Why substitutes are good for your swimmers progress?
We love all of our teachers because each teach brings a unique perspective to the lessons. As weeks roll on, each teacher develops a special relationship with the swimmers in their classes and gets to know their swimming ability and style. There is a very special trust and bond that is developed and strengthened each week during the lessons. The pool-learning environment requires a strong sense of trust and security, which is formed over time and with consistent lessons. Your child’s teacher knows their particular strengths, abilities, and where they might need development. It is this bond that promotes success in the lessons over time and the reason we focus on providing a consistent teacher for our swimmers. Routines, especially for younger children help them feel safe and secure, which in turn will help them learn and grow.
All of our teachers are trained to teach the same progression with the same class anatomy, progression, verbiage and cues. It is actually the beauty of our program! With our progression, each level is presented the same way, in the same order in all five of our locations. All of our teachers participate in the same training program, which consists of in-water trailing, quizzes, education videos and Q & A sessions with location managers and their training captain. Before a new teacher is given their own classes, they must complete the 40+ hours of training and be approved through by the location manager and training captain.
Our training and ongoing review process ensures that all of our lessons are being taught effectively and efficiently. The only difference is all teachers (just like all children) have different personalities, energy levels and emotional feedback. This is really what makes us so unique!! This consistency in our program is very beneficial for our families as well!! It is the main reason why it is so easy for us to accommodate scheduling changes and offer makeups for scheduling conflicts and illness.
Every now and then a teacher will take a day off for sickness or personal reasons just like anyone else. How dare they right? Of course, we want them there, in fact they are rewarded with financial bonuses for their attendance and consistency. In the event that they are out for the day, they are required to send notes for each class to the teacher who is covering the lessons. We then provide qualified substitute teachers in their absence. A substitute teacher is a fresh set of eyes, which providing a new perspective and feedback for each child or explain something in a way that will “click” in a swimmer’s brain. This change in routine may in fact help your child overcome an obstacle or master a particular skill or look at it a different way. This is very common especially when a child seems to hit a plateau with their consistent teacher and he or she has a “break-through” with the substitute teacher.
Change is good, controlled change is better.
Children, like us, will handle the change best if it’s expected and occurs within a familiar environment. If there is a change in the teacher for the day, we do provide notification. But children, especially toddlers, may have difficult with time – so it’s critical to relay this message to them within a time frame that they can process it, without having too much time to dwell on it or cause anxiety.
The process of learning our skills relies on the “perfect practice” and consistency in building muscle memory. For some children, this can become monotonous and boring and they may lose interest before the skill is mastered. Having a new teacher for a day can break them out of that same old routine and give them a chance to try something new.
Transitions and change are part of life. How children deal with changes will play an important role in their personality as they develop. Providing a safe and effective haven for change for our swimmers will help to give them an understanding of change and not see it as a negative. By providing them with an easy transition to a substitute swim teacher, while practicing the progression they are familiar with already, we may be giving them tools for life. Think of all the great things your child will learn and improve in the pool with the next time they switch a class or are lucky enough to have a substitute for the day!
