Swim lessons are paused at this time, but...
I plan to resume outdoor swim lessons for summer 2021!
Safety will be a priority. The circumstances in Michigan are not great, but I am hopeful about getting back to the pool. At first, I may just open up the lessons for "current" students who have already taken lessons with me. Thank you for your patience while I sort out how to manage a cautious restart.
Both myself and my husband have been vaccinated, as have my parents. It has been a quiet year without regular lessons, but everyone is healthy and we are thrilled with our baby boy who arrived at the end of November! My parents are proving to be ecstatic grandparents and are planning to babysit while I teach in their backyard.
There are many swim skills that can be practiced at home! I am including descriptions below. Some are real beginner skills, but some are can be helpful for students who independently swim across the pool or swim all four strokes (specifically, the skills of breath control, timing of the breath, getting quick big breaths, blowing bubbles with the nose, flexing feet for breaststroke and egg beater, etc.)
Please feel free to share this with anyone who might be looking for things to do at home.
Swim skills to practice at home
These skills help with swim lessons and swim lesson preparedness. When kids are able to practice at home, I really notice a difference. Kids are motivated in different ways. Some ideas to incorporate practice: play Simon Says, call this "swim homework" or "swim training" and make a workout chart/ plan, have them teach their younger siblings, or have them demonstrate these swim skills over facetime with relatives. Also, please tell me if you come up with any ideas!
* wetting face with hands, sponge, etc. Sprinkle droplets on the face
* spraying cheeks/ face/ hair with a spray bottle (adjust nozzle for gentlest spray)
* pouring water on cheeks or head (count to three and then pour)
* standing under the shower so the whole head and face get wet. Start with a small trickle of water if you need to.
* blowing bubbles in the bathtub (mouth and nose-humming). A straw can help if this is difficult, or just blowing air on the water to start. Practice taking a big breath between bubbles/ exhalations. Lots of kids have a hard time knowing the difference between breathing in and breathing out (for example, when I tell them to take a big breath they make a loud Haaa sound while exhaling). Blowing out of the nose can take a lot of work for some kids. I teach kids to blow with their mouth or their nose in the water, then inhale with the mouth (breathing in through the mouth means less water sniffed in with the nose).
* pouring water over the mouth while making a bubbling noise (“ooooooh,” rhymes with boo)
* practice wearing goggles: holding them up to eyes, wearing them on forehead, wearing them on eyes- then pouring water on them, standing in the shower, and submerging face in the water. For some kids, wearing goggles is something they have to work up to, and their bodies need lots of short practice before the goggles stop being distracting or uncomfortable.
* lying on back in the bathtub with ears in the water. Gradually increase depth of water and length of time until totally comfortable (5,10, 20 seconds, etc). Try one ear at a time, if two ears at once is too hard at first. You can start with just one inch of water in the tub and go from there.
* practice straightening legs and bending legs. Practice flexing feet and pointing toes. Do these moves ten times. Flexing feet can actually take a lot of practice. Young children can have a hard time doing these movements in swim class because they haven't had so much practice "talking" to their body parts.
* small kicking with straighter legs and pointed toes (on back and front)
* forward and backward arm circles. Big arm circles with both arms. Try one arm at a time, trying to swing with straighter arms. Straight arms are a good starting point for this motion, and more advanced technique can be tackled later. Try five forward arm circles with each arm, then try alternating arm circles. Try backward arm circles next.
If any skill is too challenging, break it down into smaller steps so your child can do some part of the skill.
Practice the bathtub skills before there is soap in the water so soap in the eyes/mouth doesn't add to the challenge!
Lindsay Richardson, 1101 Swim
Here's the regular website stuff that starts at the beginning of this page:
Welcome to 1101 Swim!
- Private Residential Swim Lessons for one or two students at a time
- 30-minute or 60-minute lessons
- Begin lessons at any time
- Online scheduling (up to two weeks in advance at this time)
- Introductory lesson rate for your first class
- Individual lessons, packages, or automatic billing to fit your needs
- Located on the west side of Ann Arbor, about 1/2 mile west of Michigan Stadium
Lesson fees: $45-$70 for 30 minutes. Scroll to the bottom of the page for a quick summary. (For additional details, scroll down to Choose appointment" and click on "Gift Certificates, Packages, and Subscriptions").
Waitlist: The waitlist is for students interested in a recurring lesson time. You can sign up after you have had an introductory lesson with 1101 Swim. You can access the waitlist form here. This new system should work better than me trying to remember everything, and I appreciate your patience while I figure things out.
The swim lesson schedule has gotten quite busy! If you know you will be missing any of your scheduled classes, please cancel them as soon as possible. Doing this opens up the times for other families to plan ahead and schedule lessons. Students/ families can schedule their own lessons up to two weeks in advance. If you are trying to schedule a lesson, but don't see any immediate openings, it could be that something will open up in a day or two with a cancellation.
Indoor swimming: During the school year I give lessons in the indoor pool behind my home (1/2 mile west of Michigan Stadium). When you sign up for a lesson, you will receive a confirmation email with additional information (map, parking, etc.)
