squidkid.

Did you know that August is one of my slowest months for swim lessons? Sounds hard to believe since it is still summer. But it is slow because many families are on last-minute vacations, dealing with the transition of starting school, and are generally burned out. Such are the secrets you need to keep in mind when creating consistency and results for your SquidKid.

• Know thy busy seasons. June and July are my busiest months. If parents want lessons in these months, you have to start calling swim programs in February or the second you see ads.
• Find instructors or pool programs that offer a consistent schedule for long-term planning. I cannot expect to be booked by families if I don’t offer a schedule that can be counted on. My entire yearly schedule can be viewed here.
• When kids are off from school, instructors should be off too. Families go on ski trips during Ski Week, a Hawaiian Break during Spring Break, and Grandma’s at Christmas.
• Don’t plan any lessons 2-3 days before or after any holiday or major event. There is nothing like beating the crowd when going somewhere during busy holiday weekends, as well as not having to rush home. Even just having an extra day to prepare for a party without cramming in a lesson is nice. Yes, I feel the same way, which is why I plan days off around holidays. Kids don’t much like to show up to swimming on Halloween either, when they’d rather be wearing a costume with face paint.
• Book as much as you can so as to keep on schedule. Planning removes doubt — if you know when the kids are out or when you have vacations, you should be able to see where you are in the long-term scale of things.
• Know the cancellation policies of the program. Kids get sick, as do instructors. Is is a 24 or 48-hour notice in case of cancellation? How do they reschedule? Is there an extra fee for doing so?
• Plan a break from swimming. Every family needs one. Take a month off.
• If you want a refreshed instructor at the top of their teaching game, find one in the Fall. This is when I have fully recovered from the summer and my load is very small.
• The more “together” a swim program or person is, the more you have to keep planning ahead. I used to get booked for summer by April. I get requests and calls in January now for summer lessons. Stay on your instructor or swim connections.