Even though it’s January and the weather outside is cold, inside at the Hubbard Family Swim School in Phoenix, the temperature of the heated, indoor swimming pools is 90 degrees all winter long.
“The winter and spring months are a great time to enroll children in swim lessons because it gets them prepared and ready for safer swimming this summer, when they’ll want to spend a lot of time swimming outdoors with their family and friends,” says Bob Hubbard, co-owner of the Hubbard Family Swim School. “Swim lessons during the winter are not only terrific exercise and a lot of fun, but we also want to make sure that children learn how to swim and are always safe around water. Our basic philosophy is this: Children everywhere must learn how to swim. Learning to swim should not be an option.”
Children who learn how to swim also demonstrate more advanced cognitive and physical abilities than other children, according to world-leading research led by Griffith University in Australia. Their 2013 findings of a four-year study indicate that swimming children have an advantage when starting school. Swimming children scored significantly better than the normal population on a number of measures that are really important for their transition to school – their cognitive development, language development, and their physical development. The study showed that children’s fine motor skills and overall coordination were more developed as a result of taking swim lessons and it showed that children who start lessons early were more socially and emotionally ready to start school.
In 2019, the American Academy of Pediatrics formally stated that they now recommend that children as young as 1 year old get enrolled in formal swim lessons.
Hubbard Family Swim School offers lessons to children 8 weeks to 12 years of age. There are even FREE “baby splash” swim classes for babies 8 weeks to 5 months of age. Parent participation in the water is required. These fun-filled, 30-minute water acclimation classes give parents or caregivers a chance to learn excellent tips on how to enjoy tub time at home with baby and also learn how to prepare baby for swim lessons. The baby splash classes are free but there is a $25 registration fee.
The truth is, watching your child eventually take his first swim strokes across the pool will be just as exciting and memorable as when you watched him take his first walking steps across the floor. Enrolling in swim lessons with your baby or toddler may also prove to be one of the most enjoyable, special bonding experiences the two of you will ever experience together.
Now celebrating their 22nd year in business, Bob Hubbard and his wife, Kathy, have become internationally-renowned speakers and experts in the field of infant swimming. The couple owns and operates three Hubbard Family Swim Schools around the Valley, including their Phoenix location at 13832 North 32nd Street, Suite 100, in the Kino Plaza.
For more information about enrolling your child in winter, indoor swim lessons, call (602) 971-4044 or visit www.hubbardswim.com
