Chapter 1

Better Swimming For Smaller Children

Everyone has heard it said that children take to the water like ducks. But the fact remains that children aren't ducks, and without planned and imaginative instruction, they will show a healthy talent for doing many other things in the water than swimming. They may keep their feet glued to the bottom as if they were wearing cement boots. They may walk cautiously about as if they were in a mine field or on a terrain of poison ivy. In short, they may act as if the idea of the game were to maintain a vertical position and to keep as much of themselves as dry as possible. On the other hand, children also like to splash, clobber, and churn water. This, of course, is fun. But your aim is to train them for the best fun the skill of swimming in water.

Parents want, or should want, their children to swim because it is one of the few sports in which the whole family can participate and have fun. There are lots of sports. There's boxing, wrestling, hiking, handball, squash, track and field, horseshoes, marching, and Indian clubs. But these are the reasons why swimming always tops the lists of”preferred sports. “You may have a son playing Pop Warner football, and another son playing Little League baseball, and your husband bowls, and you really prefer golf but you also have a five-year-old. Suddenly you realize that the family is going off in seventy-six directions, and most of the things you do together are passive (such as watching television or listening to records) because you can't all go out and play football You do? or baseball or tennis, but you can all have fun in the water. The most heated family fight will dissolve in the water, temporarily at least. Swimming is more than good exercise and healthful. It is a kind of spiritual revival and besides, it gets you clean!

Keeping in mind the array of propensities and resistances in children, you will find some means more effective than others in making a child feel at home in the water. If you know what procedures and techniques are best suited to children generally, and to each stage of their swimming development in particular, you will not only avoid getting them off to a false start, but you will enjoy the time spent in the water with them more. It is the object of this book to give in detail the procedures and techniques which will make your children take to the water with pleasure, grace, and ease.

The ten lessons described in this series present procedures and techniques for teaching children about five years of age. But with slight maneuvering and a little imagination, the same teaching methods apply to any person who can't swim, though the adult may want to skip London Bridge Is Falling Down! On the other hand, anyone who has the.courage to start to learn to swim at forty is probably enthusiastic enough to play Ring-around-a-rosy in the water, just as the five-year-olds do.

It often happens that when the five-year-old learns to swim, the thirty-five-year-old mother or father decides she or he, too, would like to learn. The confidence that children gain from learning to swim is unbelievable, but for adults this confidence is immeasurable. In fact, it may be a little surprising in its effects. You may know full-grown adults who, having learned to swim at age thirty-nine, decided to take up mountain climbing or spoke in grandiose terms about trying out for the Olympics. All because they never thought they could learn to swim, and found to their amazement that they did.

The lessons described in this book may be used as a supplement to your child's lessons at the Red Cross, YMCA, YWCA, or to any other public or private swimming lessons he may be having. Usually, children do not want to take more than two weeks of instruction during a summer; and usually parents either cannot afford more lessons, or feel that no more are necessary. After two weeks of lessons the child reports he can swim, and the parents are happy and relieved. He is free then to go to a public pool on his own; and does so, perhaps, two or three times a week. Young children are not given to practicing what they have learned unless urged, and you cannot expect someone at the local pool to urge a small boy or girl to improve his or her form; so, very often, children spend fifteen minutes finding their friends, fifteen minutes doing cannon balls (jumping from the side or off a board with knees doubled up under the chin, hitting the water with an explosion), fifteen minutes dodging the other 250 swimmers, fifteen minutes getting dressed, and an hour to get home. Goodness knows that this is all fine; it is fun and has unquestionable value. But just don't deceive yourself that the youngster is down there swimming all afternoon. You may be in for a shock when you take him on your two week fishing trip and find he falls somewhat short of the polished performer you were expecting.

So where to start? From the beginning. Not from the point where he seems to have gotten to. Novice swimmers benefit tremendously from rehearsing what is slightly familiar to them.

This book is also designed to help parents who have occasion to be in the water with their children every day for about two weeks. If you are one of these, you probably assume that it is appropriate to start off by saying to your child who has never been in the water before,”Now this is the way you swim,”and to demonstrate by beginning with the arms and legs and with the proper mode of breathing”free style. “The truth is, this is the way you swim; but there are many, many preliminary steps necessary before coming up to this big step.

