Why is TKO the premier choice?

Why Choose TKO? There are a myriad of reasons, including: I have over 12+ years of experience in the industry; I teach roll-over breathing, and have done so since 1999; I am a 3 time recipient of the USSSA's Outstanding Teacher award; I have successfully taught over one thousand swimmers; and I was the most highly requested instructor at my last two swim schools, leaving Sea Star with a 4.89 parent rating (out of 5). Beyond the numbers, however, there are intangibles that make the difference in your child's swim lesson experience. One of those is determining your child's best learning method.

I have spent thousands of hours working with children of all ages from 6 months - to 16 years (and adults, too!) learning the best phrasing, holds, imagery, timing, and techniques that work for each skill level. In all that time, the most valuable thing I have learned is that there is not one right answer. Each child learns differently and responds to different stimuli. I make it my goal to find out which method or combination of methods your child learns best from and I use that to my advantage in swim lessons.

Some children learn a new skill best by experiencing it physically. My best example is 5 year old Brady when he was learning to breathe to the side for freestyle. I could talk till I was blue in the face to Brady. No amount of watching his brother or his other classmates made a difference to him. Once I took his arms in mine and guided his head to the side to feel the correct positioning for the turn, he had that lightbulb "aha" moment. A few more repetitions with me, and Brady was ready to take off on his own, showing off his new found skill. Of course we had a lot of fine tuning to do, but I knew that physically experiencing the feeling of the skill was the best method of learning for Brady.

Nina was a 30 month old student of mine who was a great example of a visual learner. She started out in a Mommy and Me class with me and eventually progressed to a "Big Girl" class without her mom in the water. She was big, boisterous, and always laughing. Her attention span was typical for a two and a half year old, so I broke down each skill for her so she could learn it one piece at a time. Nina didn't respond to me physically putting her into the correct position in a positive way. After all, she was in a "Big Girl" class and wanted to do everything all by herself. I would show Nina the skill I wanted her to accomplish and then she would try it on her own. When we were working on independent floating, I was worried because that is a skill that can be difficult for the little ones without some support. I floated on my back and showed Nina where her chin needed to be to make her float. When it was her turn, as I was holding her, she told me, "Let go, Miss Christy. I can do it just like you." As I let go, she pressed her chin into the air as I had shown her, and sure enough, she floated on her own.

Verbal communication is another common learning technique for many students. 4 year old Ethan was one of my students who excelled best by having skills explained to him in imaginative ways. When he was learning to roll over to his back to float and get a breath, he had a hard time understanding the roll-over concept. We started talking about the way his dad made pancakes and how they needed to be flipped to the other side so they could be cooked. This imagery worked for Ethan, so when he needed to roll over I would tell him to "flip like a pancake." He was excited to "cook" on both sides and within two lessons, he was rolling over on his own.

Most students need a combination of verbal, visual, and physical communication to learn new skills. I utilize all three of these techniques when teaching and when I find which of these (or which combination of these) styles of learning works best for each individual student, I begin to transition into a teaching style that works best for the student. This is intuitive to me, as I believed it would be for most instructors. However, as I trained new teachers at my previous swim school, I realized this is not the case. Unfortunately, in a swim school setting there are many teachers who do best by learning an instruction technique and who stick to the script to fit within the swim school model. Now that I am on my own, teaching independent private lessons, I have the freedom to modify each swim class to work best for each individual student. When you choose TKO you know that the lessons will be tailored to your child's strengths. I have a curriculum filled with skills and milestones I want each child to achieve, but I take the liberty to mold the lesson to the child's best interest and not try to fit them into the standard mold.

Another reason TKO lessons are above par in the industry is that I believe in ensuring that each child is having fun. I have found that a laughing child is a much quicker learner than a bored one. I utilize age specific toys, games, techniques, and even jokes that engage my students, making our lessons more productive. Beyond just being productive, I want swim lessons to be a time your child looks back on fondly. Swimming is a life-long skill that can also be a life-saving one as well: however, learning to swim doesn't have to be a clinical experience. If my philosophy sounds like a good fit for your family, I hope that you will give me a call.