Last Updated on 19 December 2024 by Colette
Amy swims with Puddle Ducks / Swim Academy free of charge
Amy has been learning to swim with Puddle Ducks and, more recently, Swim Academy for over four years now and we’ve written so much about this journey that I wanted to make it really easy for you to find everything by putting it all in one place for you!
1. Why we’re learning to swim with Puddle Ducks
Ben and Chloe started swimming lessons around their third birthday at the local leisure centre – I remember it being freezing cold for them both and there was a lot of waiting around at the edge of the pool. I always regretted not taking them for swimming lessons as babies so when the opportunity arose to try out Puddle Ducks baby and toddler swimming lessons with Amy I jumped at it: Why we’re learning to swim with Puddle Ducks
2. Puddle Ducks Kickers – Review
Shortly before her 2nd birthday, Amy started swimming with Puddle Ducks. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t started swimming lessons as a baby, she just joined in at Kickers stage and everything was tailored to her own level. She really wasn’t a fan at first – I wrote this post a few lessons in, including our tops tips for those first Puddle Ducks lessons: Puddle Ducks Kickers – Review
3. Our first half term with Puddle Ducks
About four weeks into Amy’s Puddle Ducks swimming lessons, she went under the water for the first time – and hated it. She reminded me for weeks after that she didn’t want to go under. It took her till she started Swim Academy to be really confident with putting her face fully in! Read more about those first weeks here: Our first half term with Puddle Ducks
4. Our first term with Puddle Ducks
At the end of the Amy’s first term with Puddle Ducks, her confidence had grown and she was starting to really enjoy the routine of her swimming lessons and had settled into what was expected of her. We said goodbye to her first Puddle Ducks teacher ready to move to a different session time after the holidays. Read more about Amy’s first term with Puddle Ducks.
5. A new term with Puddle Ducks
The start of Amy’s second term with Puddle Ducks brought about some changes with a new lesson time and a new teacher but she took it in her stride and actually we found that having a new teacher gave Amy the chance to push herself a bit as there were no prior expectations. See how Amy started her new term with Puddle Ducks
6. Puddle Ducks Kickers Mid-Term Update
Once Amy was well settled into her new Kickers sessions with Claire, we started to see lots of firsts for her including her first proper seal dive. In this post I explained some of the differences between Amy’s Puddle Ducks lessons and her sibling’s council lessons. Read Amy’s Puddle Ducks Kickers Mid-Term Update here.
7. The end of our second term with Puddle Ducks
The end of Amy’s second term with Puddle Ducks proved that learning to swim is not a straightforward, linear journey but one where there are ups and downs, leaps forwards and steps backwards. Although Amy had developed in confidence she was still very determined about what she did and didn’t want to do and you couldn’t predict from one lesson to the next how that would go. We decided that as she graduated to Little Dippers the following term, we wanted to ensure she stayed at the same venue with the same teacher as continuity felt really important at this stage of her Puddle Ducks experience. You can read more about The end of our second term with Puddle Ducks here.
8. Getting over Water Wobbles with Puddles Ducks
Water Wobbles is the term the guys at Puddle Ducks use to describe the phase lots of toddlers go through during their swimming lessons, when your previously compliant and water loving toddler decides that they actually don’t like swimming any more. You can read more about our experience of Getting over Water Wobbles with Puddle Ducks here.
9. A whole year of swimming with Puddle Ducks
In this post, I looked back on a whole year of learning to swim with Puddle Ducks – the progress Amy made from spending her lessons crying and clinging to me to laughing and smiling her way through her sessions. Read more about why we love our Puddle Ducks lessons here: A whole year of swimming with Puddle Ducks
10. Puddle Ducks at Aqua Nurture, Gee Cross
March 2016 saw the team at Greater Manchester Puddle Ducks open their new venue; Aqua Nurture – you can read all about Puddle Ducks at Aqua Nurture here!
11. Missing our Puddle Ducks lessons!
The team at Puddle Ducks understand that lessons will be missed, absences will happen – but unlike other pre-booked classes where that money is now lost, Puddle Ducks will issue you with a “catch-up voucher” which allows you to go online and book another lesson at a time and pool convenient to you. Read more about Missing Our Puddle Ducks lessons here.
