Swim lessons
Isaac started official swim lessons yesterday. His teachers are these two sweet girls, Miss Leah and Miss Erin. Here he is, "floating" on his back, assisted by Miss Erin:
The class is not ideal. There are 7 or 8 kids and only two teachers. Each kid is expected to sit on or dangle off the side, waiting their turn to practice skills one-at-a-time with a teacher. This happens four, maybe five times in the half-hour lesson. In the meantime, I must sit on the deck nearby to watch, in the off-chance Isaac might slip and drown because there just isn't enough professional supervision. I also must wrangle the Jake, who so far has been delightfully attentive to his coloring books and not so much to jumping in the pool. Bless that kid, seriously.
The first day, Isaac was great. He did everything they asked him to, except he wouldn't jump in to a teacher. There's splashing involved in that, and he has this thing about getting water in his eyes. You know, BECAUSE IT'S POISON. In the end, both teachers took some special time with him after lessons were over, and they played this game where Miss Erin dangled him out over the water and dropped him in to the waiting Miss Leah. He tolerated that.
Today, now that he knew what was going down, he made sure to be extra distracted and fussy. When water got into his eyes, which it inevitably will do BECAUSE WE ARE AT THE POOL, he screamed and cried and ran back to Jake and I to wipe off the offensive droplets with his towel. Then, when it was his turn to go out in the pool with Miss Leah, she made the fatal mistake of letting his head go under the water. From that point on, he would not go back in the pool, nor would he stop fussing or remember that he could speak English.
I later asked Miss Leah what happened. I didn't see, because I was busy worrying about my other fussy child, the one with the raging fever. She told me, when it was Isaac's turn with her, she asked him if he was ready to put his head under the water. She was doing this with everyone else. He said no, of course. She said, "Everybody says no. And then I do it anyway, and they realize it's not so bad." Of course she does, because she has about a bazillion hours of experience with preschool kids and realizes most of them would never do anything different if it weren't thrust upon them. She apologized in Isaac's case, as he sat next to me, still bawling twenty minutes after the fact. "I'll never do it again," she told us, "I promise."
Miss Leah is joining in what is becoming a city-wide struggle called "How does one motivate the Isaac?" Once we can get Isaac to participate in activities enjoyed by most any kid, he enjoys them. It's getting over that hump of convincing him that he should even leave the house that's the problem. We are learning about our person that he is not motivated by kindness, rewards, peer pressure, or even punishment. Isaac was fortunate enough to receive individual lessons earlier this summer from one of Daddy's students, also a professional swim teacher. It took this patient, wonderful guy 7 lessons to convince Isaac to even get his trunks wet in the big pool. As soon as he did, he thought it was the greatest thing ever and now enjoys practicing swimming all over the pool in his life jacket. He doesn't even give the baby pool a thought anymore, a breakthrough that is bittersweet to watch. On one hand, I'm so very proud of Isaac for how far he's come and for how much he enjoys "swimming". On the other hand, I'm ready to punch through a wall, because seriously, how can trying something new be so stinking terrible?
Also? JUST BLINK! BLINK THE WATER OUT OF YOUR EYES!
The class is not ideal. There are 7 or 8 kids and only two teachers. Each kid is expected to sit on or dangle off the side, waiting their turn to practice skills one-at-a-time with a teacher. This happens four, maybe five times in the half-hour lesson. In the meantime, I must sit on the deck nearby to watch, in the off-chance Isaac might slip and drown because there just isn't enough professional supervision. I also must wrangle the Jake, who so far has been delightfully attentive to his coloring books and not so much to jumping in the pool. Bless that kid, seriously.
The first day, Isaac was great. He did everything they asked him to, except he wouldn't jump in to a teacher. There's splashing involved in that, and he has this thing about getting water in his eyes. You know, BECAUSE IT'S POISON. In the end, both teachers took some special time with him after lessons were over, and they played this game where Miss Erin dangled him out over the water and dropped him in to the waiting Miss Leah. He tolerated that.
Today, now that he knew what was going down, he made sure to be extra distracted and fussy. When water got into his eyes, which it inevitably will do BECAUSE WE ARE AT THE POOL, he screamed and cried and ran back to Jake and I to wipe off the offensive droplets with his towel. Then, when it was his turn to go out in the pool with Miss Leah, she made the fatal mistake of letting his head go under the water. From that point on, he would not go back in the pool, nor would he stop fussing or remember that he could speak English.
I later asked Miss Leah what happened. I didn't see, because I was busy worrying about my other fussy child, the one with the raging fever. She told me, when it was Isaac's turn with her, she asked him if he was ready to put his head under the water. She was doing this with everyone else. He said no, of course. She said, "Everybody says no. And then I do it anyway, and they realize it's not so bad." Of course she does, because she has about a bazillion hours of experience with preschool kids and realizes most of them would never do anything different if it weren't thrust upon them. She apologized in Isaac's case, as he sat next to me, still bawling twenty minutes after the fact. "I'll never do it again," she told us, "I promise."
Miss Leah is joining in what is becoming a city-wide struggle called "How does one motivate the Isaac?" Once we can get Isaac to participate in activities enjoyed by most any kid, he enjoys them. It's getting over that hump of convincing him that he should even leave the house that's the problem. We are learning about our person that he is not motivated by kindness, rewards, peer pressure, or even punishment. Isaac was fortunate enough to receive individual lessons earlier this summer from one of Daddy's students, also a professional swim teacher. It took this patient, wonderful guy 7 lessons to convince Isaac to even get his trunks wet in the big pool. As soon as he did, he thought it was the greatest thing ever and now enjoys practicing swimming all over the pool in his life jacket. He doesn't even give the baby pool a thought anymore, a breakthrough that is bittersweet to watch. On one hand, I'm so very proud of Isaac for how far he's come and for how much he enjoys "swimming". On the other hand, I'm ready to punch through a wall, because seriously, how can trying something new be so stinking terrible?
Also? JUST BLINK! BLINK THE WATER OUT OF YOUR EYES!
posted by Claire at 10:08 PM
3 Comments:
I don't know if it would apply to Isaac - but I was told months and months ago to get the book, The Highly Sensitive Child to help me better understand my 4 year old (Jake). I couldn't put the book down. It was him to a tee. For my Jake - it's not about being shy or nervous - it's all about being cautious. Knowing that everything (including experiences that are new, foods, clothing, etc) is safe. It's not dangerous - it won't hurt - it won't taste bad. The water thing is EXACTLY what made me think of my Jake. He has ALWAYS hated water in his eyes - in the bath and in the pool. As a matter of fact - we signed him up for a younger swimming class (just this summer) so he could go in with us - knowing that he would NEVER just randomly trust a stranger in the pool. Anyway - you might consider reading the book - based on the first questionaire a the beginning of the book - you will know if it applies to you.
Gosh - you can even email me and I will tell you the questions so you know if it would be a good book. And don't get me wrong - the book doesn't have the answers - it just helped me better understand WHY he did the things he did. Let me know :)
Thanks for the recommendation, twinkletoes. I'll be checking that book out directly!
Sure - sorry - it's Lynn (PA). I am so glad. You will know right off the bat if it's him or not. It's frightening how well the book describes (my) Jake.
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