No pool, you can still have fun and learn to swim!

These hot days of summer require drastic measures to keep cool and have fun with water.  
My daughter and her family found a way!

We need to get the little one to get to like water on his face.  This is a good way to lead into going under the water in the pool.

Fun is the name of the game when it comes to swimming.

Durham has lots of fun in the bath!

Water Safety Month- Teach your baby to swim!

May is National Water Safety Month.  The Learn to Swim with Miss DVD can give parents knowledge to teach their children to be safe in the water from their first bath.   Many parents don't think about swimming until their child can walk.  But early water safety skills can save your baby's life!

The most basic skill is for your baby to be familiar with having water on the face, knowing not to swallow water.  Even without going to swimming lessons, parents can play games with their baby in the tub and pool that can save their life.

Babies can hold their breath for even more than 2 minutes!  This is longer than adults.  Many drowning rescues occur in that time frame.  If a baby can hold his breath, he will survive.  The Learn to Swim with Miss Bea DVD has many more activities for the bathtub and for the swimming pool for children up to 4 years old.

Don't wait till you child is ready to swim; there are things you can do to make your child want to swim, even if your child is scared of the water.

You may believe that you can't teach your own child, but that is simply not true!  Parents will feel confident in teaching their own children following the simple step by step demonstrations by parents and their children on the DVD.

Order today for a special May discount.

It's okay to PEE in the pool!

Don't worry about the PEE in public pools!

One of the reasons many parents don't want to take their children to a public pool is because of fear of the pee in the water due to the large number of children in the pool.  But if you are certain that the pool quality is maintained, you have nothing to worry about. 

The article written by  Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online   supports that scientifically, there is no proof that pee is harmful to the pool water.  I agree, I guess, as long as everyone doesn't pee at the same time...

"Scientists confirmed a claim made by Michael Phelps back at the 2012 Olympics in London that peeing in the pool was just fine."

"Phelps caused reason for concern by admitting during the Olympics that many swimmers pee in the pool, but said that it was okay because the chlorine killed any germs.

Stuart Jones, a biochemist with Sense About Science (SAS), a charity that aims to dispel commonly held myths, said that he was in fact correct.

“In fact Michael, urine is essentially sterile so there isn’t actually anything to kill in the first place,” Jones said in a statement. “Urine is largely just salts and water with moderate amounts of protein and DNA breakdown products.”

He mentioned that chlorine is just preventing the bacteria from growing inside the pool water.

“So you’re basically right, peeing in a swimming pool, even if all swimmers do it simultaneously, has very little impact on the composition of the pool water itself,” he said.

According to Jones, an Olympic pool contains over 2 million liters of water, and a single urination is in the range of 0.2 liters.

“To have any significant effect on the overall composition of the pool water you’d need a serious amount of peeing,” Jones added."

I am still not going to let my own grandchildren PEE in the pool, though!

Swimming Lessons survey

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What do Googles for Guppies and Make a Splash have in common?

Two twelve year old boys started a nonprofit organization called Goggles for Guppies.  They are making a big difference, one child at a time.  Here is the Goggles for Guppies facebook page

When you watch the video, watch especially the first and last parts. 

This is from the Goggles for Guppies website:

Goggles for Guppies, a 501(c)(3) charitable corporation, was founded in 2011 by southern California twin swimmers Chris and Matt Hales. We are a volunteer organization that distributes donated swim equipment to underprivileged children while providing community service opportunities for athletes as well as for intermediate and high school students who need to fulfill their community service requirements for graduation.

Since our beginning, we have distributed well over $250,000 worth of swim suits, caps and goggles to encourage underprivileged children to learn to swim. We solicit and accept all sizes of donations of unsold inventory from sporting goods manufacturers, distributors and retailers for distribution to learn-to-swim programs throughout America that provide basic, life-saving swimming skills to disadvantaged kids. Today, we are proud to be the exclusive distributor of donated swim equipment  for the USA Swimming Foundation's Make-A-Splash initiative.

