pearson's 1st swim lessons

I went back and forth on whether I wanted to do swim lessons for Pearson this summer.  I had a feeling that he might be too young for them, but I went ahead and did them just because it was something fun for us to do.  We went to a lady in my neighborhood that was pretty inexpensive.  I'm really glad that I didn't end up doing something intense or expensive because he was soooooooo not ready for swim lessons.  I kind of felt like we basically paid someone to swim in their pool.  Other than Day 2, I think he really had alot of fun though.  Everyday he would talk about going "Swi-Yin (Swimming) with "Miss Mi-Na" (Myra). 

Day 1: He wouldn't cooperate without me in the pool so I ended up having to get in the pool.  I really didn't want to do that, but it was the only way that we could get him to do what we wanted him to.  He wouldn't float on his back, use his arms to scoop the water or climb around the edge of the pool, but he did a great job kicking, blowing bubbles in the water, and jumping off the step.  

Day 2: I went ahead and got in the pool because it seems to work well the first day.  About 10 minutes into the lesson he spotted the toys that he got to play with at the end of yesterdays lesson.  We wouldn't let him play with them because we hadn't finished all of the activities she had planned.  He started crying and then just lost it.  I couldn't get him to calm down so we just had to leave.  

Day 3:  Since the day before was such a disaster we decided to see how he would do without me in the pool.  I hid inside their house and watched them through the window.  He did great!!  He did everything his teacher asked him and even had a smile on his face most of the time.  His favorite thing to do this day was when his teacher would put toys on the step and he would have to put his face under water to get them.  I was really impressed at how he followed directions this day. 

Day 4:  I decided to just wait in the car this day so I didn't see what they were doing.  I was going to go in the backyard for the last 5 minutes to watch them, but it started lightening so I didn't get to see any of his 4th lesson.  She said he did well though. 

Overall, he did okay.  I definitely wouldn't recommend doing swim lessons this young though.  He won't remember anything he learned this summer and he definitely didn't walk away knowing how to swim.  I knew that he wouldn't be swimming, but I had hoped that he would be able to grab the side and crawl himself back to the steps and be more comfortable kicking and floating on his back.  I'm not sure he really grasped any concepts though.  It was more fun and games for him.  We'll definitely try swim lessons again next summer as I think he will be a better age for it!!