The swim lessons season is upon us.  Grand Rapids moms and dads longing for warmer days are signing kids up for swim lessons hoping that their kids will be ready for the summer swim season.

There is no shortage of choices when it comes to swim lesson offerings in Grand Rapids.  Local schools, YMCA branches, college pools, and community facilities are host to youth swim programs.  Most community education programs offer at least one swim option at reduced rates for residents, although non-residents may participate as well.  I have a list of local continuing education facilities here.  If you have access to a private pool, one option is to hire a college swim team member to teach your children.  I've had Calvin College students recommended to me by some grkids.com participants.

Swim programs vary in their depth and scope, but most aim to teach water safety as one of the basics.  Check to make sure this basic necessity is included in your child's swim lessons.

Based on feedback collected from grkids.com participants, here are the most recommended places for swim lessons.  (If you love a place that's not included, please leave a comment and let us know where you go and why you love it.)

Love It:
-East Hills Athletic Club
-Calvin College
Rockford Middle School
MVP Sportsplex
Hudsonville Highschool


Like It:
-The aquatic center - good but cold water. Good teachers though.
-YMCA

Leave It:
-Suggest some places to steer clear of!



Comments from Moms & Dads:

"I liked the program at East Hills because the instructors (we had) have been there for a long time and are very confident in how they teach. I think the kids grasp swimming quicker when they sense safety and confidence shown to them.
We now belong to MVP and it seems they have a good program too. My daughter is on the swim team there, and she gets good instruction from her coach." - Michelle

  "I have heard great things about Rockford Middle School..." - Sara

"I love the instructors at the Aquatic center the best (Miss Sandy is GREAT!) - though I have heard that she teaches at East Hills too some. She is firm and strict, but teaches in a fun way. The pool there is FREEZING though.

The Y has a nice and warm pool and if you go to the Downtown Y, they also get to play in the fun swim area when they are done. That pool is warmer too - but their instructors aren't as strict.

For example - one of my girls cried the whole time. At the Y, they let her sit on the side and cry and didn't push her and never even made her get in the pool. At the Aquatic center (set up through enjoylearning.com) she taught her while crying and eventually she got used to it." - Stephenie

"Our kids take lessons in Hudsonville at the pool in the HS there. My mother-in-law registers them. They do a good job, and the kids love it." - Steve

" We have been quite happy with East Hills too. We went to the Y for years and hated it.  My son didn't learn how to swim there at all. He caught on at the East Hills right away. The other thing I like about East Hills is the water temperature is always 84 or more. Kind of nice if you have little ones, or if you are a wimp (which I am). I always found the water at the Y to be too cold." - Soraida

"We have done swim lessons at both the YMCA and EGR at Wealthy Pool. I like EGR better for younger kids as the pool is smaller and not so scary. There is also an observation room so you don't have to sit in by the pool with chlorine air!" - Jennifer

"Two words: Calvin College. They offer a brand new facility, reasonably priced lessons, and the best instructors - former or current Calvin swim team athletes who are always patient and amazing with the kids." - Laurie


 


Comments

Rachel

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 11:54:50

This post about swim lessons and all the places to go was very helpful. Please do this for other sports! Compare soccer, tennis, and hockey- after enrolling our son in Grand Rapids Rec we suddenly heard about all these other places he could play the same sport, and we don't know which is best!!

 

Jean

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 19:24:45

We found a young gentleman teaching private lessons and he is awesome, resonably priced and has fun with the kids. He currently teaches his lessons at the Rockford pool. His name is Jon @ 616-881-6751. We highly recommend his lessons.

 

Stacey

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 10:20:20

I have enrolled my daughter(s) in swim lessons @ MVP and just love Miss Joan, She is great with the kids, and agressive enough so that they are learning to swim. Check out website for class schedule www.mvpsportsplex.com

 

Shannon

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:32:10

LOVED taking lessons at MVP with my daughter. We started when she was about 9 months old and have referred a lot of my friends to MVP as well. Great facility not only for swimming, but has great child care for when the parents work out too. Highly recommended!!!

 

Chad PIerce

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 13:09:46

Our area‘s numerous recreational amenities, although beautiful, also pose a threat to our young children. A national aquatic safety program is now available to parents in the area, Infant swimming Resource. Recently a was story about ISR on Take Five, morning show and NBC Today. www.wmisr.com/news


ISR is the safest and ONLY provider of comprehensive swimming and aquatic self-rescue™ instruction. Our method of clinically researched instruction emphasizes developmentally-appropriate skills training to ensure that your child is learning self-rescue skills and developing the competence required to enjoy the water. Integrated into the skills training of infants and young children is the ISR Parent Education program that seeks to enable the parents and caretakers to understand drowning prevention methods and thereby, safeguard their child’s aquatic environment.

Here are the Facts about ISR:

ISR was founded in 1966 by Dr. Harvey Barnett with the guiding mission “to prevent drowning and enrich the lives of children by teaching them to swim” and to ensure that
Not One More Child Drowns.

Since its creation, ISR has provided over 6 million safe and effective lessons to more than 160,000 children.
This nationally recognized program is the first and only drowning prevention strategy that has earned a 100% safety record.
ISR Certified Instructors are trained through an extensive 5 week course guided by a Master Instructor, during which time the Instructor is trained and tested in the academic areas of child psychology, behavioral science, physiology, and anatomy. In addition to gaining an academic foundation, Instructors engage in over 40 hours of hands on, in water practical application of the technique.
The ISR National website is an award winning and nationally recognized site, providing information about water safety and aquatic self-rescue training for infants and young children, please visit www.infantswim.com for the complete ISR Story, as well as to view pictures and videos and read testimonials from parents and doctors.


The ISR Lesson Experience:

Ø ISR Lessons are available to infants and young children 6 months- 6 years old.

Ø These safe and effective lessons are customized to your child and taught one on one. We do not offer group lessons. Your child’s lesson experience will be unique and to provide the safest possible lesson, the instructor’s attention will be focused on your baby only throughout the lesson period.

Ø Lessons are no more than 10 minutes a day, 5 days a week, Monday through Friday. In order to master these self-rescue skills, the enrollment period is between 4 and 6 weeks.

Ø Your Certified ISR Instructor will provide instruction to your child that emphasizes developmentally appropriate skills training, health issues and considerations, ongoing program evaluations, and parent education.

Ø After the initial lesson experience is complete, ISR recommends that every child participates in 1 to 2 weeks of Refresher lessons every 6 months to a year. This will enable your child to learn how to adjust their swimming and floating skills to their continually growing and developing bodies.



Your Child’s Self-rescue Skills:



Infants (6 months- 12 months old) will learn to hold their breath underwater, roll onto their back and float unassisted.



Children (1 year- 6 years old) will learn the following sequence: how to hold their breath underwater; swim with their head down and eyes open; roll onto their back to float, rest, and breath; and roll back over to resume swimming until they reach the side of the pool and can crawl out or be rescued by an adult.


Since statistics show that 83% of all children who drown are fully clothed at the time, during the final week of lessons, while under the watchful eye of an instructor, each of our students have the opportunity to practice their self-rescue skills in both their summer and winter clothes.



Thank You!


Sincerely,

Chad Pierce
ISR Certified Instructor
616.914.7527
c.pierce@infantswim.com

 

Lesley

Mon, 11 May 2009 07:38:51

we were really happy with the swim lessons at Kentwood HS. Lessons were in the warm water pool. I only wish it weren't during open swim. Sometimes it got a little busy, but after a solid week of lessons (everyday for a half hour or so) my 3 year old son was swimming on his own!

 



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