We quit swim lessons and here’s why

This blog post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Liam quit swim lessons at Goldfish Swim School.

Okay, so technically it was only a break. And it was temporary. Liam just went back for his first lesson this month after taking the whole summer off. At first, I wasn’t sure if we were making the right decision. I was concerned that Liam would forget some of the skills he’d learned in recent months. But we had a busy summer planned between traveling, house hunting and other activities. Liam’s swim lessons would have been intermittent anyway, so hitting pause seemed like a good decision for our family. While I think that it’s important to press through sometimes (like we did with Liam’s soccer season this spring), it’s equally as important to recognize if and when a break is needed. Here are some of the guidelines we used to determine whether or not taking a break was right for us and how we managed in the interim:

1. Know your reasons. I think it’s important to know why you want to take a break. This will help you determine how long the break should be or if a break is what you actually need. Last year, Liam was having trouble focusing and being a good listener at his swim lessons. Jamie and I talked through about the reasons why it was happening. Was he connecting with his teacher? Was he tired or hungry? Were once a week lessons too much for him? Ultimately, we decided it was probably the lesson time that didn’t fit in well with his schedule. Once we switched to a different time of day, he became a much better listener during class.So in that instance, a break isn’t what he needed.
2. Commit to an exact timeframe. We knew that this break wasn’t going to be permanent. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have taken it. I’ve found that when you take a break and leave it open ended, you’re less likely to get back at it. Or it can take a lot longer than anticipated to do so. When talking about this break in swim lessons with Liam, we laid out exactly when we would restart them and even noted it on the calendar.
3. Practice skills in the meantime. Even though we weren’t at Goldfish this summer, Liam got in a ton of swim time at local pools and while we were on vacation. We always practice the skills Liam learns at his lessons when we swim at the pool. Goldfish actually dedicates the last few minutes of each lesson for parents to see what their kids are working on and get feedback from the instructors on what to work on between lessons. This is so helpful to know which particular skills Liam needs to practice more and which ones he excels at (like floating on his back).
4. Get excited about going back. When I scheduled Liam’s first lesson back, we started talking about it as a family right away. If Jamie and I were excited about it, then I knew that Liam would be too. He couldn’t wait to show his teacher what he’d been practicing all summer.

Think you might need to quit swim lessons too? I recently discovered these blog posts over on the Goldfish blog and I think they’re full of some really great advice on how to recognize when a break is needed and why sometimes it’s important to stick with it.

But I Don’t Want to go to Swim Lessons: When to Push Your Kids and When to Take a Break
4 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Take a Break from Swim Lessons, Sports and Other Activities

This post is part of our partnership with Goldfish Swim School. All opinions are completely my own.