More Than Just Swim Lessons – Goldfish Swim School

Thank you to Goldfish Swim School for their partnership. While I received complimentary swim lessons to facilitate this post, all opinions are 100% my own.

My little water baby was 2 months old the first time she went swimming. She has always loved the water. Last winter, when I was desperate to get out of the house and do something with the baby, we discovered Goldfish Swim School. Since then, we have been going pretty regularly to their Family Swim (you don’t have to be a member or enrolled in swim classes to go, but there is a fee).

It wasn’t until recently, though, that Evie had her first swim lesson at Goldfish. And she did great! I was reluctant to sign her up for classes because I always thought, “what could they really teach a baby this small?”. After seeing how the classes at Goldfish Swim School work, I’ve completely changed my mind!

Evie is in the infant class that has kids 4-35 months. A parent goes into the pool with the child and you work on techniques together to help the child become comfortable in the pool. The lessons also focus on water safety. We worked on climbing in and out of the pool and swimming back to the wall. I was really impressed with how they incorporated fun activities into the techniques. E was having fun and able to catch on pretty quickly!

They also helped me learn so much more about what I can do to help E learn while we are having fun in the pool during Family Swim. You can attend Family Swim for free when you are enrolled in lessons. There are several times available during the week! Working on the techniques in between lessons has made our time in the pool so much more valuable.

Her teacher was also so friendly! When we got into the pool, E was greeted by Elmo. We sang a welcome song and she warmed up to her teacher pretty quickly. During our lesson, there are other lessons going on for different age groups, but the pool is divided into lanes.

When you check in, you scan a card and it tells you which lane your child is in and who their teacher is. All the lessons start at the same time, so a teacher calls the kids in all at once and you find your lane. At the end, they call the parents to let them know they are finished. It was a pretty smooth process considering how many kids were there for all different lessons!

The student to teacher ratio is kept low, though, so there is lots of one on one attention. Most classes are 4:1 (students to teachers). E’s class is 6:1, but there weren’t even that many!

The pool area is HOT and the water is kept at 90 degrees, so shivering is not a problem at all. There is a viewing area with plenty of chairs outside of the pool area so parents can watch the lessons.

The changing area has tons of amenities. The changing rooms are private and there are also several restrooms with changing tables. They have Bumbos available for the little ones and diapers and wipes if you need those things, too! If you are worried about wet hair in the wintertime, they have a station with blow dryers!

I am excited to watch E progress in the pool. I couldn’t tell you enough how it would be worth it to get your babies started early in the pool! There was a boy in E’s class who wasn’t much older than she was, but he was much more skilled because he’s been going to lessons. And not only are they learning to swim but they are also learning important ways to stay safe in the water.

If you are looking for something fun to do to keep active in the winter I suggest checking out Goldfish Swim School. You can check out all of the swim lesson options here and find your local GSS to check out Family Swim times. We plan to keep up with lessons all year, but let me tell you, that nice warm pool in the wintertime can be like a mini-vacation!