Little Otter Swim School’s instructors are dedicated to their students and love teaching swimming lessons and sharing their love of water. However, sometimes busy lives take them away from their classes – for a short time or maybe longer. We would love to keep all of our instructors for years, but sometimes it just isn’t possible.
This can be a challenging transition situation but we try to minimize the negative and focus on the positive aspects of it.
Celebrate with your instructor if this change is something exciting for them. They may be graduating college and taking an exciting new job in a new city. They may be getting married and taking on a starting a home or starting a family!
And while you will miss them and they will miss you when they are away, learning to celebrate times like this with people is an important part of growing up.
Instructor-Student Bond
We know that the bond between our instructors and students is important and our instructors are passionate about connecting with each student. We love watching their progress almost as much as their parents and we love seeing them take on their own love for swimming and water and understand how to be safe around it.
It’s important that your child trust and like his or her instructor. And our instructors have high expectations for building solid relationships with each student and with families.
This is also why we work diligently to help student develop trust again after an instructor change – and it happens in no time at all – due in part to our instructors’ passion for teaching and their love for their students.
Managing Transition
As soon as possible, Little Otter notifies parents of changes and transitions. The trust between the little swimmers and their instructors grows each week as students rely on them for learning this important (and fun) life skill.
Although it’s a time when we’re a little sad to see one instructor go, it’s also a good time to bring fresh eyes and ears to the lessons and to the particular needs of the little swimmers in the classes. New ideas, new approaches to produce quicker and better progress, new activities that get students excited about trying something different. It’s all positive!
Sometimes this change happens because your little swimmer is moving up a level and will have a new instructor. The other instructor will still be around and can provide encouragement when they see them at the school.
Maintaining Consistency
Even if your little swimmer’s instructor does change, or someone new comes in for a few weeks to sub for the regular instructor, the teaching techniques, lesson quality and safety and instructor compassion carry through because it is what Little Otter Swim School trains its instructors on. There are best practices, quality and safety standards that happen in every lesson that takes place at Little Otter. So rest assured that your child will receive the Little Otter standard of lesson excellence with every instructor in our pools and have as seamless of an experience as possible – even if their lessons are with a new instructor.
Can you prepare your child for swim lesson changes?
It happens at every swim school or every size in every city – changes in swimming lessons that affect the students.
This change can produce some negativity with your little swimmer. How can you deal with the changes and your child’s feelings?
Comfort
First of all, being a source of comfort for your
child. Your child’s fears and anxieties must be your main concern. And it is
the first step in preparing your child for change. As we noted earlier, this is
an important situation to help them understand and deal with
appropriately.
After all, this will not be the only time they experience change to something
that is very important and consistent in their lives.
It’s important that you:
• Assure them that change is a natural part of life
• Emphasize the positive and exciting qualities of the new instructor
• Arrive for class early to introduce your child to their new instructor
• Focus on what they love most about swimming and what new skills they may be
learning
Communication
Talk to your child about what change is and all of the people that this change may impact. Part of the stress of change for children can be not knowing what is happening or why. Don’t be afraid to tell them about the change before their lesson. They need to have the opportunity to understand what is happening and to adapt to it.
You should have a conversation about:
• Possible changes like the start time of the lesson
• Different instructor’s teaching style
• Higher expectations of moving up a swimming level
Even if this change can be scary for them, they will be less scared if they aren’t also surprised by the change. Teaching children early to adapt to changes gives them important tools that they need as they grow up.
Your child is likely to surprise you and be able to go with the flow more easily than you can.
Resources
https://hubbardswim.com/blog/post/how-to-prepare-your-child-for-change-with-swim-lessons
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