The following ten lessons in no way run contrary to the swimming methods currently used by swimming teachers. Have no fear that you will confuse your child. The lessons given here are in direct opposition, however, to the”sink-or-swim”method. It is rare that anyone who was forced to swim by being tossed into deep water enjoys the water. If you hear someone brag that this is the way he was taught, cast a critical eye on his swimming. He is usually a poor swimmer. Being tossed into deep water is one”sink-or-swim”method, but another method which makes for just as harmful results is the sudden release of a child in shallow water. He experiences the same discomforts. There is still another poor method of teaching youngsters to swim, and that is by playing a game with them, suddenly pushing their heads under, then concluding the game with a cheery”Did you see any fish down there?”This might work with some children, but by and large, it is ill-advised and ought to be shunned. In this series of lessons while games are employed as a gradual introduction to the water, they are not of a deceptive nature. The earlier games as you will find out as you proceed are rather preparatory to the later games, and each game is designed to develop a particular skill. If you have observed children playing games such as Wood Tag, or London Bridge, or Farmer in the Dell, you will have noticed that both a hesitant and a brash child are important to the game. Games teach children with differing temperaments important things. This principle applies as well to games used in learning to swim.

Why Teach More Than One Child?

These lessons assume that you will have three to five learners. It is best to limit your group to six as a maximum; five is fine, but four is even better. The difficulty in teaching just one child is that he becomes too self-conscious, and that the one-to-one ratio provides too concentrated a situation for a very young beginner; besides, who can go under the bridge (while playing London Bridge) when there are only the two of you? If you take on a group of four children, you are often faced with the problem of what to do when one child is a kind of”natural,”and finds all of this easy and progresses rapidly, while the others are still refusing to get their faces in the water or their feet off the bottom. This child serves an important function to the rest of the group, because he shows that what you ask and demonstrate can be done by one of them. Once the rest of the group is afloat, one or more may not only catch up with the speedy one but may even outdo him when breathing techniques or the back stroke are introduced. Be glad for the speedy ones; work patiently with the slower ones.

The Importance of Planning a Lesson in Detail

Your chances of teaching your children to swim are much better if you plan carefully the steps to be taken. A casual attitude toward- your children's initiation to the water can bring about troublesome consequences. A parent who expects to test his four-year-old's gifts in the water on a Saturday afternoon outing can do a great deal of harm. Thus, the book stresses how important it is for parents to understand that they must adhere to a step-by-step plan in teaching a child to swim. In order to keep you from overlooking an important skill for the next skill taught will depend on the preceding one this book provides a summary at the end of each lesson. It is a good idea to remove these summaries from the book and attach them to a clip board. Your clip board should be within easy reach, so that you may have a quick reminder when in doubt. For example, the purpose of a cork float is to teach children how, from a face-down float, to get their feet back onto the bottom of the pool. It is necessary, therefore, that they learn the cork float before they learn the face-down float. Naturally, once you become familiar with the step-by-step method, you can elaborate and embroider the method to your heart's content.

At What Age Should Your Child Be Learning to Swim?

You, of course, are aware that even with a wonderful teacher who has worked out a perfect plan and Who has infinite patience, some people especially little people of three or four years do not feel easy in the water. Others hardly need a teacher; they plunge right in and are soon learning by imitating others. But for those who have an unexplainable fear, something can be done to overcome this fear. What this something is will become clear in the following pages. When these fearful ones begin to feel buoyant and confident, the transformation from misery to joy is a pleasure to behold.

It cannot be emphasized too strongly that excessive cautiousness or fear in the child should be respected. Water is a mysterious medium at first. Try to remember back to when you were learning to swim the feeling of floundering helplessness when you did not find the bottom at the moment you expected it and gulped water instead of air.

One parent may feel that his four-year-old is experiencing difficulties because he did not get him started earlier, before the child became so conscious of his fears. Another parent may think that a four-year-old is too young and that the solution is just to wait until he”grows out”of these fears. How, then, do you determine when your child is ready to learn to swim? In one fairly typical group of four-year-old children just starting their lessons, here are the individual reactions which were observed:

One child walked into the pool and you could tell by the way his face lit up that he was going to enjoy the water. He walked confidently back and forth holding on to the railing, eager to find out what he should do first.