2019-2020 lesson schedule:
- Sunday 9a - 3p
- Monday 9a - 11a, 2p - 6:30p
- Tuesday 3p - 7p
- Wednesday 1p - 6:30p
- Thursday 2p - 7p
- Friday 9a - 1p
- Saturday: no regular times for now
Want to sign up? Scroll down to the bottom to schedule a lesson. If you would like more guidance, here is additional scheduling information:
1. Lesson Options
a) Introductory Lessons These are reduced fee introductory lessons for new students ($45 instead of $54 for one student, and $55 instead of $70 for two students). After your introductory class, you can sign up for individual lessons, a package, or a subscription.
b) Individual lessons Half-hour classes: $54 for one student, $70 for two students. One-hour classes: $108 for one student, $140 for two students. (For two students, I generally recommend they split a one-hour lesson for one student, instead of taking a combined one-hour class.)
c) Packages Lesson packages of 5 or 10 lessons.
d) Recurring Billing This is the most cost-effective lesson payment option. Your account will be billed every four weeks for four lessons (or eight, or twelve lessons, depending on your subscription). The billing is set up this way (instead of monthly) so that you will get the same value for your payment each time. Ideally, a student will make up missed lessons as soon as possible, but unused make-up lessons will roll over to the next cycle as long as you continue your subscription. (Please note that only missed lessons canceled with at least 24-hours notice are eligible for make-ups). The scheduling software will note an "expiration" date for your subscription classes, but it is just the date of your next scheduled billing.
2. Payment
After you have selected your package, you will pay online during checkout. Contact Lindsay if you would prefer to pay in person with cash or check.
3. Scheduling
Use the online calendar to schedule lessons in the next fourteen days. If you purchased a package or subscription, you will use your lesson code when scheduling your classes: you will schedule your class as if you are purchasing an individual class, then use your payment code in place of payment. One lesson will automatically be deducted from your account. If you cancel a lesson with advance notice, the lesson will be credited back to your account. The online scheduling should make rescheduling lessons easier, but please try to be considerate when making changes. Weekly Lesson Time(s): If you would like to set up a weekly lesson time or times, contact Lindsay about availability and reserving a time slot. Lindsay will reserve the lesson times for you and apply your payments. At this time (July 2019), there are no openings for recurring lessons times during the evening or weekends, but you can sign up for lessons when there are openings on the schedule. You can also add your name to the waitlist by filling out a waitlist form here.
To view availability before you make a purchase:
From the scheduling page, select a single lesson (not a package, but a single lesson). The calendar will open up for you, and you can see which lesson times are available. You can then schedule the single lesson, or change your selection to a package and schedule several lessons at once. You will only be able to view availability in the next two weeks.
To cancel or reschedule a lesson (with more than 24-hours notice): From your email confirmation, scroll down to the bottom to "Change/Cancel Appointment." If you have registered for an account, you can also log in to make schedule changes. If you cancel your class, the lesson will be credited back to your account if the lesson was part of a package or automatic billing. Otherwise, I will need to issue you a refund.
4. Registering for an account
After you schedule an appointment, you will be directed to a confirmation page where you will be given the option to register for a client account. You can also register for an account from a confirmation email by selecting the "Change/Cancel Appointment." This button will direct you to your appointment confirmation page where a "Register for an Account" button will be.
Registering for an account will make the scheduling software more useful to you because you can:
- Bypass any forms you have already filled out when scheduling future appointments.
- Sign in to the scheduling page to reschedule or cancel existing appointments.
- View all upcoming and past appointments on the schedule while logged into your account. (If you can't view your appointments, ask me to assign them to your account).
- See any active package codes on your account.
(If I have previously scheduled lessons on your behalf, I may need to manually assign those lessons to your account before you can see them. I try to check through the client list to make updates periodically, but please send me a message if your account needs updating!)
Please let me know if you have any questions!
Lindsay Richardson
1101swim@gmail.com
P.S. The scheduling page and the website are a work in progress! (I'm a better swim teacher than a website developer!) I would appreciate any suggestions you have to make the experience more user-friendly. Your feedback and questions are quite helpful!
Swim pictures and videos!
- Each family has its own password protected gallery. You can order prints or download pictures/videos for free. Ordered prints will be of slightly higher quality and will not have a watermark.
- Menu > Student Galleries (or Previous Students). Galleries are listed alphabetically by first names (oldest family member first).
- Your Password: 1101 Swim Last Name (password is case sensitive and has spaces).
- For example: if I had a locked gallery, my gallery would be Lindsay R and my password would be 1101 Swim Richardson
- Feel free to share your gallery link with family and friends!
- I would love to know what you think! Also, please let me know if you would like me to make any changes to your gallery (password, visibility, etc.)
Lesson Fee Summary
(For more info, scroll down to "Choose appointment" and click on "Gift Certificates, Packages, and Subscriptions")
- Lesson fees for 1 student at a time (30-min / 60-min)
- Intro lesson: $45
- One lesson: $54 / $108
- 5 lesson package $255 / $495
- 10 lesson package $495 / $960
- Automatic billing every 4 weeks $186 / $362
- Lesson fees for 2 students at a time (for two family members or friends)
- Intro lesson: $55
- One lesson: $70/ $140
- 5 lesson package $331
- 10 lesson package $640
- Automatic billing every 4 weeks $241