12. Puddle Ducks with Dad
In this post, Dave writes about his experience of taking Amy to her Puddle Ducks lessons and the progress he was able to see since he’d last taken her! Read about Puddle Ducks lessons with Dad here.
13. When your Puddle Ducks lesson ends in tears
After 18 months of lessons, this Puddle Ducks lesson ended in tears . . . not Amy’s but mine! Find out why our Puddle Ducks lessons ended in tears here.
14. Swimming outside of our Puddle Ducks lessons
Of course learning to swim is about more than the structured lessons in the pool week on week. Being able to swim is a vital life skill – both for safety but also for fun! Read more about our experience of Swimming outside of our Puddle Ducks lessons here!
15. Two Years of Swimming with Puddle Ducks
At the end of Amy’s second year of swimming with Puddle Ducks, she started Nursery at school five mornings away and could no longer attend her usual lesson with Claire so the new school year brought a change of venue and teacher for Amy. Read more about Two Years of Swimming with Puddle Ducks.
16. Making the move to Swim Academy with Puddle Ducks
As soon as Amy turned 4, she moved up to Swim Academy – which meant that not only was she back with Claire, but that I no longer had to get in the pool with her. The move up to Swim Academy felt enormous at the time, but it was a complete game changer for Amy and her progress. Read more about Making the move to Swim Academy with Puddle Ducks here.
17. A full term of Swim Academy Lessons
After a full term of Swim Academy lessons, I wrote about how both Amy and I had coped with the changes both to the timing of her lesson and the change in structure which saw me sitting on the side watching her! You can read more about our first full term of Swim Academy here and why we were so happy with the move!
18. Learning Personal Survival Skills During Pyjama Week
Pyjama week is a regular and important part of both Puddle Ducks and Swim Academy lessons. I wrote all about learning personal survivial skills during swim academy lessons (and having fun whilst doing it!)
19. Swimming for fun thanks to Swim Academy
Although we’ve always said that learning to swim is non-negotiable in our house, and this is mostly a safety issue, there is also a desire for our children to be confident and happy in the water so that they can enjoy swimming on holiday or trips to water parks. In my Swimming for fun thanks to Swim Academy post, I write about how much Amy finally enjoyed swimming on holiday thanks to her Puddle Ducks / Swim Academy lessons.
20. Moving up to Swim Academy Level 2
Making the move up to Swim Academy Level 2 felt like a really big deal but actually, as with all things Puddle Ducks / Swim Academy, it was just the next gentle step along the path to being able to swim – the lessons are structure very similarly to Level 1 and the teachers are still in the pool with the swimmers. Read more about moving up to Swim Academy Level 2 here.
21. Ten things we love about Swim Academy
If you’re considering booking Swim Academy lessons for your child but don’t know if it’s worth the money – read this post featuring Ten thing we love about Swim Academy
22. Reasons why learning to swim is non-negotiable
From the start, learning to swim was always a non-negotiable for us. Whatever clubs the kids wanted to do or skills the wanted to learn – making sure they could swim was a top priority, both for our time and our money.
Click here to read about why learning to swim is non-negotiable for our family.
23. Amy’s 10 metres badge!
Distance badges are always an exciting milestone and Amy has just achieved her 10m badge – this means she’s almost completed Swim Academy Stage 2!
You can read more about Amy’s 10 metres badge here!
24. Getting back in the pool after Lockdown
After almost 6 months of now swimming lessons, Amy’s return to the pool has seen some changes to get used to. Some changes we had expected, others that were a bit more of a surprise!
You can read more about Amy’s return to swimming after Lockdown here
25. When school swimming lessons and Swim Academy collides!
In September of Year 3, like many children across the country, Amy began her school swimming lessons. This was something I was quite nervous about as I really wasn’t sure how her school swimming lessons would fit alongside her Swim Academy lessons, especially as the teaching styles are so different.
You can read more about Amy’s school swimming lessons here.
So there you go – our six year swimming journey so far!
Amy swims with Greater Manchester Puddle Ducks / Swim Academy free of charge for the purposes of review however all thoughts and opinions remain our own
