PediaSwim Infant and Child Survival Swim

Tortuga Tots is bringing PediaSwim, the safest, most effective learn to swim program available to Apex, North Carolina. As a PediaSwim trained instructor, I have completed a 4 week, 1:1 instructor training that included 100+ hours of in-water training at the SouthWest Aquatics facility in Winter Garden, Florida, with the founder of PediaSwim, Joy McGinty, who has 30+ years of experience. I have a passion for making sure all kids learn to swim for safety and fun.

Once a child is crawling, usually between 6 months and 8 months, he can learn to swim between two people for fun and roll to a safe, balanced, secure float for safety. Once a child begins to crawl, they are at risk of finding an unguarded body of water and falling in. If they have learned how to behave in the water, they will roll to a float and calmly await rescue. Once a child is walking, usually between 12 months and 18 months, the swimmer can learn to swim float swim. A toddler can swim in the proper head down posture, with feet kicking at the surface, roll to a balanced float to rest and breathe, then flip back over to swim to safety. With practice, they can swim longer distances using the swim float swim sequence. Once a child is two or three years old, depending how early they began their aquatic education, she can begin Stroke Progression. Small children can easily learn to backstroke from the balanced back float. Side breathing is simple as they already have the core strength for a roll. Butterfly and breaststroke are fun to learn when children are confident and secure in their swimming and floating.

Once a child can walk, they are strong enough to flip from a float to swim back to safety. Toddlers can be taught to swim float swim and even begin stroke lessons. Research shows that early swimmers meet their developmental milestones earlier than their non-swimming counterparts.

Our PediaSwim Course provides children with private, one-on-one lessons. At the end of the course, your child will be able to swim with their face in the water and feet kicking at the surface. They will learn to rotate onto their back to rest and breath – then return to the horizontal swimming posture. The lessons are private, everyday, Monday to Friday for approximately 4-6 weeks, until they can confidently and independently perform the skillset. The duration of the course depends on their previous swim experience. Each lesson is ten minutes long and the course is cumulative, they will learn from the previous lesson. For parents… The parents job is to be the child’s cheerleader. I want you and your baby to be comfortable. Your baby will be more comfortable when they see you sitting down, with a smile on your face and giving signs of encouragement. After handing your baby to the me, grab a seat and enjoy your child’s progress. You will be invited into the pool once I am confident the child is ready to practice their new skills with you. This is typically in the second or third week of lessons.

Lessons are 10 minutes or 15 minutes based on age endurance. Lessons structure focuses on mastering survival swim skills, not just basic water acclimation. You will see that our lesson time is spent focusing on building the appropriate skills. While lesson times may seem short, they are designed to offer an individualized lesson of solid instruction while maintaining your swimmers attention span. Shorter lessons allow us to end instruction time with swimmers feeling positive about accomplishments without feeling fatigue. Short, consistent lessons are key in allowing your child to retain and master their skills in weeks, not months/years of lessons.

PediaSwim teaches children self rescue, lifesaving skills in the water. Infant self rescue is the ability of an infant to roll over and float unassisted to rest and breathe until someone finds them. Children should learn to love swimming and we should teach the whole child, physically and mentally. Parent education is a huge part of teaching a baby. Children should continue their aquatic education to make sure survival skills stay sharp and the child stays confident in those skills.

Please have your child wear a REUSABLE swim diaper without buttons or snaps, and please make sure it fits snug around the waste and legs. Also, bring two towels, a change of clothes, and a positive attitude. Your child will feed off of your energy, so please, sit back relax, and cheer them on.

The focus of week one is teaching your swimmer basic breath control, how to find the wall, and introduce proper swimming positions (facedown with forward movement through the water). The goal is to have safe, confident swimmers who are able to problem solve in the water.

Every child progresses at a different rate. New swimmers, 4 years and younger, in the Basic Training program generally require 4-6 weeks of consecutive lessons to master their skills. Lessons are 5 days per week taught consecutively. Swimmers age 5 years and older generally require less time to complete Basic Training with consecutive lessons.

Swimmers may cry during their first lessons. Swimmers may continue to cry after several lessons and beyond. Children need an opportunity to build trust with their instructor. As a parent you set the tone for your child during lessons, and they absolutely know that crying tugs at your heart. What if your child cried every time you buckled them in the carseat, would you just say "Ok, you don't have to be buckled in."? Be their biggest cheerleader! Tell them how amazing they are and how proud you are of them. Remember, you want them to be safe and have a respect for the water. You are truly giving them skills that could save their life.

I do not offer make-up lessons. Due to the fact the lessons are daily consecutive lessons, there are no extra days in the week for make-up lessons. If you are not able to make your specific time slot one day and I have a different time slot open that day, I am more than happy to move your lesson for the day. If lessons are cancelled by Tortuga Tots Swim Academy due to weather, facility or instructor issues, I will either re-schedule lessons or credit that lesson on your account.

No, I do not offer refunds. Deposits for basic training can be rolled to a later session within the year. I ask for an upfront deposit that will cover the first 2 weeks for training, and then each following week must be paid in full before the start of the week.

YES! You are always welcome to stay and watch during lessons. Please keep in mind that if your child is still trying to develop trust with me, then it might be best to stay out of their line of sight, play on your phone, or cheer them on from your seat.