Infant = 6 to 18 months (parent/adult accompaniment required)
Preschool = 18 to 36 months (Parent/adult accompaniment required)
Preschool = 3 to 5 years (parent/adult accompaniment optional)

Program Goals

• water safety knowledge and practices
• aquatic adjustment and swimming readiness
• fun and enjoyment in the water
• participant socialization
• parental involvement

• Infant and toddler = 6 to 8 parent/child pairs per instructor
• Preschool
• 4-5 children who can not touch bottom per instructor without in-water aide
• 6-8 children who can not touch bottom per instructor with an in-water aide
• 4-6 children who can touch the bottom without an in-water aide
• 8-10 children who can touch the bottom with an in-water aide

• setting a  goal - appropriate to their state of development
• practice - requires more time to rest and assimilate
• feedback - success at a skill and parent/teacher comments
• motivation - internal and external rewards

• developmental readiness
• qualitative sequences of change
• age and behavior
• individual differences

• 8-months is typical stage for stranger/separation anxiety
• Consistency in lessons reduces anxiety
• Over 2 years - child's fantasies
• Experiences in the past
• Goals clearly understood and consistency maintained

• Conditions and variations from normal expectations
• slower development, physical abnormalities of the limbs
• sight, hearing, mental, emotional abnormalities

Instructor responsibilities

• leadership and knowledge
• communication skills
• patience
• flexibility
• health and fitness
• preparing each lesson in advance
• warm-up, review, new material, practice, taper-off
• supervision
• setting reasonable goals with parents
• maintaining records
• evaluation

• Dance
• Hug
• Face-to-face (for teaching prone skills)
• chin support
• shoulder support
• armpit support
• Armstroke
• Side-to-Side
• Cheek-to-cheek (for  teaching supine skills)
• back to chest support
• sandwich
• back support
• Neck and back support
• Chin and back support

• water entry and adjustment
• front kick
• prone glide
• underwater exploration (includes "scooping")
• back float and back glide
• arm movement on front and back
• combined skills - prone position
• rolling over - front to back and back to front
• changing positions
• kick up and bobbing to safety
• treading water
• water exit
• PFD and other safety (child and parent) - elementary forms of rescue, rescue breathing