You teach your children many things: How to cross the street, ride a bike and tie their shoes. But if you don’t know how to swim, they aren’t going to learn this valuable life-saving skill from you. So what’s a parent to do who doesn’t know how to swim? Here are some tips:

DON’T impart your fear on your kids.

Many parents are afraid of being in bodies of water where they can’t touch the bottom than will admit to it, right? Fear of water is a pretty common one, and generally deep-rooted – often stemming from an incident during childhood. Your fear is nothing to be ashamed of, but it’s important that you don’t unknowingly (and even knowingly) pass that fear along to your kids.

We know you don’t want your kids to grow up fearing the water. At Goldfish Swim School, you can rest assured that our instructors use integrity, compassion and trust to teach kids about water safety during every single swim lesson – in addition to regular swim skills. The water is to be respected, for sure, but remaining calm in the water benefits you more than being afraid does.

When you talk to your kids, let them know you aren’t comfortable in deep water because you weren’t taught how to properly stay safe in the water – but that by taking swim lessons at Goldfish Swim School, your kids will learn all about water safety and how to swim and they will have a GOLDEN experience in the water for years to come!

DO take an adult swim class.

Or, you can always join the kids and learn for yourself. Overcoming a fear of the water may be easier said than done, but take a chance: For your kids and yourself.  It’s NEVER too late to learn to swim!

Even if you never really learned how to swim as a kid, you can still benefit from learning as an adult – especially if you’re a parent. Swimming is great exercise, a wonderful family activity and a nice way to de-stress.

But what if you’re afraid of being in deep water? It’s hard to thinking about letting your kids learn to swim and then actually letting them swim in the water when you don’t know how to swim yourself. What if your child wants to go in the deep end where neither of you can touch the bottom? It’s hard to say “no” all the time, so you may feel like you just won’t bother with going in the water together in the first place.

If YOU learn how to swim, you’ll feel more comfortable having your kids in the water. You’ll feel confident that you can not only handle yourself in the water, but you can keep your kids safe, too.

DO learn water safety tips

Even if you’re not comfortable swimming in the water, it’s important to know water safety tips (and teach them to your kids). Drowning is a real concern, and it doesn’t always look like it does in the movies, with arms flailing about. In reality, drowning is often silent. Learn how to recognize the signs of drowning, what to do to stay safe, and how to prevent dry drowning.

One of the best things about the swim lessons at Goldfish Swim School is that we teach water safety   during every lesson, and a few times a year we really focus on water safety. That means your kids are not only learning how to do key swim strokes, but they’re also learning what to do in an emergency. Even the littlest of swimmers learn to roll over onto their backs if they get tired and feel like they can’t swim – they’ll take a breath, relax for a second, and then keep swimming when they’re ready. And, the kids even practice treading water!

DO have water safety devices available

Whenever you go swimming, make sure there are water safety devices available – and know how to use them. Make sure your kids wear life vests in deep water, have a flotation device ready to use if needed, only swim where there is approved swimming, and have the kids swim where there is a lifeguard on duty or another adult swimming with them. Even if you’re not in the water with your kids, make sure someone else is.

DO always be aware

Kids are quick little fishes. They can get into things in no time before moms and dads even realize what they’re doing. If you’re somewhere around a pool or body of water, be aware that kids aren’t trying to get in the water without supervision. And when they are swimming, make sure to keep an eye on them.

You’ll be able to rest comfortably when your kids take swim lessons at Goldfish Swim School and you see their extraordinary results (which you’ll certainly celebrate every week!), and you’ll be able to breathe a little easier while you watch them playing in the water.

Keep kids safe in the water with Goldfish Swim School

Just because you don’t know how to swim doesn’t mean your kids can’t learn. Sign them up for swim lessons at a Goldfish Swim School location near you and have them learning how to swim in no time – and maybe it will even make you want to learn, too! Stop in and check out the pool and notice our WOW! customer service, too.