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| Practicing skills on the deck as well as in the water facilitates learning. |
I only teach one-on-one lessons, so each student gets plenty of personal attention, immediate feedback, and guided practice time. No shivering and waiting on the side of pool for their turn - each student is actively engaged every minute of their lesson. All of this adds up to faster progress.
Customized care
I work hard to ensure that my students have the most positive, fruitful experience possible. It begins with your completing a thorough profile about your student during the registration process. This is your opportunity to share details about your student's background, current abilities, goals, learning style, and anything else I need to know to make their lessons fruitful. If your student has unique needs or goals, I will work with you on them.
Customized care
I work hard to ensure that my students have the most positive, fruitful experience possible. It begins with your completing a thorough profile about your student during the registration process. This is your opportunity to share details about your student's background, current abilities, goals, learning style, and anything else I need to know to make their lessons fruitful. If your student has unique needs or goals, I will work with you on them.
I prepare a customized lesson plan for each student, each day. Following every lesson, I record that day's progress and create the next day's lesson plan. Throughout the session, I'm available to answer any questions you may have in person, by text, or by email. I even keep my students' records after the session ends, so that if you want more lessons or a refresher down the road, we can try to pick up where we left off.
Partnership
Enrollment in my lessons marks the beginning of a partnership; students (and their parents/guardians, if applicable) and I must work together for them to achieve their goals. Students get the most out of their lessons by arriving prepared for every single one; maintaining open, two-way communication; problem-solving cooperatively; and completing any assigned homework (assignments are straightforward and don't require a pool). Children need their parents/guardians to reinforce, encourage, and celebrate their achievements as I relay them. Young, nervous, or shy children warm up to lessons most quickly when the home-pool connection is strong, e.g. the same songs, terminology, and games are found in both places.
A Wet Swim Coach
This should be a given, but yes - I am in the water almost all of the time. I don't believe I can give quality instruction from the side of the pool, fully clothed, or with dry hair. The name "Swim With Coach Julie" encapsulates my philosophy: students should learn to actually swim (not just play in the water), and I should be with them every step of the way.
Passion
Swim instruction isn't a seasonal job for me; it's a long-time, year-round passion. I love teaching! I've been doing it for decades, and I'm constantly working to improve. Whether I'm racing, playing, lounging, kayaking, rowing, exercising, or teaching, the water is simply one of my favorite places to be, and I want as many people as possible to enjoy the water as much as I do. Learning to swim opens the door to one of the few true lifetime sports.
Frequency
How much more quickly could you acquire a complex skill if you worked on it five times a week instead of just once or twice? The daily practice afforded by my program builds momentum so students get comfortable with me and grow their confidence and skills much faster than with occasional lessons. Your student will be safer around the water sooner, and you will ultimately pay for fewer lessons.
Calm environment
Group lesson times at most pools can be so loud and overwhelming that teachers have to shout to be heard, and must devote a lot of their energy and attention to crowd control rather than instruction. Anxious or easily distracted students especially need a calm - not a chaotic - environment that helps them focus. Additionally, older children and adults may feel self-conscious having lessons in front of a crowd. My indoor lessons are held during less busy times of the day, which is much more reassuring. During outdoor lessons, we have the pool to ourselves.
Interactive teaching style
People learn better when they're told AND shown what to do. I get in the water and swim with my students. I demonstrate, go underwater with them, and move their body as needed to help them get the feel for a skill. I explain to them why to do things, and even have them teach skills back to me.
Positivity
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| Students never turn down my invitation to pour water on my head! |
Frequency
How much more quickly could you acquire a complex skill if you worked on it five times a week instead of just once or twice? The daily practice afforded by my program builds momentum so students get comfortable with me and grow their confidence and skills much faster than with occasional lessons. Your student will be safer around the water sooner, and you will ultimately pay for fewer lessons.
Calm environment
Group lesson times at most pools can be so loud and overwhelming that teachers have to shout to be heard, and must devote a lot of their energy and attention to crowd control rather than instruction. Anxious or easily distracted students especially need a calm - not a chaotic - environment that helps them focus. Additionally, older children and adults may feel self-conscious having lessons in front of a crowd. My indoor lessons are held during less busy times of the day, which is much more reassuring. During outdoor lessons, we have the pool to ourselves.
Interactive teaching style
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| I want to share my love of swimming with the world. |
Positivity
I never force students to do anything. The atmosphere in my lessons is friendly, upbeat, and encouraging - never high-pressure. Students become engaged as I offer them age-appropriate choices and fun incentives. I firmly believe that students who enjoy the process of learning to swim are much more likely to enjoy swimming for the rest of their lives. They're also going to be better able to recall their skills in the event of an emergency.
