Now that it’s winter time and the temperature outside is still rather cold, inside at the Hubbard Family Swim School in Phoenix, the temperature of the heated, indoor swimming pools is 90 degrees all year long. Many parents have been signing their children up for fun, indoor swim lessons.
“Winter is a great time to enroll children in swim lessons because it gets them all prepared and ready for safe 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 Schools. “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 a choice.”
Children who learn how to swim are also demonstrating 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 surveyed 7,000 parents from Australia, New Zealand and the U.S., over three years, as well as individually assessing 180 children.
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.
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 all year long. Parent participation in the water is required. These wonderful, 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. There are several different baby splash class times offered throughout the week. Advanced registration is required. There’s a $25 registration fee to join and then all the baby splash classes are free.
“Our popular baby splash classes give parents an excellent way to spend quality time with their babies in the water,” adds Hubbard. “Their swim class together is wonderful bonding time and then after the class, the babies always enjoy a nice, long nap.”
Hubbard Family Swim School is located at 13832 North 32nd Street, Suite 100, Phoenix. For more information and to register for classes, call (602) 971-4044 or visit www.hubbardswim.com
