We’ve shared our dilemmas around extra-curricular activities recently and as you may recall, time is an important criteria when it comes to choosing the right activities for our kids. When AquaMobile Swim School invited us to test out their services, I was very curious. Swim instructors coming to our condo seemed like the perfect way to enroll the kids in swimming classes and the one-on-one attention during private classes is clearly the best option when it comes to being in the water.

With the kids loving the beach, water safety is definitely a concern for me. The hubs is a great swimmer and used to lifeguard and give swimming lessons so he’s been teaching Little Monkey and Baby Boy how to swim. These lessons have been far and few in-between but the kids do love being in the water. I can swim but not confidentially and that’s not a good thing with little ones around. I definitely want the kids to be strong swimmers, you know, in case I need rescuing!

 

Disclosure : This post is in partnership with AquaMobile Swim School but, as always, opinions are totally ours! 

 

What I like about AquaMobile is that they have carefully screened each swim instructor to ensure that they have proper certifications, experience and knowledge to deliver results in a fun and safe environment. After looking through their website and putting in a request, I had our instructor email me asking for a quick call to learn about the kids and our facilities. The instructors customize the private swim lessons based on each student’s individual needs which made quite the difference for us. They also allow multiple kids to split the one hour sessions which helps when you have young kids with short attention spans! I should highlight that for the 6 month to 3 year old crowd ,AquaMobile offers 40 minute sessions at a discounted rate.

 

 

 

While both kids were very excited for their swim lessons, I knew that it would work best if Little Monkey did her session first and Baby Boy did his next. Both are weary of strangers but luckily the instructor was warm, professional and encouraging. She easily befriended both kids which made my life easy. Little Monkey did a 40 minute session while the hubs, Baby Boy and I swam around and then we swapped Baby Boy in for 20 minutes. For our 4 and 2 year olds, that was a perfect amount of one-on-one time with a swim instructor. We’re lucky that our condo has a pool but I was also told that instructors will meet you at public swimming pools as well. These swim classes also got us out as a family and while we could have allowed them to be alone with the instructor, I much preferred being around and getting some exercise myself!

 

The hubs was hesitant before singing up with AquaMobile as he was confident that he was doing enough with them when it came to water safety and swimming, but we soon realized that having an instructor makes things more official for the kids. They like having an authoritative figure who isn’t a parent. Both kids listened to the instructor and we saw remarkable changes between our first and third lesson. Little Monkey was always so hesitant to dive in and not only was she jumping in on her own, but she was also able to swim mini distances by herself at the end of two weeks (we spread our three classes into two weeks). I’d definitely continue with swim lessons for the soon to be 5 year old but while Baby Boy learned to dip his face in the water and jump in with assistance, he’d do just fine learning with the hubs until he’s about 4. If we didn’t have the hub’s skill set, then we’d have Baby Boy continuing as well.

For those looking for in home swim instructors, AquaMobile is a great resource as they have a solid database of teachers throughout North America. Here in Canada, the last time I checked, they had instructors in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver. I suspect they’d find a local instructor no matter where you live, so feel free to email them if your city isn’t listed on their site. They offer a variety of services including life guarding, you know, for when you’re having a pool party!

 

If you’re looking to provide your kids (or yourself!) the skills needed to be comfortable and confident in water, enrolling in a swimming program is definitely the right step. For those looking to avoid schlepping kids to and from different venues and have access to a private pool, AquaMobile is your solution! Given the warm weather that’s still around, I highly recommend this list of swimming holes near Toronto if you’re looking for road trip ideas!