Fridays are Goldfish Night

 ** A Geek Daddy is a Goldfish Swim School Brand Ambassador**

We've put the holiday season behind us and now that a new year has begun our family is back in the full swing of our normal routine.  My wife and I are back to the normal grind of our work schedules, the twins have resumed school, and on Friday nights the kids are jumping into the pool at Goldfish Swim School.  We've made an evening visit to Goldfish Swim School for my kids swim lessons a part of our regular routine and it is a great way for the kids to unwind, have some fun, and improve a valuable skill at the end of the week.  Same time, same place each week there is a consistency to visiting Goldfish's facility thanks to their perpetual lessons format of scheduling swim classes.

Goldfish Swim School's Perpetual Lessons scheduling model has children attending classes continuously at the same time and on the same day of the week until an instructor graduates them to a new level of training and switches their session or a family decides to stop taking classes.  No short term sessions scheduled for a few weeks at a time at Goldfish Swim School as kids just keep swimming with parents paying month-to-month.  This really provides a nice consistency for both children and parents.  Understanding that today's families have busy, hectic schedules, Goldfish Swim School doesn't lock you into your set day if life gets in the way of your child missing a swim class.  Parents can switch a child's weekly appointment up to 12 times per year to an alternate make-up time that works better when scheduling conflicts do arise.  I really appreciate that Goldfish Swim School provides me with consistency to know for an extended period of time what our family's weekly routine is going to be but the flexibility that if something comes up unexpectedly we aren't  locked in so that we can't adjust our schedule.

Goldfish Swim School caters to children 4 months to 12 years old.  My kids may be twins but they are at different skill levels with my son in Glider Plus and my daughter in the Star class.  Though they are in different classes our family's experience with Goldfish is that the school has been very accommodating at getting the twins' lessons and make-up sessions scheduled at similar times so we aren't having to make duplicate trips to their facility individually for each child. I also have appreciated the personalized attention each of my children is getting at Goldfish Swim School as each of their 30 minute lessons is limited to a class size of 4 kids.

Children can start off learning to swim in the school's Junior / Toddler classes as early as 3 years old.  There is also a Beginner's class for older children 5+ just learning to swim so they aren't stuck in the class with 3 and 4 year olds.  Goldfish also has infant programs where parents can get in the pool with 4 to 35 month old children to help get their children comfortable with being in the water.  For older kids like mine that are 4 years and older who have advanced beyond the Junior / Toddler and Beginner classes they can advance through additional levels of lessons to help them sharpen their swimming skills.

My son is in the Glider Plus level of Goldfish Swim School lessons.  There are three goals children need to attain in these lessons before moving up to the next level. First, a student must be able to swim Freestyle for 20 feet independently.  Second, he or she must be able to independently roll over and take a breath while swimming.  Finally, the child must be able to independently swim the basic backstroke for 20 feet.

My daughter is in the Star level.  There are four objectives these students must achieve before moving up to a higher level.  First, students need to be able to do roll-over breaths while they swim. Second, he or she needs to be able to Freestyle swim the width of the pool while utilizing roll-over breaths.  Third, a child need to be able to swim the width of the pool utilizing the elementary Backstroke.  Finally, a student must be able to back float independently for 10 seconds.

Once a child has consistently achieved all of the requirements for a class, he or she receives an accomplishment ribbon and is promoted to a higher level.  Once a student has passed the four advanced class levels (Glider, Glider Plus, Star and Pro) then they can participate in the Goldfish Swim Team program for children ages 5 to 12 years old.  These kids participate in an hour-long weekly class where in-water instructors help the swimmers with proficiency in the four major swim strokes – Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke, Freestyle – as well as learn racing skills like starts, turns and finishes.  Every quarter there is a Swim Meet at your Goldfish Swim School location that allows these swimmers to show off their abilities.  Both my son and daughter are excited about the opportunity to participate on the Goldfish Swim Team and have been working hard to succeed in their classes.

From talking to their instructors after two months in their current classes it appears they are both going to be graduating to a higher level next week with my son moving on to Star and my daughter to Pro so those Swim Team spots are within both of their reach in the foreseeable future.  Stay tuned to A Geek Daddy as I continue to share our experiences at Goldfish Swim School and provide updates on how the kids are progressing with their swim lessons.

Gold Fish Swim Schools originated in Metro Detroit and over the last decade have expanded beyond Michigan into 14 other states (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma & Texas).  For more information,  please visit goldfishswimschool.com



A Geek Daddy receives free lessons at Goldfish Swim School for my two children in exchange for promotional consideration.  Opinions expressed are honest and my own.