This is a part of a four-part series on precursors in learning how to swim. We are attempting to figure out the most common parental question, when will my child learn to swim, by discussing four vital aspects that play a big roll in answering this question.
Part 4: The goal-setting aspect. Being able to manipulate the water enough to float, counting on swim memory to get safely to the side of the pool, and breaking through personal sense of readiness barriers all hinge on one thing: goal-setting. Fearful kids have got to have a good reason to want to swim. It can be something as minuscule as a material reward for coming to a lesson. It can be something as significant as wanting to attend an end-of-summer pool party without the water wings. It is up to the parents to find out where their child’s motivation or “currency” is located. Your family dynamics, parenting style and child’s personality should help guide you into what kind of language and expectation or goal-setting works best. I’ve seen small after-lesson treats like ice cream work. And I’ve seen moms telling their child in a firm voice that learning to swim is a “non-negotiable” work, too. For the instructor, I use the reward of playing with fun water toys only after skills have been accomplished as a means to teach my students about the importance of goal-setting.
Does this answer the question, when will my child learn to swim, much better? But it also leads us to another common but oh-so-hard-to-define swim question: What is the definition of swimming?
This is a part of a four-part series on precursors in learning how to swim. We are attempting to figure out the most common parental question, when will my child learn to swim, by discussing four vital aspects that play a big roll in answering this question. 
This is a part of a four-part series on precursors in learning how to swim. We are attempting to figure out the most common parental question, when will my child learn to swim, by discussing four vital aspects that play a big roll in answering this question. 
The most common question a parent could ever ask a swim teacher is, when will my child learn to swim? It’s a harmless and rightfully direct inquiry. Yet believe it or not, seasoned instructors know this is one of the most complex and controversial questions we could ever try to answer about your child.
The knowledge swim season is just around the corner can cause many families to have an initial reaction that resembles more of a cringe than one of celebration. This is because not all children fall in love with the water upon first splash. Even if you were a champion fish yourself, your child’s trepidation over swimming is often immune to your liquid-loving DNA or best parenting efforts. In fact, how a water fear develops, whether it is one imagined or actually experienced by the child, can be quite uncontrollable. Water fears develop either from something imagined or an actual negatively experienced swim experience. So something as simple as seeing an older sibling take a swim lesson – or as serious as their falling into a pool – can create a water fear.
I once had a dissatisfied parent explain to me I wasn’t teaching enough to their already-advanced 1-1/2 year old child. I explained I was doing everything I was able to do for a child of this age, but that cognitive and physical ability limit swim skills.
