The Water’s Fine!: Parent-Child Swimming Classes Around Beijing

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in America, one in every five people that drown is a child 14 years or younger. The statistics are even higher in countries with no long history of incorporating swimming as part of mandatory Physical Exercise (PE) in schools, or as part of the national culture. In China, for example, drowning is the second-leading cause of death in children aged 10 to 14, with 5,526 drowning-related cases reported in the year 2013.

To counteract this, many Chinese and International schools in China have begun to offer swimming lessons to students and even faculty. On top of this, many parents have taken the initiative to sign children as young as three months old up for private swimming lessons. At the very least, every child should know the basics of how to swim, if only to ensure they can survive a drowning incident should they ever fall into a pool or moving water like a river or even the ocean. Here are a few places around Beijing that offer swimming lessons for kids.

Parent-Child Aquatic Therapy Program at Beijing United Hospital

One of the main benefits of kids learning how to swim from an early age is that it improves their motor skills. At Beijing United Hospital, parent-child aquatic therapy offers a fun environment that promotes these skills and sensory stimulation for kids aged three months to four years. This training not only aims to provide water safety awareness but leads to better functioning of the child on land as well. With both group and individually-tailored classes, the lessons are structured around the developmental milestones of each child and provide a fun, active way for parents to bond with their children. The classes offered are split into three categories;

1. Happy Babies – 3-8 months: Promote motor development and sensory stimulation according to each age, develop tolerance to changes in position and posture and build emotional confidence, accomplish vestibular and proprioceptive stimulation, and raise parents’ awareness about how to protect their children in the pool.

2. Water Safety Skills – 9-14 months: Promote motor development and sensory stimulation according to each age, develop tolerance to changes in position and posture and build emotional confidence, accomplish vestibular and proprioceptive stimulation, and raise parents’ awareness about how to protect their children in the pool.

3. Confident Children – 15 months-2 years: Promote static and dynamic balance and walking independence, promote activities in the lying position, improve breath control, increase vestibular proprioceptive stimulation in sitting and standing positions.

4. Cheery Toddler – 2-3 years: Increase confidence, improve motor development and jump, balance, and play independence, improve hand-eye coordination, increase fine motor development, boost brain cognition.

5. Confidence for Challenging Aquatic Skills – 3-4 years: Improve dynamic stability and walking balance, increase coordination of the whole body, promote social skills, enhance mental agility, increase stamina.

DragonFire Swim at 798 Boyu Swim Club

Parent and Baby Swimming Lessons at Mookey