It’s almost time to start planning for back to school. We know you are making the school supplies list, shopping for new clothes and shoes, and planning your new back-to-school schedule. Signing up or continuing swim lessons should also be part of your back-to-school routine.
During swim lessons, your kids are out of the classroom and in the swimming pool, but they are still in a learning environment. While they are in the water, their brain is being stimulated by the movements of their body.
Here‘s how swim lessons help prepare your child for the classroom:
- Bilateral movements are made which help develop language, reading, and writing skills
- Movement patterns in swimming accelerate brain development
- Mid-line crossover movements help develop fine motor skills needed for handwriting
- Hearing instructions helps with patterns of language for speech development and refinement
- Diving helps develop visual perception for reading, writing, and spelling skills
- Various motions help develop eye movement control and eye tracking which aids in reading skills
Bilateral Movements
Your child’s brain develops through bilateral cross patterning movements such as swimming. Bilateral cross patterning is using both sides of the body together to carry out an action.
The practice of using both the right and left sides of the body together is important for activities such as: writing, cutting, and most academic and gross motor activities. The more cross patterning movements that are made, the more nerve fibers develop in that part of the brain.
Movements such as kicking and paddling and swimming breaststroke improve the coordination of the right and left hemispheres and help in language development and academic learning.
Reading
The cross patterning movements of the freestyle stroke helps develop eye-hand coordination and visual perception which helps develop reading skills. Diving also helps reading skills by practicing eye movements and tracking control.
One of the skills we teach our swimmers at Sea Otter Swim Lessons is to swim to the wall. Not only is this an important life-saving skill, it also helps develop fine motor skills that aid in learning how to write.
Language Development
Research has shown that swimming helps with intellectual skills, like counting and following instructions. Your swimmer can make a connection between language and action sometimes even before they are able to verbally communicate.
When swimmers hear instructions such as “kick, kick, kick” they link the instruction to language and it furthers their comprehension.
Back floating is another life-saving skill we teach our swimmers. Back floating also helps in developing spatial awareness. Good spatial awareness is crucial for math skills, visual perception, and language skills.
There are so many benefits to swim lessons. Not only are your children learning life-saving skills, their brains are being developed increasingly!
Don’t think that because summer is nearly over, swim lessons should stop. Swim lessons are a great way to get your child ready for back to school!