Just coming out the other end of a week long swimming crash course for Chloe. It didn't go just as well as I had a hoped (I really shouldn't get my hopes up so much) but it did go well. She didn't pass the class which means she will have to retake the beginner class and pass it before moving on to the next level. The sticking point ... putting her head under the water willingly and confidently. It's what caught a couple of the kids out so she isn't alone in having to take the class again.
I feel awful for her at the minute because she's actually ok about her head going under. On the first day she managed to put her face in the water by herself, only for a second though and she slipped off her aids a couple of times and went under too and didn't freak out, she just stood up, wiped her eyes and carried on. What she needs to do is stand in the middle of the pool with her hands on top of her head, fingers locked, and bend her knees until she's under then stand up again and she just can't bring herself to do it and after a day of trying it started a hinder her in a couple of other things as well. She did learn to swim a few lengths of herself but not the prone 3 metres she needed to pass, she could float on her back on the first couple of days but by testing day so great was her determination to keep her head out of the water, even the back of her head that she couldn't manage to float. The one good thing though is that it isn't fear stopping her from doing it, she's just decided that she doesn't want to and that kid's nothing if not stubborn as a mule!
Rather than book the next set of lessons again straight away I'm going to spend a bit of time taking her to the pool myself and my brother is going to do the same and we'll try and get her to put her head under, then she'll start proper lessons after Halloween in school which she can "pass" and the leisure centre will accept that as a pass and let her take one of the higher levels at that stage.
The lessons at Ards Leisure Centre are fantastic though if anyone in the area is thinking about taking their kids to learn to swim, I really can't fault them. The instructor, Shaun, is great with kids, understanding but firm and turned out quite a few little swimmers this week. One girl in particular who sank like a rock, couldn't figure out what to do with her arms and legs, and tensed so much with the floats that she went down like the Titanic on the first day was knocking out widths of the pool by Wednesday and she wasn't the only one. The kids were all great too, really nice and encouraging and cheering each other on when it came to things like jumping into the pool.
So now I need to find a swimming costume ... you have been warned!!!
I feel awful for her at the minute because she's actually ok about her head going under. On the first day she managed to put her face in the water by herself, only for a second though and she slipped off her aids a couple of times and went under too and didn't freak out, she just stood up, wiped her eyes and carried on. What she needs to do is stand in the middle of the pool with her hands on top of her head, fingers locked, and bend her knees until she's under then stand up again and she just can't bring herself to do it and after a day of trying it started a hinder her in a couple of other things as well. She did learn to swim a few lengths of herself but not the prone 3 metres she needed to pass, she could float on her back on the first couple of days but by testing day so great was her determination to keep her head out of the water, even the back of her head that she couldn't manage to float. The one good thing though is that it isn't fear stopping her from doing it, she's just decided that she doesn't want to and that kid's nothing if not stubborn as a mule!
Rather than book the next set of lessons again straight away I'm going to spend a bit of time taking her to the pool myself and my brother is going to do the same and we'll try and get her to put her head under, then she'll start proper lessons after Halloween in school which she can "pass" and the leisure centre will accept that as a pass and let her take one of the higher levels at that stage.
The lessons at Ards Leisure Centre are fantastic though if anyone in the area is thinking about taking their kids to learn to swim, I really can't fault them. The instructor, Shaun, is great with kids, understanding but firm and turned out quite a few little swimmers this week. One girl in particular who sank like a rock, couldn't figure out what to do with her arms and legs, and tensed so much with the floats that she went down like the Titanic on the first day was knocking out widths of the pool by Wednesday and she wasn't the only one. The kids were all great too, really nice and encouraging and cheering each other on when it came to things like jumping into the pool.
So now I need to find a swimming costume ... you have been warned!!!
*************************
In other news I've finally set up a shop on Etsy and I've joined the lovely Crafty Folk Team over there who are kindly showing me the ropes and not getting annoyed when I ask yet another really stupid question that has a really obvious answer. I'm learning, be nice to me:)
It's one of those things that has been on the to do list for ages now and I just never seemed to get round to it, but I sent the husband to bed with a beer and tv the other night, put my head down and got stuck in. At the minute I'm duplicating across both shops but once I've settled in and have a better feel for the place I'll start to divvy up.
I've made a start adding a few listings to give me something that resembles a shop and I'll be able to carry on with the daily listing club in the Crafty Folk Team.
To celebrate my finally getting my finger out and getting some work done on the shop I'm having a little opening weekend offer. You can use the code "OpenDay20" to get 20% off your order until the end of this weekend. As I say I'm still adding stock a bit at a time so if there is something you've been after and I haven't got round to listing it yet, give me a shout and I'll pop it in there for you. I'm nice like that:)
 |
| Kindle Case in Deckchair Stripe on Etsy |
 |
| Kindle Case in Lemon & Lime on Etsy |
 |
| Kindle Case in Aviary Birds |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comments make me smile. I love that you stopped by.