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Help the Fresh Air Fund Host Children

It’s official – MaM’s foray into day camp this summer is half over. She’s signed up for nine weeks, and yesterday she went on her 5th field trip. It doesn’t seem possible, but she’s got four weeks of camp, a week of Camp Grandma, and then it’s off to first grade!

This summer, through day camp alone, she’s had serious swimming and rock climbing time. She’s learned all sorts of organized games, and has gone on five field trips. She’s having a great time, and she’s getting a good dose of indirect learning to boot.

I know not all kids get to have this kind of summer– but until I learned about the Fresh Air Fund, I couldn’t really picture the contrast. Imagine living in the city and never leaving. Never being someplace where you can run barefoot. Never enjoying a shady park, or the cool breeze of the ocean. Never playing outside without having to constantly look for cars. Always hearing sirens, trucks, and the sounds of the city.

The Fresh Air Fund helped nearly 5000 kids in 2010 alone by getting them to host families in the suburbs and countryside in thirteen states. They sent 3000 more to summer camp. They gave nearly 8000 children a summer vacation the children wouldn’t have had otherwise.

This year, the Fresh Air Fund needs 850 more host families to make sure each child has a host family. Families can host for one or two weeks in their home, and the child travels to you. Currently, thirteen states (NE seaboard) are hosting. If you live in the right area and have it in your heart, please consider hosting. If you’d like to help in other ways, here’s a link to donate, and here’s a link to the microsite, freshairfundhost.org with all sorts of banners, videos and information about this amazing program.

Do you have a few minutes to watch this video about a family hosting an eight year old from NYC? You’ll be glad you did!

 

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Learning to Swim: Deciding on Lessons

When I signed MaM up for swimming lessons last year, I shopped by price, location, and availability. We settled on the pool closest to our house, which happened to have reasonably priced lessons at a time we could commit to. With all of the choices out there, here are a few factors to consider when signing your child up for swimming lessons:

Inside v. Outside: One thing I did not foresee last summer- at least one thunderstorm per week in the month of July. Her three week session got extended to six, and they just squeezed in the last lessons the week before school started. This year, MaM is taking her lessons inside at the Fort Ben YMCA. Weather, except for lightning/tornado warnings, is not an issue.

Time of Day: I knew we’d have to do lessons this year on non-day camp days. There was no way I was going to attempt to get someplace in the evening on a regular basis on my two work days each week. We ended up choosing lessons around noontime. A friend of mine learned the hard way the morning swim lessons in June may not be the way to go- the water for the parent/child class was COLD at 9am!

Something to keep in mind: Distractions. Last summer, the outdoor pool was closed except for the class being taught. This summer, MaM’s lessons are happening next to another group lesson, a water aerobics class and an open swim. There’s a lap pool across the way, and there’s music on the entire time. She doesn’t seem to mind, but for some kids, that might be too much stimuli.

Size of Group: Most places offer group lessons, semi-private, and private lessons. Group lessons are the most common, and many kids are served well by the positive peer pressure presented in a group lesson format. Your child may not try tread water for 30 seconds with you, but with a few friends, motivated by an instructor, it could totally happen. The YMCA keeps a ratio of 1:5 for kids ages 3-5, and aims for 1:8 in the 6-12 age group. Semi-private guarantees a smaller group, and private means it’s 1:1 instruction. I asked Javier Urias, aquatics director at the Fort Ben Y when private lessons might be needed. He said that it will depend on the child, but that some children need more individualized attention. He likened it to hiring a math tutor- sometimes, your child just needs that extra time. (True story: I had private lessons at my hometown Y waaayyy back in the day so I could pass my Girl Scout swim test and swim in the deep water!)

MaM is halfway through her four week course, and is having a great time. Today she swam across our neighborhood pool, which just wowed me. It’s amazing how fast kids pick things up with some practice!

Disclosure: This is the third in a series of posts about the program offerings through the  Greater Indianapolis YMCA. MaM is being provided swimming lessons in exchange for these posts.

 

 

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Learning to Swim: Jumping in Feet First

As I mentioned last week, this week I’m jumping into the aquatics programs offered by the YMCA of Greater Indianapolis. I don’t know about you, but it’s a combination of YMCA & Girl Scout camp that taught me how to swim back in the day.

While I learned how to swim myself, I wasn’t sure what to do when it came to instructing my own children (ignore the fact that I am a teacher, married to a lifeguard, ok?) on how to swim. We’ve always swam each summer, and enjoy hotel pools when we can, but how, exactly, were we supposed to teach our kids to swim? What’s the definition of knowing how to swim? Doing the front crawl? The deadman’s float? Treading water?

In my conversations with Javier Urias, Aquatics Director for the Ft. Benjamin Harrison YMCA, he answered these questions and many more (his answers are in italics).

What’s a good age to start swimming lessons? The earlier, the better!

The YMCA (and many other swimming programs around town) offer parent/child classes for children as young as 6 months old. The sooner your child is comfortable in the water, the better. Parents are required to be in the water for the 0-3 classes. When parents are there for the early lessons, it makes the separation easier when your child is old enough for the peer classes.

Once your child is in a peer class (no parent participation required)– what do you do as a parent?

This is a direct quote from Javier made me laugh out loud: “As an instructor I don’t mind if the parent sticks around and watches from a distance at any level. They must be in the water with the children in the parent child classes which are for children 6mos -3yrs. It’s when parents try “help out” during the class and jump in the water, this can interfere with the Peer grouping/Instructor relationship that we try and develop during our classes. It’s important for children to be in a group of their peers experience swim lessons with their peers.” (Can you imagine??)

Last summer MaM took lessons through the parks department, and the policy there was for parents to sit away from the lessons, and that worked just fine. To be honest, at MaM’s first YMCA lesson this week, we sat a foot away from the pool. Not because she needed me to, but because her younger brother was miffed that he couldn’t jump in with her (friends, it was not pretty- note to self, the boy is ready for swim class).

If given the choice of having 8 swim lessons over the course of 8 weeks (1x per week)  or 4 weeks (2x per week), which model works best for most kids? Does frequency help retention? YES! Frequency does help. Either way works fine but the most important thing to keep in mind is that if the parent is willing to work with the child and come to the pool on the off days to practices what was taught during lessons this helps tremendously. Make sure your instructor gives homework for you and your child to work on in between classes. Extra practice always helps when you are learning a new skill.

I never thought about asking for homework from our swim instructor, but it makes sense. Whether it’s simply getting comfortable leaving the side the pool, a particular part to a stroke or coordinating breathing and arm movements, of course practicing helps. Mam’s lessons are Tuesday/Thursday, so I’m planning to review the skills she’s learning over each weekend.

Thanks to Javier for answering my incessant questions. Next week we’ll be talking about what to look for in group instruction, and when private lessons may be the answer to learning to swim. Have a question or a funny swim lesson story to share? Leave it in the comments!

Disclosure: This is the second in a series of posts about the program offerings through the  Greater Indianapolis YMCA. MaM is being provided swimming lessons in exchange for these posts.