lessons average around 100. This estimate is very closely related to the amount of lessons taken per week, type of lessons, goal and quality of lessons.
Swimming lessons for 3 year olds – At the age of 3, children start to develop some of the most important motor skills for life. This means that since the age of 3 swimming becomes easier to learn. Estimates here show that it takes about 50 (give or take) private swimming lessons, or about 6 months to one year. A 3 year old who has previous experience with swimming lessons will in average learn much quicker, and need less lessons or time.
Swimming lessons for children aged 3 to 6 – The older the child, the easier the process of learning how to swim will be. In this group we find that the time needed to learn how to swim is significantly shorter at an average of about 24 lessons.
Should you use swimming lessons for 3 year olds?
As we mentioned in the beginning, every reasonable parent will want their children to be able to swim. However, there are reasons on top of that. One of the main reasons being drowning prevention. The number one cause of unintentional deaths in this age group is drowning. Both the APP and CDC recommend swimming lessons for 3 year olds, or younger, as a way of trying to prevent such misfortune.
There are also other, less morbid, benefits to swimming lessons for 3 year olds. Swimming lessons for 3 year olds can be hugely beneficial in the development process, as it can boost motor skill development. Swimming is a whole body exercise. This means that you 3 year old will be using pretty much all their muscles to swim. This is an ideal exercise for the young tender ages, as it can have a positive impact in the forming of the muscles and bones.
It is also worth mentioning that swimming lessons for 3 year olds can help your children avoid having fear of water. If you are a swimmer yourself, you know the joys of it. This could be one nice way of making sure that your children can enjoy swimming just like you.
In conclusion, swimming lessons for 3 year olds are a great tool for all parents. They can help your child learn swimming in a relatively short period of time, while also providing a lot of other benefits.
As you probably already know swimming is very healthy and you definitely should consider putting your children into swimming lessons, be it swimming lessons for 3 year olds or swimming lessons for kids in general.
