National Learn 2 Swim Day and National Water Safety Month Coincide with Little Otter Swim School Event
Beginning at 1:30 on Saturday afternoon, Little Otter welcomed children – with parents in tow – who were excited about doing their Safer 3 Water Safety Challenge!
Little Otter invited all enrolled students to the event. The students were scheduled in groups of 25 for each half hour and then “assigned” to instructor partners who could give each child personal attention – also help them to complete several series of jumps into the pool – fully clothed (which is what the kids thought was really cool!) It was fabulous to see 125 children have the opportunity to test their water safety skills in an environment that mimics what falling in accidentally might be like and learn more about being safe in and around the water.
Each of the afternoon’s five sessions began with a Dry Portion, where the Safer 3 Program was explained. The program is based on the principles that we can be safer around the water with safer kids, safer water and safer responses. Safety facts, rules and tips were shared. This portion is very important to the parents as they want to make sure that they manage their children’s safety around water in the best possible way. This message is important to hear over and over again as drowning is the leading cause of accidental death among children under the age of 5.
After the Dry Portion, the children and their parents went to the pool deck in their instructor groups to do their jumps.
They actually did more than a jump. Little Otter does several things with each child to help them be aware of things that could happen around any body of water. They jump in swim to a flotation device and swim on it to the wall. They jump in backwards and swim to the wall. The instructor helps them flip over in the water and then find their way to the wall. They do several activities where they are distracted and fall into the water and where they may be disoriented and have to find their way to the wall while in the water. All is done with instructors less than an arm’s length away and with instructors on the deck. Groups had no more than five children with each pair of instructors.
Each year Little Otter does two Safety Days. This one coincided with National Learn 2 Swim Day and with National Water Safety Month. Another Safety Day is held in the fall. Little Otter also provides a Swim Test Day for enrolled students that confirms for parents that their children have mastered the skills they need to pass Summer Camp swim tests.
Little Otter provides these event – separate from the child’s lesson schedule and at no extra charge – so both parents can attend and so that it doesn’t consume any of their regular lesson time.
It actually turns into quite a fun event where parents learn along with their children and get a great opportunity to take photos and videos of their children doing their Safety Jumps and where children have permission to jump in the water with their clothes on!
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