Lessons at Goldfish Swim School: four reasons to come swim this winter

Oklahoma City family fun can vary from the norm. Right now is all about Christmas activities and those definitely have their place but it's nice to take a break from even the happiest of seasons.

We've finished our first session at Goldfish Swim School, the new facility I posted about here in October. I mentioned at the end of that post that I would report back in a few weeks with our impressions and an update on how it's going. 

My son, Isaac, is 5 and his brother, Gabriel, is 2. Neither had much swimming experience before we started this fall. I was anxious to see how they would progress since the school's methods are new to us. 

One nice aspect of the program is that we could choose a different day and time for lessons. There's a perpetual lesson model that keeps your tuition fees current and lets you have some flexibility. It's an ideal way to go about lessons as schedules change; we're not locked into Thursday nights, so if something else comes along that we want to do next semester, it's not like we're optionless.

Here are four reasons why you should come swim at Goldfish this winter:

Take a scheduled break from the holidays and from everything else: Decking the halls, wrapping gifts and penciling in another caroling event are all part of the season but sometimes, it feels great to just leave that behind. I speak from experience because Gabriel's lessons is a mommy-and-me class. No one can call you while you're in the pool. I'm five months pregnant and it feels good to have low-impact movement in the water too. Adults aren't the only ones who feel the stress of the season. I know my kindergartner looks forward to each Thursday night lesson too.

See their progress: Four weeks with just one class makes for a surprising amount of skill improvement. The teachers give each child ribbons to recognize his or her new abilities and there's nothing more coveted between my sons. Skills like putting one's face in the water and kicking with straight legs are rewarded in a way that makes children want to keep trying. 

Learn life-saving skills before summer: Teachers will educate on statistics like the fact that many children who drown fall in a pool and are just a couple of feet off the pool wall, like literally 24-inches. Learning how to climb out is an essential skill, besides how to swim to safety. I feel better knowing my children are getting this instruction now, before the season of boating, swimming and pool parties. 

Your child just might sleep better: Water is so relaxing. I've noticed that we're all ready for bed after our evening showers. No one's fighting the bedtime routine after swimming class and that's actually a nice change in winter. Isaac has asthma and swimming is ideal for that as well.

Swimming can be a love or hate-type activity. I would rather they love it and Goldfish has an approach that makes an affinity more likely. Grandparents and aunts in our family are always asking what would make a good gift. We don't need one more toy, sweater or plate of candy. I would so much rather have an intangible like a class, especially one that isn't a huge commitment. A session there could be an ideal option. I don't know yet if we'll continue past December since schedules tend to change but we'll certainly see what Santa brings. Here's a link to a holiday special going on now.

There are also family swim sessions on the weekends and you don't have to be a member to try out the pool.

Next week, I'll post about Christmas activities. If you're looking for those already, find them here. 

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy floating in the pool.