Philosophy
Healthier, Safer, Smarter
“It’s beyond amazing! The staff was so friendly and caring about my son, they took the time to get to know him and ask questions. They are a great place to take your child. They made swimming fun while teaching basic safety! I am so thrilled my son will be learning to swim with them.”
Healthier: When fighting childhood obesity, it's never too early to establish good habits. At WaterSprites, you won't find bored children sitting on a wall waiting their turn. We believe that a good workout is one of the benefits of swim class. With the program's roots grounded in Olympic swimming, we know how to keep kids engaged and moving. These are skills that last a lifetime. The water is always an option even when you're 90 years old.
Safer: While we absolutely never feel that any child is water safe, we think the best way to prevent accidents is through knowledge. For kids, this means understanding how to swim and teaching them basic water safety. But we also realize the importance of teaching parents as well. WaterSprites supports the Safer3 Foundation.
Smarter: For babies, swimming class has been proven to increase IQ, confidence, and independence. For older children, we believe that turn taking, listening skills, teamwork, respect, goal setting are all valuable life skills that we practice every day.
Curriculum & Teaching Strategies
Our curriculum is carefully crafted to incorporate child development principals with proven classroom strategies. We won’t introduce skills until a child is physically and emotionally ready to learn them. When we do, we are cognizant of presenting skills in a consistent, layered, predictable way for maximum retention. We believe in achievement awards (ribbons) as a motivator for success. Our ribbon levels are arranged so that they mimic a child’s natural physical progression in the pool. There is nothing like a goal and a little incentive to help speed your child’s progress in the water. And we believe that every child should be allowed to progress at his or her own pace.
Why Start Early?
Children who swim demonstrate more advanced cognitive and physical abilities than other children, according to groundbreaking research led by Griffith University.
The findings of a four-year project by the Griffith Institute for Educational Research, Laurie Lawrence’s Kids Alive Swim Program and Swim Australia have surpassed expectations and indicate that swimming children have many advantages when starting school.
Safer3 Foundation
The main concept of Safer 3 is based on the definition of the word “Safe.” Safe means you are free from risk of harm or danger. When it comes to water, that simply isn’t true. There is always risk when you are in, on or around the water. The risk may vary in degree from very slight to very severe. The letter “r” in the word “Safer” reflects that difference. Risk of drowning is found in 3 main areas; Water, a Person which we shall refer to as a KID, since we are all someone’s kid, and a Response that will become the last chance for saving a life.