Consistency
I teach every lesson myself, so your student can bypass the anxiety and wasted time of warming up to a series of new instructors. Getting to know each student well allows me to implement a consistent, sequential learning plan for every individual. From the first email you send, through the registration process, during every lesson, and for follow-up questions and refreshers, you'll be interacting with me.
I teach every lesson myself, so your student can bypass the anxiety and wasted time of warming up to a series of new instructors. Getting to know each student well allows me to implement a consistent, sequential learning plan for every individual. From the first email you send, through the registration process, during every lesson, and for follow-up questions and refreshers, you'll be interacting with me.
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| Practicing treading together |
Value
Swim lessons are one of the few activities that can save a child's life, but they can be prohibitively expensive, especially when they drag out over months or years. My lessons are priced for real families to be able to afford them, and designed to make students independent as soon as comfortably possible. As much as I love the time spent with my students, I work hard to help each of them reach the point where they no longer need me. Your goals are my goals.
Realistic scheduling
Lessons are offered early in the day when students are at their best. Sessions run for three consecutive weeks rather than stretching over months or years, so busy families can prioritize learning during a compressed time period, then move on with life - ready to enjoy the water together.
Maturity
As a fellow parent, I understand how important your child's safety is to you. You can rest assured that your student will be in the hands of an attentive, experienced adult who takes safety very seriously. My attention doesn't wander, and I don't take risks.
Swim lessons are one of the few activities that can save a child's life, but they can be prohibitively expensive, especially when they drag out over months or years. My lessons are priced for real families to be able to afford them, and designed to make students independent as soon as comfortably possible. As much as I love the time spent with my students, I work hard to help each of them reach the point where they no longer need me. Your goals are my goals.
Realistic scheduling
Lessons are offered early in the day when students are at their best. Sessions run for three consecutive weeks rather than stretching over months or years, so busy families can prioritize learning during a compressed time period, then move on with life - ready to enjoy the water together.
Maturity
As a fellow parent, I understand how important your child's safety is to you. You can rest assured that your student will be in the hands of an attentive, experienced adult who takes safety very seriously. My attention doesn't wander, and I don't take risks.
Parent education
From the moment your registration is confirmed, you'll receive helpful tips on how you can best prepare your student to get the most out of their lessons. During the session, I'll keep you informed about what we're working on in lessons and what you can do outside of the pool to build on it. At the conclusion of the session, you'll go home with concrete ideas of what to do next to ensure continued progress.
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| Students are safe in my care. |
To help equip interested parents to take over as their child's next coach, we can arrange a time for you to join us in a lesson. This adds greatly to the value of lessons as your student gets to teach you what they're learning, and I show you how to hold and cue your child. These are the kids who progress the fastest and who maintain or even grow their skills after the session ends!
No flotation devices
Students do not depend on flotation devices in any of my lessons. This allows them to really feel the water and learn how it responds to their movements. This is essential preparation for a water emergency. In many instances of childhood drowning, the child made their own way to the water. The parent never intended for the child to swim and had no opportunity to put on their flotation device.
Fatigue and hunger
Learning to swim uses an incredible amount of mental and physical energy. Older kids and adults tend to sleep very soundly during the session. Parents of young children should prepare to be extra patient because their children may be wiped out after their lesson. Young children tend to nap longer than usual during the session, and may not even make it home before falling asleep. One of my 7-year-old students, who hadn't napped in years, slept 4 hours after one of his first lessons! All students tend to have a larger than usual appetite.
No flotation devices
Students do not depend on flotation devices in any of my lessons. This allows them to really feel the water and learn how it responds to their movements. This is essential preparation for a water emergency. In many instances of childhood drowning, the child made their own way to the water. The parent never intended for the child to swim and had no opportunity to put on their flotation device.
Fatigue and hunger
Learning to swim uses an incredible amount of mental and physical energy. Older kids and adults tend to sleep very soundly during the session. Parents of young children should prepare to be extra patient because their children may be wiped out after their lesson. Young children tend to nap longer than usual during the session, and may not even make it home before falling asleep. One of my 7-year-old students, who hadn't napped in years, slept 4 hours after one of his first lessons! All students tend to have a larger than usual appetite.
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these girls over the years! |
Bugs
Since summer lessons are held in an outdoor setting, there are plenty of bugs around. They do land in the pool and sometimes on my students and me; that's inevitable since we're in their home. Students who are easily distracted or who are afraid of bugs should be prepared for this reality. Hopefully, we'll be so busy making exciting discoveries and having fun that we'll be able to largely ignore the natives. Brightly colored and/or floral patterned swimsuits should be avoided because they attract bugs.
Touch
Swim lessons are by nature a high-touch activity, as I need to physically support students in deep water, help them move their limbs correctly, adjust their body position in the water, and assist them if they run into trouble. Students who are averse to touch may need to consider this fact and begin early to prepare.
