The Ashland YMCA currently offers:
• Parents & Child Swim Program for ages 6 to 36 months
• Preschool Swim Program for ages 3 years to 5 years

Parents & Child Swim Program

This 30-minute class is for children ages 6 to 36 months and their parents. The primary objectives are:

• To promote enjoyable experiences between parents and child in the water
• To encourage children to experience, explore, and test the aquatic environment with body movements and emotions, with assistance and encouragement from their parents. Working towards this goal promotes each child’s awareness, confidence, and physical ability.
• To increase the parents’ abilities to help their children enjoy the water, using it as a medium for developing coordination, strength, fitness, and physical abilities.
• To encourage parents in providing activities and experiences that will lead to lifelong fitness and health for their children.
• To increase parents’ knowledge of water safety and ability to provide help for their children in and around the water.
• Activities are based on the developmental abilities of the child, so classes are divided by age. These classes require parental participation. The ratio of students to instructor is 12:1.

The four groups are:
Shrimp (6-8 months old)
Kippers (9-12 months old)
Inias (13-18 months old)
Perch (19-36 months old)

We combine Shrimp, Kippers, and Inias for enrollment and developmental reasons. As children grow, they begin to move more independently; however, the skills taught are very similar throughout the four groups. When children can kick, paddle, and are physically ready for swimming on their own, bubble floats will be used to help support their bodies in the water. The Perch level is generally comprised of children wearing bubbles. The emphasis continues to be on water enrichment, with an introduction to more swimming skills. These levels are guides based upon age and corresponding development. The instructor will adjust the skills and activities based upon the class needs, while maintaining the emphasis on the overall objectives for each level.

Preschool Swim Program

For ages 3 to 5, this program offers children their first experience in the pool without parental assistance. The children are taught basic skills that are the foundation of swimming. They also learn about pool safety, boating safety, and the use of personal flotation devices. A caring swim instructor teaches the 45-minute class. Each preschool class is required to have a ratio of 6 students per 1 instructor. If a class is larger, we will make every effort to place another instructor in that class. The four levels of preschool program are:

Pike – Beginner
Eel – Intermediate
Ray – Advanced
Starfish – Creative Level