(cheerful music)
- Today we are at Florida Swim School
to spend the day with a swim instructor.
Hi Miss Margaux, we are very excited to be here
and to meet you, and we wanna learn all about
being a swim instructor.
How do you start your day?
- When I first get here I clock in and I check my schedule
and I'm gonna write out who I have for the day.
Then I'm gonna go and check the pool chemicals
and pick out some toys for teaching the lessons,
hang up the towels and we'll get in the pool
and start teaching.
- Do you keep your list on your clipboard?
- I do, and I have clipboards for you guys too,
this is what you are gonna be doing today.
So as a swim instructor, you need to have a list of things
that you're gonna be doing for the day.
- Why did you become a swim instructor?
- I was a lifeguard and I really always enjoyed swimming
and working with kids so it was a natural next step
for me to get into teaching swim lessons.
- What do you teach in swim lessons?
- I teach basic swim skills.
We're gonna learn how to jump in the pool
and how to get back to the wall.
We're gonna learn back floating, we're gonna learn
how to roll over onto our back so we can take a breath,
and we're gonna learn treading water.
- Are you ready to get started?
- [Girls] Yes.
- Yes!
I'm ready to get started too, where do we go?
- We're gonna go get changed so we can get in the pool,
you ready?
- [Girls] Yes!
(upbeat music)
- Miss Margaux, what tools do we use
to teach people to swim?
- So we use all of these different tools depending on
what age they are and what skills we wanna practice.
- They look like toys to me.
- They are lots of toys.
- Why do you use toys?
- So we use them to make the lesson more fun and distract
the kids if they're upset and just encourage them
to do their swim skills to make the class more fun
and interesting for them.
- Great, what tools are we gonna use today?
- Today the first thing we're gonna use is a noodle
to learn treading water and to practice reach
and throw don't go.
So Brooklyn can you hold that?
Thank you.
The next tool we're gonna use are dive toys,
we're gonna put them on the bottom of the pool
so we look down at them and then we'll roll over to float.
So Hailey, here you go.
And the next thing we're gonna use are kick boards.
And we're gonna use these to hold onto when we float
and also to practice some kicking.
So Sheridan can you hold those?
And the last thing we'll use are hula hoops.
We're gonna put it in the water so we can jump away
from the wall into the hoop and we'll swim back to the wall.
So Miss Penny here you go.
- Thank you.
Wow, what do we do first?
- First we're gonna take a shower.
- Take a shower!
Why do we take a shower before we go in the pool?
- We're gonna take a shower so that we can get any dirt off
of us so we keep the pool nice and clean.
- That makes sense.
Are you ready to take a shower?
- [Girls] Yes!
- All right, showers first, let's go.
Miss Margaux, before we go in the water,
what are the first things children learn when they're
going to take a swimming lesson for the first time?
- So if it's their first day we're gonna take it slow
and introduce them to the water and introduce them
to the instructor as well.
So one of the fun ways we get them comfortable in the water
and to learn their breath control is to use a boat
and pour water over their head.
So Brooklyn, I'm gonna say, "One, two, three, ready go,"
and then pour the water on top of your head so I want you
to look up so that it trickles down your face
and you're gonna close your eyes and blow bubbles,
going (blowing lips).
Good job, you ready?
- Yeah.
- Go.
- (blowing lips)
- Good job.
- [Miss Penny] Oh she did a great job.
- Perfect.
So that's one of the first things we'll do
to get them comfortable with their head
and their face being wet
and that's how they're gonna learn their breath control.
So we don't wanna submerge on the first day
just to get them acclimated to the water first.
- What is the next thing we do?
- Practicing our back floats.
Then we're gonna practice our rolling over
so they can take a breath,
and then we're gonna do our jumping into the pool,
into the hula hoop, and then swimming back to the wall.
- What was the pool noodle for?
- So with the pool noodle,
we're gonna practice our treading water.
So you're gonna hold the noodle and kick your legs
like a bicycle, and then we'll take the noodle away
and use our hands.
- That sounds great.
- So the very last thing we're gonna do is practice
reach or throw don't go.
So this is a water safety skill.
- What do swim instructors teach us?
- How to swim.
- That's right, they teach us how to swim.
It's important because there's a lot of standing water
and if we know how to swim and we know
how to protect other people that might be having trouble,
we're gonna be okay.
You ready to start learning?
- Yes!
- Let's get in the pool.
(playful music)
- [Miss Margaux] Today we're gonna start with back float.
So you're gonna lay on your back,
you're gonna look up at the sky and look at our fishies
and you're gonna put your arms and legs out
to be a big starfish on your back.
We're gonna practice rolling over,
so we'll put the dive toys at the bottom of the pool,
so you're gonna look down at them, blowing bubbles,
and then I'm gonna say, "One, two, three roll over,"
and you'll roll over and then do the starfish float again
on your back.
The third thing we're gonna practice is jumping
into the hula hoop and swim back to the wall.
With the pool noodle,
we're gonna practice our treading water.
So you're gonna hold the noodle and kick your legs
like a bicycle and then we'll take away the noodle
and add our arms so we can tread water.
The very last thing we're gonna do is practice
reach or throw don't go.
So this is a water safety skill.
We're gonna grab something like a noodle,
you're gonna lay on your tummy, reach it out,
the person in the pool's gonna grab it
and the person with the noodle,
laying down is gonna pull you in to safety.
So this way they learn not to go into the pool
to save somebody, so that they don't get
into trouble themselves getting pushed down.
So you always wanna grab something
and lay on the pool deck so that you don't get pulled in.
- Thank you Miss Margaux, we had a great day learning
how to be a swim instructor.
- Thank you for coming.
- It was great.
- [Everyone] Bye!