Spring into Summer Water Safety: What Families Can Do NOW to Prepare for a Safer Summer

Goldfish Swim School – Mundelein is a Little Lake County sponsor. Content was provided by Goldfish Swim School – Mundelein.

The arrival of April showers means that spring has finally come to Lake County (hooray)! Families are starting to make plans for the warmer months ahead. Your summer plans likely include trips to the local pool, lazy days at the water park, or beach vacations with family and friends. If you are planning to be around water this summer, water and swim safety has to be a part of your summer preparations.

Maybe the kids haven’t been in swim lessons since last summer. Or perhaps you have toddlers who are just starting to acclimate to having fun in the water. Maybe you have a little swimmer who struggles with confidence when it comes to swimming in the deep end. ALL kids can benefit from working on basic swim and water safety skills.

So what do families need to keep in mind when it comes to keeping little ones safe around water? And how can they use they spring months to work on water safety skills and prepare for beach and pool season in the Midwest?

The Center for Disease Control notes that drowning occurs because of the following factors:

• lack of swimming ability
• lack of barriers
• lack of close supervision
• failure to wear a life jacket

The most important thing to keep in mind is that children must be supervised closely at all times in and around water. No exceptions. Be sure to designate an adult supervisor (no texting or other distractions).

The American Red Cross recommends that children be enrolled in a weekly swim lesson in order to ensure that they develop the skills necessary to be water-safe. However, family swims at Goldfish Swim School Mundelein are also a great opportunity for families to work on building essential water safety skills in preparation for the summer months ahead.

The following three activities are taught daily at Goldfish Swim School because they help develop fundamental water safety skills. Parents are encouraged to work on these skills with their little swimmers:

1. Jump! Turn! Swim to the wall! Let your kids jump off the side of the pool to you and then help them physically turn back to the wall and assist them in the proper way to climb out of the pool by using the wording: “elbow, elbow, tummy, knees.” Do this over and over again. As they get more confident let them go under the water and come to the surface on their own.
2. Floating on the back. This is a progression of supporting them from underneath, encouraging them to point their “chin, back and belly to the sky” to arch the back. As they progress you can begin to support them less by moving from holding them from underneath the back to just the head—and eventually having them float on their own.
3. Practicing windmill arms and rollover. Work on getting those freestyle arms out of the pool! Encourage “big arms” and rolling over from front to back and back to front. The rollover is a great safety skill to know if they need to get on their back to float. It’s also an introduction to the beginning stages of side breath: Get them used to turning their head to the side to breathe instead of popping the head up.

Keep in mind that your time together in the water should be positive and fun! Kids will make progress if you work on these skills regularly and celebrate their successes!

All Lake County families are invited to join Little Lake County and Goldfish Swim School Mundelein on May 3, 2016 from 8:00-9:00 p.m. CST for a Facebook Chat on Summer Safety. We are going to be sharing tips you need to know to ensure that your family has a fun AND safe summer here in Lake County! All participants are eligible to win prizes! You can give us your questions in advance on our Summer Safety Facebook event page.

Goldfish Swim School Mundelein provides swim instruction to children ages 4 months to 12 years-old in a unique setting with highly trained instructors, small class sizes (max 4:1 student to teacher ratio), warm 90-degree pools, and a state-of-the-art water purification system.

Conveniently located at 1531 S. Lake Street, Goldfish offers a wide range of swimming classes for all ages and skill levels at times that are convenient for every family’s schedule.In addition to swim lessons, Goldfish Swim School Mundelein also offers weekly family swims and birthday party packages. Scheduling and pricing details are available on the website or by calling (847) 371-9000.