Summer Homeschool: Swimming & Water Safety
Swimming is one of the most popular summer activities, and for homeschoolers it can be much more than a “fun-in-the-sun” afternoon at the pool. Learning to swim provides the opportunity to practice physical fitness, self motivation, water safety, and more. Almost half of the American public admits to not knowing how to swim, even though drowning is the third leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide. Homeschoolers have the unique opportunity to incorporate any subject into their summer homeschool. Ensuring your homeschooled child learns to swim proficiently could be a lifesaver, and could bring lifelong joy as well as physical fitness.
Water Safety & Activities
What laws of physics play a role in swimming? Check out these real world physics problems for a fun, hands-on lesson that you can incorporate into your summer homeschool. Your swimmer can learn about the forces that act upon the body as a swimmer pushes, pulls, kicks, and propels his body through the water.
Your child can learn all about swimming freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and the butterfly stroke, as well as breathing techniques and advanced swimming techniques at the Enjoy Swimming website. (Note: some reader comments may contain objectionable language.)
Games are a great way to build skills and have fun. These nine skill-building water games are a great way to add hands-on water activities to your summer homeschool.
Finding a state park that has swimming facilities is easy with this Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation web page about swimming pools, lakes, and beaches.
Ensuring your family is safe in and around water is the first priority when thinking about swimming. Teaching water safety is an essential part of your summer homeschool. This guide to swimming and water safety from Mom Loves Best includes safety tips for supervising children around water and recognizing the signs of drowning.
Check out this Homeschool Living for more great summer homeschool water activities.