The second child approached the water in a manner similar to that of the first child, only the minute he tried to walk into water up to his waist, his expression changed and he looked as though he wished he hadn't come. He needed quick reassurance that walking in water is different from walking on land. He needed the teacher to take his hand for more than bodily support.

The third child immersed his foot and that was enough. It was wet! The pool looked too big, the teacher too new, his companions too brave. “It's cold,”he yelled and retreated. The teacher would have been wasting her words yelling back,”The water's warm. “Instead, she suggested that he sit on the side and watch.

The fourth child didn't even try the step. He hadn't wanted to take swimming lessons in the first place. It was his mother's idea.

Now, what happened to these children? The first child listened to, and imitated, the teacher. He got to the point in the first lesson where his whole face was immersed; although he had not wanted to do this, it was not difficult to persuade him. The teacher assured him he would soon be a fish, and he was proud of himself. The next day, putting his head under water seemed less difficult, and the third day he was submerged almost all of the time. He followed the lesson plans, and at the end of ten lessons, he was swimming and diving in the deep end of the pool.

The second child finally put his head under the water at the end of the third lesson, and though he did learn to immerse his face without making terrible faces and wiping the water off as vigorously as if it were poison, at the end of his fourth lesson he had not yet learned to float, nor get more than one of his feet off the bottom of the pool. He was enthusiastic about coming for lessons and each day the teacher thought, Surely, he will get afloat today. He loved to play, laugh, splash, tease the teacher, jump from the deck into the shallow end, and would often glide a little without knowing that he was doing so. But during the first stages the matter of learning to swim took more perseverance than he could muster, and he found it something of a nuisance. He was having enough fun, he thought, without actually learning to swim.

The third child sat on the side of the pool watching what the others were doing and dangling his feet as far as his knees. He cringed at splashing, though he would occasionally walk back and forth in the water along the railing (at the teacher's invitation). He always faced the side, with his back to the expanse of water between him and the opposite side. The teacher would occasionally pry his hands loose from the railing and take him for a little ride in a glide position. He would let her pull him through the water, his head way back, his chin way up. No water on his face! And he never stopped pleading:”Don't take me out too deep, don't take me out too deep"; and she never convinced him that she would not, even though she stopped to let him feel the bottom with his own two feet, his head well above water level.

During the early lessons, the fourth child never even got into the pool. He would ease over to the pool, lie down on his stomach, and feel the water with his fingers when he was sure no one was watching him.

In the process of describing the beginning problems of teaching small children to swim, you may have the impression that the majority of children do not like the water. This is not true. But the fact remains that some children are fearful, and they need to be given careful attention. This description just given of the four children is not meant to imply that these children will not learn to swim. It is even possible that the fourth child could become an Olympic champion. But not if he's pushed, forced, or rushed at the age of four. The point of the description is that not many children under four willingly learn to swim. Lucky you, if you have a group made up of children like the first one. Things will go swimmingly!

It is hard to predict what a child's abilities will be in the water, but the parent is faced there with some of the same problems with his child as he is on dry land, and he will see a relationship between the two, if he is perceptive of the child's feelings. If he clings to you, is shy with strangers and baby sitters, afraid of the dark, cautious about experimenting with new activities (such as trying out roller skates), or has any one of a number of fears small children have, he will not shed all of these at once and take a deep dive (or even a small jump) into a large body of water.

Probably such free-floating fears account to a larger extent for children's reluctance to take to swimming than any actual incident attached to water. But such incidents are not to be lost sight of, either. Perhaps the child is fearful because he was pushed, or fell, into deep water and had a real struggle choked, gasped, and swallowed much water. If this ever happened to you, you know how real the terror can be. Do not underestimate it. Or it may be that he wasn't frightened when he was pulled out of the water, but that the excitement and hysteria of the adults around him gave him reasons for his fear. Perhaps there were times in his bathinette when he got soap or water in his eyes, or a frightening experience may have occurred in his bathinette that neither of you remembers, which created a fear that may remain in his subconscious mind.

It is also interesting to note that a number of very aggressive children have a great fear of the water. Overly aggressive children are often very scared children, and parents are surprised to see their very tough little boy shying away from water.

