The preps (prep being the grade Kid is in – equivalent to Kindergarten in the States) have been going to swimming lessons 2-3 days per week at this amazing super cool fun pool. There is only one class of preps at our school – and only 20 of them – so excursions (field trips) are not quite as exhausting as at her school in Seattle, where the three K classes (and sometimes the first graders, too) would be packed into big yellow school busses. (Not that it stopped me; I went on nearly all the field trips. I'm a glutton for punishment.) On Monday, I accompanied the preps, their teacher Helen and a couple other “mums” (I still refer to myself as “mom” but it is sounding weirder every day) as we boarded a plush, air-conditioned shuttle-type bus. We got to the pool and of course the mums immediately made a beeline to help the kiddos as they started to change into their bathers (swim suits). "No. Stop. Step away from the children. They can do it themselves. Have a seat. Who wants a coffee?" That would be Helen. She runs a tight ship. It is her firm belief they the children need to get undressed and into their suits by themselves. After each student had made a neat pile of his or her clothing – towel on top, shoes underneath – they went to sit on the bench and wait for the lesson to begin. So, we mums sipped lattes while we watched the theatre (theatre, centre, cheque, colour, organize … see how I’m assimilating?!) that is 20 five- and six-year-olds get naked and pull on goggles and bathing suits. (Australians are so much less prudish. The area they were changing in was a bit out of the way, but nonetheless totally in public there next to the pool. There would have been issues with people walking by taking photos or something (they’re laid back, but not stupid) but the whole scene was so much easier than it would have been if we had to send the boys & girls into their respective locker rooms.) Then, the fun began. Since this was the last lesson of the term (they’ll come back as grade one students in term one next year) it was a play day – they went on the water slide (most went down with the instructor), in the wave pool and in the teaching pool with noodles and rafts. Kid’s swimming skills and her confidence in the water have improved by a gazillion percent. I was amazed. She was diving under water and swimming along like a fish halfway across the pool. Her swimming on top of the water needs some work – she’s still flailing as she tries to coordinate arms and breathing and kicking – but she goes for it and makes decent progress. The best part was to see how much fun she was having. She was never one of those water-phobic kids, but she wasn’t a huge fan of swimming lessons at the Y either. Being with friends in a warm pool where she can touch the bottom seems to have made all the difference. Her hierarchy of favourite activities at school lately has been:
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Swimming
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Drama class
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The mice
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Lunch recess
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Morning recess
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“All the other stuff.”
And now I really believe it – she loves swimming lessons! (BTW, I think the hierarchy will likely change … a chick incubator just arrived in their classroom.) Here are some shots:
... having just emerged from that gigantic water slide, which she went down with that hottie swim teacher.
... having just swum (is that right? looks wrong.) 1/2 way across the pool.
Sorry they are so grainy; they are from my phone. Remember? Guy has the camera with him on his business trip to the Middle East ... where he also took a dip (in the Dead Sea):
Being an international water engineering technical expert looks like hard work, doesn't it?
