That's what we do these days. Swim, swim, swim. Sage (3) is so completely comfortable in the water. He's intent on practicing his back float/stroke when he's got his beginner's swim vest on. It was so fun on Saturday to watch him work on swimming backwards. I stood far enough back to let him explore on his own, without my meddling. And wouldn't ya know it! He laid back some, but tried to keep his head up a bit too much, so next time, he laid back more, allowing his head to lay fully back into the water, chin up, and AWAY he went.
Stone is an official swimmer, now, too. He prefers to stay where he can touch, but the things he does in the water amaze me. Very fancy dolphin looking dives, and arched-back back flips, and lots of time spent underwater--with his goggles on. The eye/nose goggles take a whole lot of fear out of it for him, he can go under freely without worrying so much about water up the nose. That's a good thing!
Saylor is, and has been for quite some time, a full-on swimmer. Deep water, diving boards, the whole bit. He's been working lately on the perfect dive. He's got it down, too. He loves to dive off the side or off the board if one is available. Like Stone, he digs the eye/nose goggles. He even dives with them firmly in place. Ouch--(to me), but I guess it works for him!
Interestingly enough, Saylor was the only one who took swimming lessons, and that was back when he was 3 and I didn't know better yet. ;) The boys have simply been given lots of time in the water and room to explore. What a wonderful way to master the things most important to you! Just DO it! And do it and do it some more, and voila, you've got it down. No frustration or fear of doing something 'not right'...just swimming (or riding bicycle, or skateboarding, or cooking, or reading...) for the pure joy of it and becoming quite skilled along the way.
So, tonight, we went swimming. On our way home, we all thought egg drop soup sounded excellent, so we swung by a chinese restaurant close to our home and grabbed some. A perfect after swim snack, we think! We plan to swim again tomorrow in a creek somewhere with friends. We'll spend Wednesday at Sheridan Lake with friends. Tis the season... Enjoy the water wherever you may be!
3 comments:
Very cool! We are also enjoying the water. Kyra the other day wanted to know what all the different strokes are, she swam back and forth across the pool asking me if this and that were the right way. She's the only one who didn't take lessons. The others took for a bit but not long, swimming pool area was too cold and we were there because for me too, pre-unschooling.
I love watching my 2 boys (3 and 1) in the pool. It's a great skill for them to have. Too bad it's mid winter down here in Oz and they can't hit the pool.
OK, I will come clean. I, Jack, never learned how to swim. There! I said it. It sounds like everyone is having a wonderful time. I'm jealous! Keep it up.
J
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