Northside Swim Academy Progression Levels
Level 1A (Water Beginnings) and Level 1B (Water Adjustment)
Level 1A (Water Beginnings) and level 1B (Water Adjustment) are levels that are meant for parents to be in the water with the child and the instructor. The instructor will guide the parents on what to do to get their child acclimated in the water. Crying is 100% normal and expected at this level. The goal of level 1A is to get the child comfortable and familiar with the water to the point where they are not crying when in water. 1A and 1B have the same skill set. 1A is with the instructor guiding the parent on what to do. When the child shows signs of comfortability, they will graduate to level 1B, where the instructor is working with the child while the parent is in the water comforting the child. The main skills that will be worked on in these levels are submersion with progressions, simple assisted movements, reaching for objects, reaching for the wall, bubble blowing, and assisted climb outs. These levels are mainly for ages 6 months to 2 years old.
Level 1C (Water Safety Introduction)
Level 1C (Water Safety Introduction) is the first level where the child is in the water with the instructor without the parent. The parent is heavily encouraged to stay close by, so in case the child experiences any separation anxiety, it can be mediated. In this level, skills of water safety will be introduced. These skills will include front float, back float, freestyle arm basics, kicks on front and back, rollovers, jumps and climb outs. To move up to level 2, children must be able to perform about 50% of skills independently and the rest with assistance from instructor. The age range for this level can range anywhere 2 years old and up.
Level 2 (Water Safety Mastery)
Level 2 (Water Safety Mastery) is the level where all skills taught in level 1C are mastered and being done independently without the instructor holding on to the child. This level may be where a lot of swimmers are for the longest because water safety is essential in any swim lesson program. All skills listed in level 1C are applicable in level 2, except they must be done independently. Backstroke, elementary backstroke, and treading water will also be introduced at this level as a preview of level 3A. The age range of this level can range anywhere from 3-4 years old and up.
Level 3A (Stroke Development)
Level 3A (Stroke Development) is the level where correct technique of strokes are fine tuned, developed, and made efficient. The goal of this level is to teach kids the skills for them to swim for longer distances and to be effective and efficient in their movements throughout the water. The skills that are covered in this level include freestyle side breathing, backstroke, breaststroke introduction, butterfly kick (dolphin kick) introduction, diving introduction, general endurance, and an extension of time for treading water. Ages for this group can range from 5 years old and up.
Level 3B (Swim Team Prep)
Level 3B (Swim Team Prep) is the level where all 4 strokes (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly) are expanded upon knowledge of stroke technique. This level is considered our "pre swim team level". At this level, kids have the option to join a pre-swim team class or continue with lessons in a private lesson format. This level will entail the coach transitioning to mainly outside of the water and instructing from on the side of the pool deck rather than in the pool.
Level 4A (Swim Team) and Level 4B (Recreation Swimming)
Level 4A and 4B imply that a child's swimming ability has been worked on enough to the point where they would be eligible to join our swim team program (and other swim team programs as well). For more information on our swim team programing, please visit our swim team programing page. The difference between 4A and 4B is that 4A are kids who are in swim team with us and 4B are kids that opt not to do swim team, but can swim recreationally at their own leisure.
Adult Classes
Our adult lessons are broken down into beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Beginner swimmers are swimmers who do not have any prior knowledge of how to swim before they start their lessons. Intermediate swimmers are swimmers who know the bare basics of swimming but are looking to learn to swim more effectively and efficiently. Advanced swimmers are considered eligible for our master swim team program. For more information about our master swim team program, please visit our master swim team page. Adult lessons are very client goal oriented, meaning that the instructor will teach skills around what the client's goals are.
Learn to Swim Lessons Progression
Our Philosophy
At Northside Swim Academy, we want to ensure that all of our clients (infants, toddlers, elementary, middle school, high school, and adults) feel a sense of accomplishment and are celebrated when they master a skill or achieve something new. Our coaches are positive and encouraging to all of our clients. We pride ourselves on our detailed coaching and building healthy coach to client relationships.
Progression
Our progression program is laid out in our curriculum (link below). All levels have certain skills that need to be mastered in order to progress to the next level! When your child progresses, they will receive a certificate in the email we have on file and be rewarded with a certificate in person as well! We want to make sure our adolescent swimmers (6 months-17 years old) all feel this sense of accomplishment. Positive reinforcement is a huge part of who we are.
Inclusivity and Flexibility
As mentioned above: we do lessons for all ages from 6 months all the way to adults (including adults). Our goal is to provide affordable, high quality services and opportunities to people of all different demographic backgrounds. We also work with people that are special needs! We want to make sure that we have an option for everyone no matter what background you have, what age you are, if you are limited by disabilities, etc.
The number one question we get asked is: "What are your class sizes?". We have made the decision to revolutionize the way we offer scheduled swim lessons. Our classes let the participants create the groups and also offer a time window that lessons can be anywhere from 20-45 minutes. You will have the ability to select 1:1, 2:1, 3:1 or 4:1 when you sign up. When your sign up is complete we will insert you into an instructor's time slot at your desired location!
We make sure that you get what you invested into. If swim lessons need to be cancelled last minute for any reason, you will receive notice as soon as we know! A makeup session will be scheduled or your payment will be kept on file and can be transferred over to another one of our programming or a future swim lessons. Please view our information packet (link on the home page) for more details about our make up policies.