“I want my infant, toddler, or tyke (ages 6 months to 4 years) to love the water, be safe, and learn the basics of swimming.”

Learning to swim can be one of the most memorable experiences of childhood – times spent splashing, playing, and swimming in the water, times spent with siblings, friends, and parents, and times spent exploring an environment that affords greater freedom of movement than children often can experience on land.  In our lessons, your child will not only learn safety skills and the fundamentals of swimming, but she will also learn to love the water.

 At Chicago Blue Dolphins, we subscribe to a gentle teaching approach inspired by Rob and Kathy McKay’s Lifestyle Swim School in Boca Raton, FL.  Our Infant/Toddler swimming program is a child-centered, age-appropriate one in which we introduce skills when a child is ready, open, and relaxed.  Our goal is to take the tears out of the process and foster fun in learning -- no forced back float, submersions, or aggressive skills-based curriculum.  We've found in teaching swimmers of all ages -- infants, children, and adults -- that the process ultimately moves faster and yields better results if we start with a foundation of relaxation, comfort, and control before focusing on advanced safety and swimming skills.

More specifically, our teaching environment and approach are characterized by:

• Warm Water – We keep our pool set at 90 degrees to make the water comfortable for you and your child.  We've found that eliminating the blue lips and shivering helps everyone relax and makes the learning experience more fun and effective
• Group Lessons – We believe that infants, toddlers, and tykes benefit most in group swim classes, as they can learn from their peers and relax in the positive, encouraging, and fun social atmosphere
• Parents in the Water – In our Infant/Toddler classes, you will be in the water with your child and an active co-teacher with us in the pool.  This parent-child format ensures security in the learner and more efficient delivery of the material.  It also promotes correct practice at home, the community pool, or the bathtub later
• Broad Age Ranges – We include a broad age range in this series, from 6 months to 4 years, because we feel that each age group brings something unique to the group – the older children bring greater coordination to master the swimming skills while the younger children bring an ease and willingness to try new things
• Consistency -- Our group classes involve coming to the Swim Studio twice a week.  For the early phases of learning, we suggest coming four times a week.  While two or four sessions per week is a greater time commitment, it makes the learning process smoother and helps your young swimmer overcome any fear of the water seamlessly

Our group class progression and the age ranges for each class is:

• Beginner Class -- Water Adjustment and Basic Skills (6 months to 4 years)
• Advanced Classes
  • Safety Techniques I (10 months to 4 years)
  • Safety Techniques II (19 months to 4 years)
  • Advanced Safety Techniques (2 1/2 years to 4 years)
  • Water Tykes (3 1/2 years to 4 years)