It does not follow, however, that because your child has had a traumatic experience in water, or because he has certain personality problems, he will not be able to learn to swim. It means, simply, that you must take these factors into consideration before and while you are teaching him to swim. And oh, a word of warning. Do take these matters into consideration silently without such remarks as:”I'm scared- to death of water myself,”or”I almost drowned once,”or”I never could learn to swim,”or”I hate water on my face. “These sound innocent enough, but such confessions of fear reinforce his own, and words like”drowned,”"scared,”etc., tend to discourage a new swimmer.

It is understandable that parents are eager that their children learn to swim because it's going to be a long hot summer, and swimming and summers just naturally go together. Besides, parents in this generation are eager to give their child every opportunity, and swimming is one of these and it wasn't in their generation. But unless you are a pool owner, or are going to sea in a Chinese junk, or live next door to a large body of water, you really should not care too much if your four-year-old learns to swim in two weeks or in two summers. In short, it is important to recognize when children are not ready to learn to swim. Whether you are doing the teaching or whether your child is being taught by someone else, do not be firmly determined that your child become a swimmer that very summer if he is only four years old. Or even five years old. If your child enjoys the lessons and is making some progress, even though he is not yet even afloat by the end of the summer, you should think of this kind of water play as a necessary foundation for the next summer when you hope he will get afloat. If your child does not enjoy learning even the very early simplest skills, you may hear yourself starting to get cross with him because he will not”co-operate. “After you have given the lesson plan a fair try (three lessons would be considered fair), and you meet with continued undue resistance, it might be wisest to say,”Let's play in the plastic wading pool, turn on the sprinklers, fill the bathtub to the brim, and have some fun in the water this summer. Maybe next summer you'll want to learn to swim. “

Are You Qualified to Teach Others to Swim Even With the Help of These Lessons?

You do not have to be an expert swimmer and diver to be a good teacher. Conversely, some excellent swimmers make poor teachers. It is important, however, that you have a fair amount of energy and a maximum amount of patience. Often little girls will not listen to a thing their mothers say, but will do anything for their fathers. (The same is true of little boys and their mothers.) Some children will not respond very well to either parent, and especially as tempers get shorter and shorter, it is best to give up the idea of teaching them for a while and to help them enjoy the water. A friend, a neighbor, or a total stranger may have more success teaching your child to swim. Don't feel badly. It happens to many parents.

If you are a beginning swimmer yourself and feel that your demonstrations would only demonstrate how difficult the skill is, you can still teach the lessons. It would be important, however, that you have a demonstrator (maybe that Little Leaguer), and if you don't tell anyone you can't do these things correctly, or that you do them very badly, the children will think your demonstrator a good show, and part of your system. Of course, you would not risk going into deep water with even one child if you yourself did not feel secure in deep water. It would be wiser for you to use a bamboo pole and instruct from the deck. This technique is described in Lesson VIII.

Even if you are teaching only one child, it is comforting to have someone within yelling distance someone to bring a towel, to hand you the kick board from behind the door; and someone for the child to show off his newly learned skills to. Then, too, it is aways reassuring to know that someone is there in case of an emergency. But if you are going to worry about the things that could happen, don't attempt to teach swimming.

Specific Pointers About Entering the Pool, Pool Temperature, and the Weather

If you know in advance that your child answers”No”to everything you ask him, don't ask him if he'd like to walk down the steps with you for a little dip. Just take his hand naturally and talk about how good the water feels. If he draws back, pick him up and walk with him slowly through the water, letting only his toes get wet. If he cries softly, talk soothingly to him. If he screams, take him out!

Children are likely to enjoy the water more if the temperature of the pool is between 80 and 84 degrees. If you are a swimmer, you of course prefer a lower temperature, but remember that nonswimmers are not usually very active in the water, and they get chilled even on a warm day. Also, remember you are not going to be swimming while you are teaching, and you, too, will prefer warm water. If the pool temperature is warm and comfortable do not cancel a lesson because the outside temperature is not perfectly suitable for swimming. You will use your common sense, of course, but do not quickly let a cloudy or windy day spoil or postpone the lesson. The children will stay down under the water where it's warm, and they won't be as tempted to climb out for no particular reason, and you can have a good lesson in twenty five minutes. No one will suffer from chills or overexposure in such a short time; on the contrary, you will all feel invigorated. It helps, by the way, to wear a cap to keep your head warm if the air is colder than the water temperature. But you'll probably never convince a little boy (even a very little boy) that wearing a cap is a good idea, so suggest it to the girls, and wear one yourself.

