Ignoramus18183 wrote:

My older son attended numerous swimming classes, which still could not
teach him to swim. My observation was that they taught him everything
except swimming, such as splashing water, jumping in water, etc.

My oldest daughter took beginning swimming 3 times and passed it three
times, but was still not comfortable swimming. She didn't like to put
her face in the water. That's what the splashing and jumping in the
water part is supposed to do - make them comfortable in the water. If
they don't get to that comfort level, they will not learn to swim.

This is understandable from a commercial point of view, as it is much
more profitable to conduct 20 lessons, fill out hopeful report cards,
give stickers, etc as opposed to teaching someone to swim in 3 lessons
or so.

But I am a little tired of this BS and would like to inquire as to how
I can find an effective program that can teach a 8 year old to swim,
as in being able to get from point A, to point B, over deep water, without
sinking.

I recall my own past experience as a few frustrating "lessons" from
Dad, which led to nothing, followed by accidentally encountering deep
water on a lake beach, which led to "mastering swimming in 3
seconds".

I taught (I was a Red Cross WSI) with a man who did something like
this which he called "Breaking their fear of the water". He made the
beginners in the first class go off the diving board into the deep
end. Some of them did fine with this, and some were so stressed that
they threw up before every lesson. For the ones that can take it, it
is brutal but effective.

For the ones that cannot, it acts to reinforce the fear which will
take years to overcome. I taught an adult woman who tried many times
to learn to swim. She could float on her back fine as long as I had
one fingertip on her back (no pressure - just the finger tip on her
skin). If I removed the finger, she sank right to the bottom.

In my case I jumped off the edge of the Y pool and sank to the bottom
and had to be fished out with a shepard's crook. In the case of my
oldest daughter, she didn't really swim until I taught her breast
stroke. My second child would jump in the water at the slightest
opportunity - with or without clothes. Children are all different. I
suggest with your child that you exercise patience.