Goldfish Swim School Promotes Language Development
We have been attending swim lessons at Goldfish Swim School for a little over a month. With each class, I can see my daughter becoming more comfortable in the water. With each passing lesson, she becomes more relaxed when floating on her back and when she “catches her bubble” when dipping underwater. Not only is she learning the basics of swimming and water safety, but I watch her vocabulary and her ability to follow directions increase with each swim lesson. Below I have listed five ways Goldfish Swim School will promote your child’s language development.
1. Action Words: Each swim class focuses on actions. Your child will be kicking, reaching, climbing, jumping etc. You will be labeling and modeling the action for your child and then help your child replicate the action. Understanding and using verbs are important for beginning sentence building. Every simple sentence that your child will begin to put together will contain a verb. Below you see my babe reaching out as she learns to swim. With each stroke, the instructor and parents say the action word, in this case “reach,” that they want the children to perform.
2. Spatial Concepts: Spatial concepts describe where your child is in relation to objects (think “under/on/in front”). Your child will be exposed to a variety of spatial concepts throughout the swim lesson. She will be asked to lie back, climb out and crawl across. Spatial concept vocabulary will be modeled and demonstrated and you will help your child move her body according to the spatial concept that is used. When she is asked to “climb out,” you will help move her body out of the pool.
3. Simple Directions: Your child will be following simple directions involving a combination of actions and spatial concepts throughout the swim lesson. You can repeat the direction and then help your child follow through with the directions that are given. For example, she will be asked to “put in,” “sit down” and “jump in.” Providing directions helps your child understand what is expected of her and help build her receptive language abilities.
4. Body Parts: Body parts are labeled throughout the swim lesson. Kick feet, close mouth and pull with hands are a few ways body parts will be labeled. Understanding body parts is one of the earliest concepts your child will learn. The lessons work to reenforce these basic identification skills.
5. Fast/Slow: The concepts of fast and slow will be used when moving through the water. You will be modeling the words while moving your child fast or slow throughout the water. Understanding tempo and movement is also key to understanding spatial awareness.
Swimming lessons at Goldfish Swim School are a wonderful way to explore and expand your child’s vocabulary. These lessons will capture your child’s attention and provide an opportunity for you to use new vocabulary words in the appropriate setting and actions.
The Details: We attend lessons at the Goldfish Swim School in Dublin, Ohio. Check out this link for locations, address/telephone details and how to sign up for lessons.
Disclaimer: We were provided free swimming lessons by Goldfish Swim School in exchange for collaborating blog posts. All thoughts and opinions are my own.