I swim, You swim, We all swim differently: a training workshop for swim instructors

Includes bibliographical references (pages 48-51)The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that in 2008 unintentional drowning was the leading cause of death in children 1-4 years old (CDC, 2008). Between 2005-2007 there were 385 pool or spa related deaths of children under fifteen years old; 84% occurred in residential locations and 77% of those deaths were of children under five years old (Gipson, 2010). This means that children under five years old are at risk of dying in their own backyard!\ud Moreover, the Centers for Disease Control (2012) state several factors for unintentional drowning, those pertaining to swimming pool drowning risks include, a lack of swimming ability, barriers to prevent unsupervised access to water and, most importantly, a lack of close supervision while swimming. Thus, The Centers for Disease Control (2012) recommend multilayered protective barriers to reduce the risk of drowning such as building fences around pools, installing alarms around nearby doors, as well as enrolling children in swim lessons. \ud In Thousand Oaks, California there are several swim programs that parents may choose from, each with their own philosophies, methods and trainings for their instructors. One of these programs is Santa Rosa Swimming owned by Kristin Green, an energetic entrepreneur with a Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education from California State University, Northridge with an extensive background in swim coaching. She is also one of the current lead instructors along with the present researcher, Yvonne Boeing, who is working towards a Masters Degree in Early Child Education. After years of practice and education they have created a methodology that allows children to learn how to swim in a developmentally appropriate and fun way.\ud Today, the business is growing and there is a need to hire new instructors. Along with hiring new teachers, a training workshop is required to educate them on the philosophy and techniques that make Santa Rosa Swimming unique. Therefore, the purpose of this project was to create a training workshop that implemented what Kristin Green and this researcher had developed in recent years derived from their knowledge in early childhood development and swim skills. This graduate project details the development of a training workshop that orients instructors in Santa Rosa Swimming???s unique philosophy about how to effectively teach swimming to children, the child development research behind the methods, and key water safety skills to incorporate into their lesson