The following skills take time, patience, and practice.  Young children of all ages should start with the first skill listed and slowly build a foundation for the next skills and so on.  With proper prerequisites and training, the potential exists for:
 
1. A six-month-old can begin to learn to hold his or her breath and begin to propel himself or herself through the water with ease and confidence.  This skill can buy parents a few valuable extra seconds of time if a child does enter the pool or water unsupervised.  Even an eight-month-old can enter the water relaxed, hold his or her breath, and not panic.  This stage also lays the critical foundation, which allows the safety skills to be performed several months down the road.
 
2. A 19-month-old can begin to learn to return to the side of the pool.  By 24 months, with the proper foundation and pre-requisite skills, this skill can become executed with ease and confidence in most cases.
 
3. A two-and-three-quarters-year-old (again, with foundation and pre-requisite skills) can begin to learn to recover up for a breath.
 
4. A three-and-a-half-year-old swimmer can begin to learn to back float and roll from front to back and back to front.  (Many children are not comfortable with the back float until they are about three and a half -- don't force it).
    
A few year-round students will accomplish these skills at younger ages, but our goal is to give children a strong foundation so that they can accomplish skills with ease and confidence -- hence, building self-esteem, and a love of learning and swimming.
 
There's nothing quite like seeing your child experience the joy of moving in the water.  Fortunately, it's a joy that just about every child can have.  In a supportive, child-centered atmosphere where the accent is on fun, very young children can master the swimming and water safety skills that will give them joy and confidence for a lifetime.  This is one more wonderful way you as a parent can impact your child's growing set of skills in a positive, life-affirming way.  Enjoy the journey!