What Makes AQUATOTS® so special?
Division 1 for Babies from 0-6 months
Division 1 for Babies from 0-6 months
- Parents bath with their child
- Division 1, also called the Bath Routine. It is a Parent Education Course that is a “once-off session” in your own home, or at our swim school.
- In Division 1 the parents will learn how to develop their baby’s natural swimming ability from this early age in either the baby or the family bath or at our premises.
- The BATH ROUTINE will also prepare the parents and Baby for Division 2, which they will start at 6 months of age in the big pool.
Division 3 for Babies from 12-36 months
- Parents are in the pool with their child
- The age span covered in this division has the highest incidence of drowning amongst children of all ages. For this reason, the main focus in toddler swimming should be on safe behaviour in and around water. It should not be on the teaching of the actual swimming skills.
- The ultimate aim would be to get toddlers swimming as soon as possible, their safety should never be compromised during the learning process. How long it takes for toddlers to learn to swim depends on the way they are taught, their age and how much time they spend in a swim-related activity. We highly recommend two lessons per week to maximise progress.
- In Division 3, the AQUATOTS approach takes advantage of normal behaviour patterns already acquired by toddlers on land and transform it into valuable life-saving water skills when adapted to water.
- Children love to explore these possibilities to the extent that they master them. At AQUATOTS we use toys, songs and rhymes to motivate and teach the children these water skills.
Division 4 AQUATOTS Club for Independent Toddlers
- Division 4 is for toddlers of all ages who can hold their own in the water.
- Focus is on retaining their newly acquired ability through practice and play. Once toddlers have mastered something as challenging as the aquatic environment, they should be left to enjoy it. There should be as little interference as possible.
- Children are often denied the chance to revel in their new sense of accomplishment.
- Often the magnitude of their sense of accomplishment is overlooked. They are pushed further to achieve beyond their ability. This can be totally demoralising. Toddlers tend to lose interest in swimming all together when this happens and parents wonder why.
- When a toddler graduates from the AQUATOTS program, he can jump in, swim 8 meters with breathing, roll onto his back, swim 3 meters, and climb out. He can do this completely independently, comfortably and consistently.
AQUAKIDS
LEARN TO SWIM BEGINNER
- From the ages of 3 years
- Beginner / Advanced: 4 Children per instructor
- Classes are 30 minutes long.
- Children are introduced to the water, explaining and learning about their boundaries in the pool.
- Children are taught the fundamentals of swimming such as how to climb in and out the pool safely, how to move around the pool safely, blowing bubbles, how to fall in, turnaround and catch the wall as well as floating and kicking.
- These classes consist of a lot of fun and play as children learn and progress through fun and enjoyable activities.
- A bond is formed with the instructor and trust plays a massive part at this stage.
LEARN TO SWIM INTERMEDIATE
- Beginner / Advanced: 4 Children per instructor
- Classes are 30 minutes long.
- Children who are now safe are taught to master the 4 FINA strokes: Freestyle, Backstroke, Breastroke and Butterfly.
LEARN TO SWIM ADVANCED
- Beginner / Advanced: 4 Children per instructor
- Classes are 30 minutes long.
- These classes focus on stroke development and drills.
- Groups are between 4-6 kids per session.
- The swim school focuses on technique only.
- Children must learn style before speed to develop fluidity of stroke before mastering speed.
- Emphasis is still on fun and learning through play we recommend two lessons a week of 30 min each.
- This allows the child freedom and independence of swimming with little assistance from the instructor who is always nearby watching and correcting where necessary.
AQUASTROKE STROKE CORRECTION
- Beginner / Advanced: 4 per instructor
- Classes are 30 minutes long.
- This is our advanced level, where long-distance swimming and correction of breathing, kicking, arms and stroke co-ordination is corrected and perfected.
- Progressions, safety drills and underwater swimming is routinely practised as this improves the stroke and endurance of the swimmer.