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Review content:
About our experience so far: I wanted my daughter to start swim classes right after birth, but the earliest enrollment age locally I found was at little dippers swim school. We started at the Lafayette pool when she was just 3 months old and the first classes were quite scary for me a a parent. When I needed to put her under water - I was shaking and not confident. But with the instructor's help and practice I got much more comfortable and now a year after we started, she can swim half of the length of the pool under water. She rolls most of the time. She jumps to me into the water from the top step and from the side of the pool. She can dive and get a toy from the third (bottom) step and she and I enjoy the water and the classes.
I can tell you that there are positives and negatives in this school. My experience is with Mommy and me classes only. We have tried two other schools locally (not sure if I am allowed to post names, so I will leave it out) and decided to stick with little dippers.
Why we stayed:
1) The method: as an elementary school teacher myself, I can tell you that there is a method, and a clear progression and theory behind the classes. It's not just getting friendly in the water. Your child is taught step by step with a lot of repetition ( so they learn the routine and can anticipate what is next and feel confident) that leads to a confident swimmer.
2) The teachers: so far we have been with two teachers and had two subs. We switched times, that is how we got moved to our second teacher. I feel it is very consistent and I am not worried that we have to get a new teacher frequently, what happened at other places) and even the subs were great - they follow the method and have notes from the regular teacher on each kid and their strengths and weaknesses. So there is still continuity.
3) It's QUIET. I know this might be a silly comment, but I found that other school had so much noise, that my baby was just terrified. For and older child that might not have been an issue, but for a baby - that was overwhelming, and she could not stop crying. Here everything is much quieter and calmer.
Why we shopped around:
1) The facility is the backyard and somebody's private pool (with a bubble in the cold season). Although there is a bathroom and a changing room, it's still weird and takes some time to get used to. You have to walk through the cold with your baby in the winter season. We adjusted with warm robes for both of us and getting rid of the wet clothes right in the bubble (for the baby)
2) It's not updated or state of the art. It's just your average run of the mill pool and bathroom that is used by lots of people, so it can get wet and grubby. They clean it regularly, but if you are there at the end of the day, you will see a much worse picture than the facilities after the class at the beginning of the day.
3) Price: it turned out that the price is pretty close on all the schools. I think in the end Little Dippers were slightly cheaper for the mommy and me classes, but not significantly and not in a way that would impact my decision to choose them over another school.
For our family the quality of the classes, the method, progression and quality teachers ( that stay consistent) was more important than something fancy or an indoor facility and a separate not in the back yard facility. But I think everyone has to decide what is more important to them.
I recommend this school and actually had several of my friends come and join. I tell them right away that this school is great for the quality teaching, not the facility, and they always are amazed at the results their kids get after a short period of time.
So my advice is - shop around, decide what your priorities are and I think you will be happy with this school, even though it is not perfect.Recommend It
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