Not around Cleveland....but Riverwood does. It's on other side of Clayton, near Archers Lodge. Better to know somewhere than nowhere.
Ann Stephenson in the McGee's Xroad area has been teaching children to swim at her home for many years and i have always heard wonderful things about her. Her # is 639-7076. i cannot remember the name of the business but you can give her a call.
I have heard that too about A Stephenson BUT I must let you know that if you take your child don't be weak hearted. I have had a few people tell me she will tell you to toss your child in and walk away and let her do her job. If you child won't like that technique just be aware of her teaching style.
Rex wellness center does them also - at White Oak Shopping Center in Garner??? Not too far from 40/42!
i have never heard anything like that.:shock: A friend of mine took their little one when he was 3 and he was scared to death of water, she was always there during the lesson and the little one is a little fish in water now. Knowing Ann from church, i cannot imagine her saying anything like that to anyone.
You can do what my grandfather did. Throw the kids in the pool and hope they swim. That's how I learned.
I have met 2 different people who have told me about the same thing. The first one said she swears by Ann. She told me she though Ann was straight out of the nut house when Ann told her to throw her 1 1/2 year into the pool beside of Ann and walk away. Reluctantly, my friend did and her child was swimming by herself right after her 2nd birthday. The other woman swears by her too but in a totally different way... she swore if Ann touched her 4 year old son again she would probably drown Ann. :shock: So I am guessing it's all about what each person thinks. That is just 2 first hand experiences I have heard about. Then I have heard from other swimming teachers where I took my son that she is awesome and has been teaching for years. And to be teaching for years she has to be doing something right.
When I contacted Ann last summer I recall her telling me the parent cannot be within view during the lesson. As discussed on dr./dentist thread ... I am hesitant toward any person who does not welcome the parent to be present. PLUS ... for this type of instruction I prefer to watch so I will know what they are suppose to do and can reinforce skills at home.
That's the same thing she told both ladies I was talking about. The first lady did what she asked and walked away. The second lady said 'nah I want to watch b/c my son is terrified of water.' Well her son's lesson last all of about 10 mins. :? I don't want to go into details about everything Ann did because it would be second hand word of mouth and too I don't want to bad mouth anyone. The first lady that swears by Ann said that the reason she doesn't want the parent's within viewing distance was because the child acts differently in front of parents. She said the child is more apt to listen better to Ann if the parents aren't around.
I've had experience with Ann Stephenson before too and she is definitely "tough love". Guess it works but, like in the previous post, your child has to be tough enough to not be bothered by her somewhat abrupt personality. My little girl would wilt like a flower with that kind of instruction but my son would do fine. Your child could learn to swim with her but you would just have to decide if they are emotionally ready for her.
contact the Johnston county YMCA. I don't know where they teach at now. A couple of years ago they were at Flowers Pool. It was worth the little extra drive. They were really good. My son is somewhat shy around water and people in it, but in less than 2 days, they had him in and doing small drills. By the end of the 2 weeks he was swimming the width of the pool by himself. Huge turn around.
I agree with that... We had taken ours to The Wellness Center at JMH and much PAID for time was totally wasted on kids that just weren't interested and wanted to play and act up. The parents should have taken them out. They were biting into my pocket book and my kids opportunity to learn. It seemed the instructors had to please the parents a little too much and didn't appreciate it. But what do ya do when Little Johnny comes to class and mommy, daddy, grandma, grandpa and other siblings come to see how cute little Johnny is while learning to swim. Shoot me. *sigh* The moons must be lining up just so. Cleo?! Got your calendar?
I have to say, I took my 5 year old to Ann last summer. She is not going to coddle your child, she means business and you get your money's worth out of her. I was reluctant to leave him, but she let me sit around front so I could hear. He did very well and was swimming at the end of the week. He had taken swimming lessons earlier in the summer through the city of Raleigh and was not swimming yet after those. He did not like diving to the bottom as she pushed them down there and that is keeping him from wanting to take them again this year. I would recommend her, children do act differently around the parents and I understand why she wants it that way.
Victoria Pond Swim club They offer swimming lessons. My son took them when he was three. The instructor did a great job. he was swimming at the end of the week. I was allowed to sit and watch as well. I don't agree with letting a child be left alone for swim lessons at all. He now swims like a fish and will be turning five this sunday!! I cannot recall the phone number, but there are signs posted everywhere for membership drive. I will look it up! (you don't have to be a member to sign up for swim lessons...although we signed up after my son took his lessons!!
My son recently took lesson at Riverwood. It was ok but I liked the setup at HealthQuest in Smithfield better. At HealthQuest they were in the therapy pool and it was a small, quite setting. At Riverwood it was in the lap pool and it was very "busy" and loud. Some days there were water aerobics going on right beside the children and that was distracting in my opinion. In KooKoo's post about the person who didn't care for Ann's style- that was me. My son was 4 1/2 and he had never had his head put under water because he had tubes in his ears until just before the lessons started. I have to say that the experience with her was the worst day of my life. My son has never been that scared in his life. To each there own with the style but pulling a child under the water against their will 2 minutes after they lay eyes are on you for the first time just didn't settle well with me. There was no warning or anything. We switched to another instruction and my son did wonderful with her with no crying at all. It was more like what KooKoo had described to me when her child went there the year before. We are ready for his 3rd set of lessons and I plan to back to HealthQuest for them.
My neighbor and I were going to sign our DDs up for lessons through the YMCA, but their website said that classes this year are canceled. Maybe you want to double check this...?
