I have a theory, and here's my hypothesis:
Hypothesis: A child will learn to swim faster if exposed to swimming videos in addition to practice in the water.
Reason: When completing my Red Cross WSI training, we were shown videos of the strokes before, during, and after swimming them. It was helpful to see what it looks like from an outside perspective. In other words, it's easier to do it when you've seen it first!
Method: Elizabeth is ready to learn how to swim. She likes to splash in the pool and is interested in swimming. I will show her video clips of children doing a skill I will teach her that day (ie: blowing bubbles, bobbing, jumping in, swimming to Daddy, etc.) then take her to the pool to try it.
Control group: Just the general learning pace I observed when I taught other children her age at the City of Phoenix pools. If she was typical, she should be comfortable dipping under water and perhaps using arm motions within 2 months (without additional video help).
Here's an update to this study:
ReplyDelete1. We didn't do separate skills (bubbles, jumping in) because Elizabeth showed interest in different things at different times. But the videos and pictures not only got her excited about the pool, but she improved tremendously between swimming trips.
2. Elizabeth has been in ISR lessons for 5 weeks now. She bawled through the first 4 weeks, though still showed progress in her SWIM-FLOAT-SWIM skills.
So last Friday, I took some video clips of her while she was floating/crying. (ISR is very picky about parents with cameras. You have to get special permission). After we got home, she watched them intently a few times, then said "Ah done!" like she does when she wants to leave swim lessons.
The weekend passed. We took her back to lessons on Monday morning, and I couldn't believe it. Not even ONE whimper!! She was so cooperative and cheerful and even played along with her swim teacher. Her floating had also improved dramatically (which was what she'd been struggling with).
So far, the video theory holds up! I got the idea from a study done on olympic athletes who watch clips of themselves perform.
*Side note: From ISR we've seen how children her age need daily, constant repetition. That's why ISR lessons are daily for 10 minutes, one-on-one with the teacher. This can be applied to many other things as well.