If a child has a cold, but the weather is excellent and the water temperature fine, you will just have to use your own judgment about whether thirty minutes in the swimming pool would be advisable. Given excellent weather conditions, the major disadvantage is that the child will experience some difficulty in breathing because of his stuffed nose.

Recommendations for Conducting the Lessons

Teaching from the side of the pool by giving directions is quite possible under certain conditions, but it should not be attempted with children five years of age (or younger). For one thing standing at the poolside, you might be tempted to use your foot; but pushing someone's head with your foot is strictly taboo. You need to be in the water with these young children all of the time, demonstrating and giving them moral and physical support. A child seven or eight years old who is very eager to learn would probably be able to understand your directions from the deck, but even he would benefit by your being in the water with him. Not until Lesson VII of this series does the child become independent of the teacher.

Do not attempt to teach a child to swim in water that is over his head until you reach the point in the lessons calling for deep-water exercises. Children are born with the fear of falling and of loss of support. If you are using your back-yard pool, let some of the water out (if your filter system will allow this) so that the shallow end is no more than waist-deep for the child.

Even if the shallow end of your pool is roped off, and you are assured of the children's safety, you should keep your group together; during most of each lesson, you will have them do the same things at the same time. When you are working with one child, either have the other children watch or have them practice their bobbing, kicking, or whatever is in order. This is the rule, but it is not without exception. With your third eye you may see one of the children experimenting only because he is”unwatched. “It would be a mistake to draw attention to his activity or to insist that he do what the group is doing. Your time spent with a single child should be for a short period, and then you should go on to the next child; you cannot expect young children to practice by themselves. But whatever you are doing, the old rule still holds:”Do not turn your back on a child who can't swim. “

Encourage the children at every opportunity and herald the smallest successes. The most wonderful thing about teaching beginning swimmers is the vast number of accomplishments often attained in a short time. These are glory days for the novice swimmer. When he becomes an intermediate swimmer, there is not so much to learn, and there is more drill in perfecting strokes and not as many satisfactions; so it is not unnatural for children to lose interest in swimming at this stage. But in the beginning, they are progressing when they get water on their faces, and even more progress is made when they are able to put their faces down in the water; there is also a growing sense of satisfaction with each lesson as they improve themselves in the art of holding their breath. There is something in each lesson that the child learns which you can note as worthy and successful. Do not take even the smallest accomplishment for granted; do not hesitate to let each child know that he is doing magnificently.

The review at the beginning of each lesson will serve partly for warm-up, partly for practice, and largely to demonstrate what has already been learned. It is psychologically more astute to comment on the child's strength before you attempt to correct a weakness. For example:”Tommy, your kick is strong and steady, but you need to pull your arms one-at-a- time toward your stomach instead of together. “

But it would be a mistake, then, to explain to four-year-old Tom why, according to the laws of physics, this is so. In general, limit the number and length of your little lectures, especially at the beginning of the lessons. You may be intimately familiar with bone and muscle structure or with advanced techniques of basic strokes and would enjoy having an audience. But with small children, the password is:”Use few words and make them meaningful. “Children will imitate and do as you do, or do as your demonstrator does. You may find a dwindling of interest in your group if you begin to reason with them, and you'll lose their attention even faster if you start land drills which you may have heard was a good idea. Of course you will verbalize principles occasionally, but they should be of the simplest nature, and the examples you use (such as”Blow yourselves up like a balloon") should be on the level of the children's understanding. As a general rule, make the principle known to them after they have accomplished the skill. It is more meaningful to them then. 

