Four times a year, Goldfish Swim School devotes an entire week of swim lessons as WATER Safety Awareness Week to keep families (especially toddlers) safe in and around the water. Specifically, instructors use integrity, compassion, and trust to teach kids and their parents the WATER safety guidelines. Not sure what those are? Here you go:

WATER safety guidelines

Wear your life jacket!

Act. Throw! Don’t go.

Take swim lessons.

Educate and learn swim safety skills.

Respect, play it cool, and follow the rules.

Wear your life jacket!

One of the easiest ways to increase safety in the water is to wear a life jacket. There are plenty of different types of life jackets to fit all sizes, and children should wear child-sized life jackets and not adult ones, which won’t fit properly. Life jackets help to keep your head above water so you can continue to breathe properly in case continuing to swim isn’t feasible (muscle cramp, injury, tiredness, etc.), so don’t forget to use them!

Act: Throw! Don’t go.

Do your kids know what to do in a swimming emergency? They should ACT! Their first instinct may be to go toward a person having trouble in the water (especially after the extraordinary results from their swim lessons!). Instead, Goldfish swimming classes teach kids to THROW a life preserver to someone in trouble and DON’T GO! That way, they aren’t putting themselves in jeopardy as well and are truly able to help.

Take swim lessons.

Knowing how to swim provides so many benefits to kids, but it is an extremely valuable life skill because it teaches kids how to take care of themselves should they accidentally end up in trouble in the water. (Not signed up yet? No problem! Kids ages 4 months and older can start swim lessons at Goldfish Swim School!)

Educate: Learn swim safety skills.

Swimming is fun, but it’s important that kids learn how to be safe in and around the pool. Goldfish Swim School teaches a plethora of swim skills, especially focusing on the Top 5 Things All Kids Should Know How to Do in the Water to keep kids safe while they’re having fun. But in addition, Goldfish Swim School always incorporates safety skills each and every week during lessons. How’s that for some WOW customer service?!

Respect: Play it cool and follow the rules.

Rules are there for a reason, especially when it comes to rules for the pool. Walk, don’t run around the pool; make sure an adult is watching; no horseplay, you get the drift. All the rules help kids stay safe in and near water, so WATER Safety Awareness Week helps reiterate those rules so your kids won’t question them.

What will each class focus on during WATER Safety Awareness Week?

Besides talking about safety and working more heavily on back floats (and getting special safety postcards and prestigious ribbons!), swim classes will focus on the following:

MINI classes, ages 4 months to 35 months old

  • The main focus is for parents to stay no more than an arm’s length away from their little ones when they are in the bathtub.
  • Other water safety skills and discussions take place.

JUNIOR toddler classes, ages 3 to 4 years old

  • Children learn how to identify lifeguards.
  • It is stressed that children always swim with an adult watching.
  • Toddlers practice what they should do if they accidentally fall in the water.
  • They also practice jumping in the pool without their goggles.

BEGINNER classes, ages 5 and older

  • Beginners learn all of the above water safety practices.
  • In addition, they will practice jumping in the water, rolling over, and floating without their goggles.

GLIDER/GLIDER+/STAR/PRO advanced classes

  • Swimmers in the advanced classes also learn all the above water safety practices.
  • The advanced swimmers will also repeat practicing how to jump in the water, roll over, and float on their back—all without their goggles on.

Goldfish Swim School

Call your local swim school to find out when the next WATER Safety Awareness Week will be (In 2015, there will be two: One March 15-21 and another June 7-13). In addition, Goldfish Swim School will celebrate Water Safety Day on May 16, with all sorts of special activities, including visits from police and fire departments! Join in for a GOLDEN experience!