Goggles for Guppies, a 501(c)(3) charitable corporation, was founded in 2011 by southern California twin swimmers Chris and Matt Hales. We are a volunteer organization that distributes donated swim equipment to underprivileged children while providing community service opportunities for athletes as well as for intermediate and high school students who need to fulfill their community service requirements for graduation. 

Since our beginning, we have distributed well over $250,000 worth of swim suits, caps and goggles to encourage underprivileged children to learn to swim. We solicit and accept all sizes of donations of unsold inventory from sporting goods manufacturers, distributors and retailers for distribution to learn-to-swim programs throughout America that provide basic, life-saving swimming skills to disadvantaged kids. Today, we are proud to be the exclusive distributor of donated swim equipment  for the USA Swimming Foundation's Make-A-Splash initiative. 

"The Make-A-Splash initiative has experienced exponential growth since its inception in 2007 and has granted $2.5 million to provide free or reduced cost swimming lessons to children who might not otherwise have the chance. To date, more than 1.5 million kids have received the life-saving gift of swim lessons through the Make-A-Splash Local Partner network, comprised of more than 550 qualified lesson providers across the nation".

Here is their facebook page and video that highlights their efforts.  Be a part of it!




Rules from the Make a Splash Campaign:

Saving lives through Make a Splash

TAKE STEPS TO BE SAFER AROUND THE WATER
 - Learn to Swim!
 - Follow pool rules.
 - Never swim alone. Use the buddy system and choose locations with certified lifeguards whenever possible.
 - If someone in the water is in trouble, reach, throw, but don’t go! 

WHY MAKE A SPLASH?
 - Drowning is the 2nd leading cause of childhood accidental death
 - Ten people drown each day in the U.S.
 - Seven out of ten African-American children cannot swim
 - Six out of ten Hispanic children cannot swim
 - 40% of Caucasian children have low or no swimming ability
 - Children from non-swimming households are eight times more likely to be
   at-risk of drowning
 - Participation in formal swim lessons can reduce the likelihood of childhood drowning by 88%.

How to teach kids to kick effectively when swimming

The Kick:

BABIES UNDER 6 MONTHS: The swimming reflex makes babies look like they are swimming. Babies will naturally move their arms and legs underwater. You won't need to teach your baby any underwater motions. That is why you want to start your baby swimming very young!

FOR CHILDREN 6 MONTHS TO 2 YEARS OLD:

• If your baby doesn't naturally kick, get low in the water and have him lean on your shoulder.
• Move your baby's legs up and down at the knees while you walk backwards.
• Have another adult move your baby's legs up and down.
• Hold your baby securely. As your baby kicks, you walk backwards towards a toy or another person.

FOR OLDER CHILDREN NEEDING HELP: Use a floatie

• Place your child's hands on the float.
• Use your arms to move your child's legs up and down, bending the knees, flopping the feet, while moving to a toy.
• Try to achieve a happy medium of bending and splashing.
• You can also place your arm just above your child's knees to prevent his legs from going too deep.
• You child will continue to kick until he reaches the toy. This is the beginning of swimming! 

FOR OLDER CHILDREN A BETTER KICK:

• Hold the child facing you. Have the child kick really hard, while you pretend to crash the wall.
• Hold the child under the arms and tell him to kick to the toy while you walk toward the toy.
• Have the child push off the steps and kick to you getting in a horizontal position.
• Do The Bumper Fish
• Have the child jump in and kick to you, making sure that he splasheswith his feet.
• To strengthen the kick, try "the rocket" in the Swim Solo lesson. 

  

Re-vamping my website

Most of my dvd sales have been coming from google searches.  This week, I have been working on making my website more user friendly making the lessons into bullet form using my Creating Websites book.   I worked html and changed the meta tags for title as recommended by the marketing gurus and added you tube videos to most pages and links to other pages in the site.

I also  and put more links to the paypal "buy now" button, hoping more people would be tempted to buy it!

I still have more changes to make but am doing it all myself...

Would you please look at it and tell me what you think?  What is your favorite page?

www.swimbea.com