At the beginning of each lesson, it is important for you to make sure that each child gets wet all over immediately. If he is completely wet, he will not mind the splashes. Don't be too sympathetic with a child who complains of being splashed. “You wouldn't notice it at all if you were wet. Let's wash our arms and face and neck. “Or simply,”It's just water. “

If a child gets a big mouthful of water and looks a little panicky, you can usually count on a big smile if you say,”Are you trying to swallow the whole pool?”or”Are any of you as thirsty as Tom?”and gently chide him out of his misery. If a child gets a noseful, try this:”Well, blow it out. I know it doesn't feel good, but noses are to blow, not drink. “By the way, children (adults, too) instinctively sniff in water which is on or around the nose. In Lesson I the child practices blowing air out of his nose.

For the child who complains of water in his ears, say,”If you don't like water in your ears, knock it out,”and show him by leaning your head sidewards and banging your palm against it. And there are those who do not like water in their eyes. “Well, squeeze it out,”and demonstrate. Most of these complaints of discomfort and pain occur during the first two or three lessons. In many cases it is the child's way of trying to justify his reasons for not taking to the water like a duck. When a child who has previously resisted finally puts his head under for the first time, you might say:”That wasn't as bad as you thought. Now do it again while your face is still wet, and see what happens. Now you can learn to swim and that's when the fun begins!"

Even when progress is slow, and you can't for the life of you see why they are making such a hard thing out of some thing so simple, resist calling attention to Paul who does it so well, especially if it is Paul who always does it so well. Also avoid calling a child uncharming names like”Sissy”or”Fraidy-cat. “And don't offer bribes for accomplishments. If the child can do a cork float alone without the support of the teacher, don't cheat him out of what he really wants, which is simply recognition and your enthusiastic approval; offering a beach ball after an accomplished performance could be disappointing and embarrassing to the child. Withholding the beach ball until some feat is mastered (or even attempted)
confuses the issue. And for heaven's sake, don't start pleading,”Do it for me, just once, please? Come on, do it for Mommy!”Your motives are good. You think that if he does it once for you, or for any reason, he will find that he likes it, and that then your mission will be accomplished. The important thing to bear in mind is this: If he could, he would.

Children like to be called fish, or given the names of certain kinds of fish or water creatures familiar to them, such as ducks, seals, sharks, whales, even goldfish. Few small children know what a mermaid is, or an eel, so calling them one has little meaning. In this series of lessons the children are called ducks until they become afloat, then corks or floaters (in doing the floats and glides), steamboats (when they are using the whole stroke, i.e., arms and legs); back swimmers (when they are using the back kick and finning) and deepwater bugs (when they can swim across the width of the pool in deep water). What they are called does not make so much difference, but the idea that these names represent a graduation, from one step to the next, is comprehensible and satisfying to them.

Before children enter a pool it is a good idea to remind them to please deposit their gum. And it is also a good idea to have the children blow their noses before they get into the water. And it never fails for some that the minute they are wet, up to their chins, they need to use the toilet. By the way, children would not think of urinating in a swimming pool; they are too recently well-schooled in the art of keeping dry.

Girls with great mops of flowing hair, pony tails, and braids should wear caps. Hair is a menace to the filter system, but more important, the idea of getting all that hair wet stands in the way of their wanting to put their heads under. Barrettes, bobby pins, and ribbons usually fall right out . . .
so, make all hair ornaments taboo.

Preparations Away From the Pool

Before your child starts his swimming lessons there are some preliminary steps to take away from the pool that will speed the process along. First, have him hold his breath to the court of five, and then exhale. This may sound very elementary, but if he's never done this before, it may take some practice. You can practice this any time, even while going in the car to get the groceries. The other steps listed below are to be done in the bathtub, before soap, bubble bath, etc., have been added.

Have the child wash his own face cheeks, ears, forehead, chin, nose, etc. With each new part to be washed, he should dip his hand into the tub for more water. (The idea is to get him used to water on his face.)

1. Have the child lie on his tummy in the tub, take a big breath, then blow bubbles in the water with his mouth only like a motorboat.
2. Have the child blow his nose out of the water ("blow out") and then blow bubbles in the water with his nose only.
3. Combine these two skills now by taking a big breath, blow bubbles with nose and mouth.
4. Take a big breath, put face in water, hold breath to the count of five. (Water should come to the hairline.)

