A study from the Griffith Institute of Educational Research in Australia suggests that children involved in swimming lessons at an early age are more advanced in their cognitive and physical development than their non-swimming counterparts. According to Griffith’s study, language development, confidence, and physical development are all achieved sooner in “swimming kids.” Over the span of 3 years, researchers surveyed the parents of more than 7,000 children age 5 and under and found that the age kids learned to swim correlated with when they began accomplishing certain skills. In pre-school, early swimmers had better visual-motor skills (like cutting paper and drawing lines and shapes), but also fared better as they got older (i.e. understanding directions, math, and writing and reading skills).  In 2011, researchers in Melbourne, Australia determined that children who were taught to swim by 5 years of age had statistically higher IQs.

Another recent study shows that a baby’s brain develops through bilateral cross-patterning movements like the movements done in swimming.  For children, the more of these movements, the more nerve fibers develop in the corpus callosum.  The corpus callosum is a tract of 200 million nerve fibers that connect the right and left hemispheres of the brain and facilitate communication, feedback and modulation from one side of the brain to the other. Cross-patterning movements such as swimming activate both cerebral hemispheres and all four lobes of the brain simultaneously, which can result in heightened cognition and increased ease of learning.

Recent studies have also shown the amount of a person’s movement affects the size and memory capacity of the hippocampus. The hippocampus is a memory and learning area of the brain. Researchers at the University of Illinois and the University of Pittsburgh discovered that people who move more have bigger hippocampi. They concluded that more tissue in the hippocampus equates to increased ability in certain types of memory.

Researchers at the German Sport University Cologne found that children who swam consistently from infancy (3 months) scored higher on intelligence and problem-solving tests, which carried over into excellence in academic achievement.

The takeaway is simple – enroll your children in swimming lessons today and experience a lifetime of benefits!

AquatiKids of Atlanta Swimming School offers private one to one swimming lessons for babies, infants, toddlers, and children from 6 months of age to 6 years of age as well as group lessons to graduates of our private lessons.  To schedule swimming lessons for your infant or child, please visit our website or call (404) 913-5385.

First, small children have short attention spans with an average child having the ability to concentrate for 2-5 minutes per year old they are.  This means most two years old can concentrate for between 4 and 10 minutes.  Effective instruction occurs during this time when your child remains engaged in the swim lessons.

Second, repetition is a powerful way to master a skill and is utilized in our program to maximize learning potential.  As well as strengthening connections in the brain, repetition has strong emotional implications for young learners. Children enjoy repetition because it helps them feel confident with a new skill and allows them to actively participate.  Children use repetition to practice skills and to predict what happens next while building confidence, a sense of security and self-esteem.  By using a repetitive format with variation, we can draw on the confidence, security, and connections the child has already established to support learning a new skill.

Third, swimming is a work out!  Water is nearly 800 times denser than air and each kick, push, and pull is like a mini resistance workout for your child.  Learning is less likely to occur when your child is fatigued during swim lessons.

We have seen the increased effectiveness of short, frequent lessons on our students’ ability to learn to swim and are confident you will agree once you see our results!

AquatiKids of Atlanta Swimming School offers private one to one swimming lessons for babies, infants, toddlers, and children from 6 months of age to 6 years of age as well as group lessons to graduates of our private lessons.  To schedule swimming lessons for your infant or child, please visit our website or call (404) 913-5385.