8th Jan 2012 - Swimming Lesson

Never see him cry so badly like today during his lesson. Nearly wanted to stop his swimming lesson. Thanks to Melcolm's coach for been so patient from the beginning till now. Am glad to hear him say that he wants to go swimming again next week although he had been rejecting his lesson everytime i ask him for the past 2 weeks. Once again, thanks Kian Hoe !

his coach reply............

Hi Andra,
You are welcome. Thank you for trusting me too. Some parents will have already given up. I am glad that you did not give up yet at the pool just now or else it will cause more lasting harm to him psychologically. The reason why he... cried and has been rejecting class is due to his belief that he cannot reach me when he is supposed to kick to me. The distance is only about 1m to 2m, not far but requires him to kick in order to reach me. As he is not kicking by himself in the shallow pool, the deep pool “forces” him to kick. The first part of the class at the shallow pool is actually the part where the kids practice the most and improve the fastest when they are willing to try and put in the effort. The part at the deep pool is to condition them to get used to the deep water and for me to give them more individual attention. However, they have to take turns and this take up time. Unfortunately, Melcolm is very contented to stay in his comfort zone and there is not much progress so I have to push him out of his comfort zone to try. He does not like this but once he overcomes this like just now, he will improve and grow stronger in character. It will usually take some time and not likely he has totally overcome it in 1 lesson although I hope so. Lesson also has to end on a stable and positive note like today even though he can be crying during class. We were unable to do so last lesson as he was not feeling well and has to leave earlier The 2 weeks break actually did harm instead of helping him. It gives him time to dwell on his fears. There has to be consistent and constant reinforcement for him to overcome his fears. The longer break one has, the more time the mind have to magnify the fear. All these contribute to the scene that played out today. It will pass but it will take some time and hard work.