If you have only a shower, or if there are times when you want to practice but do not want to fill a tub, try the same things with a dishpan full of water on the kitchen table, or in the child's outdoor wading pool. However, it does not necessarily follow that the child who performs so beautifully in the kitchen or in the bathtub will perform in the same fashion in the pool. He may”freeze”and act as though he had never had a drop of water on his face, when only the night before you began to act alarmed because he kept his face immersed so long. Neither does it necessarily follow that a child who will not do these tricks in the bathtub will not learn to swim this summer.

Some Final Reminders Before Beginning

The summary at the end of each lesson is to be removed from the book and attached to a clip board for the convenience of the teacher. The lesson plan, plus a clock or timer, is standard equipment. A timer is more fun, actually, because when the bell rings, school is out. There will be great shouts of joy as the children soon become conditioned to the sound of the buzzer and learn to recognize that this means the end of instruction and the beginning of playtime.

Perhaps you have had an unsatisfactory lesson and felt that not much was accomplished. You may be tempted to use the five minutes of playtime to make up for lost time. Don't. On the other hand, if everything has gone unusually well you may hate to stop, and be tempted to continue the work on into the next lesson. Don't. Even if you have your own pool, and all the time in the world, you will all benefit more from doing only one lesson a day, with no more than twenty-five minutes of formal instruction.

Another thing to check on the summary sheet is what special aids are needed for the lesson. Any kind of bag or carrying case, large enough to carry a few good-sized rocks, will also be large enough for the rest of the aids which are smaller, like ping-pong balls, plastic toys and a piepan. Some of these are used during the lesson and some during playtime. It is important that the bag be handy, as it disrupts the lesson unduly to have to search for what you need. This can be called your Bag of Tricks, and there is an element of suspense as the children wonder what you will pull out each day; so this is fun.

Most beginners believe that if they do not kick their legs and pull their arms most vigorously, they will sink. Because of this it is important that your demonstrations of the floats be effortless, and that you be able to hold your breath for a good long time. Use slow motion for all demonstrations in the water. When you bob, take an exaggerated breath, go down slowly, blow air out slowly, and come up slowly. When you show them the kick, it is much more effective to barely break the water.

In teaching the new swimmer, you are almost sure to come across some of the following situations. When the child does put his head under water, he is likely to hold it high up and outstretched, rather than with his chin down on his chest. Or even though you remind him a number of times not to do so, he will swim with his eyes shut tight. Then, in learning the kick, some children will keep their knees well under their stomachs and will be bunched up, looking like small crabs instead of people. Also, they may kick and pull their arms so strenuously that it exhausts you to watch them. These things are all the earmarks of the beginner and you must be somewhat tolerant of them. Don't harp too much on these faults, because nothing but time and confidence will eliminate them, no matter what you say. It's much wiser to comment after a child has overcome one of these awkward habits:”Do you remember when you used to hit the water as if you were mad at it? Now your stroke is so nice and smooth. “Or,”It's lots more fun to see where you are going, don't you think so?"

Watch the newspapers to see what water events are scheduled. It is often helpful for a child to witness an aquatic show, a long-distance swim, or a good amateur swimming meet. Look for competitive swimming events that include young swimmers. This will often spur your child to greater heights in his own achievement.

What will be your feelings after you have completed the ten lessons? You may feel that you are the most accomplished teacher this side of the Rio Grande, and your own self-confidence may be sky-high. But if you should not feel that you are the greatest teacher, it may be because you have not taken a close look at what you have accomplished.

What you have accomplished certainly was stimulating. It stimulated everyone's appetite and everyone slept better.

It certainly was educational. You learned a lot about the children and they learned a lot about you in addition to what you all learned about swimming.

It certainly was a body builder. “Look, have you noticed how Tom's chest has expanded? Oh, do you think he's bursting with pride?"

It certainly has physiological benefits. “Swimming is the best exercise known to man. Don't you think I look a little thinner?"

It certainly was social. All of your little group are now”best friends. “

It surely gave ego-satisfaction. You are being quoted at breakfast, lunch, and dinner because you taught them to swim. The children also have enjoyed the satisfaction of showing what they learned to do in water.

It was the foundation of lifesaving his own or others. Now that the child ca*n swim, he can save his own life; and when he gets older, he can learn to save another person's life.

And it certainly was recreational. Everyone had fun!

Could you find any other activity where so much could happen in such a short time?

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