Today Natalie had a swim assessment to place in her into the appropriate level for swimming lessons. We decided swim lessons were appropriate as I was finding taking her and trying to get her to listen way too frustrating. I may be more patient with her than I used to be, but you have to "know your limits"! So I contacted a local outfit, Sport for Life that conducts lessons here in the Vizcaya pool and found out they have both group and private lessons for kids. The instructor, Regan Petelski, agreed to assess Natalie's skills before her first set of group lessons. I made sure that Natalie knew before hand that she had to listen to the teacher during the assessment and also to do her best floating and stroking for her. So, we got there a few minutes early and she was funny to watch as she was deliberately (well, as deliberate as a four year-old gets) swimming smoothly and slowly. Especially once the teacher got there. The teacher came over and said she didn't even need to get in the pool with her, she could see already that she was ready for the "advanced" Turtles class (the highest level for 4-5 year old). Unfortunately the class she had room in (we are joining mid season) was on Thursday's at the same time as ballet! My first experience at clashing kid's activities! The good news was that she had an opening on Tuesdays for the first level of Turtles. There are only two boys in that class on one of the boys is out of town for the next few weeks, so it seemed like a great opportunity for more one-on-one teaching. Plus, for those of you who know Natalie, you know that she gets very overwhelmed and takes time to feel comfortable with new things. We call it "being reserved". She is not so much shy, though may be just the parent in me trying to find an acceptable label for her. Anyway, the intro class seemed like a fine idea. The instructor, Regan, did feel that she would be able to advance to the swimming fundamentals as soon as she got through this beginning class. Usually you have to be 5 to move up, but she felt you shouldn't hold someone back due to their age (and yes, I know that sounds like a proud parent). She was impressed with her skills for not having had any formal lessons. So a BIG THANKS go out to all of the Aunts, Uncles, and Grandparents, who have taken the time to swim with Natalie over the past few years!
It turned out the class was right after the assessment, so Natalie got to have her first one. There was one other little boy in the class, Dominick. He was not a good listener! At first, as I suspected would happen, she listened, but would not always perform the task the teacher asked. She was a little suspicious I guess about why she had to put her elbow on the bottom of the pool. She kept eyeballing me and I considered stepping around the corner, but Regan was good and she got Natalie to the other side of the pool and talked right to her. And slowly I say Natalie loosen up and then she really started enjoying it. By the time the class was over, she was grinning ear to ear. She used a kick board and was doing good breathing all the way down the length of the pool. I was really impressed with the instructor as well, as she really did a nice job. Regan was from Vancouver and moved here to Shanghai about a year ago. She just wanted to experience something different.
So, now Natalie gets to have a swim lesson every week. Sorry no pictures this time, I did not expect for her to actually have a whole lesson! Next week I will take some pics and movies for all to see how she is progressing. Oh, and I forgot to add her funny quip that she said at the end of the lesson. I came over to the side of the pool after the instructor got out and told Natalie how well she had done and how proud I was of her. And she smiled back and said "Thanks. Can I go to the deep end now? I know how to swim you know." And she was serious. She thought after that one lesson she was an expert. If that is not a chip off the old block...
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