Tessa Rhodes

I help children overcome their fear of water with a dose of compassion and a whole lot of patience.

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  • ABOUT ME
  • THE BUSINESS SIDE
    • Online Professional Development Classes: Empower Your Team
    • Small Business Ideas for Teachers – Start A Private Swim School
    • Best Class Management Software 2024
    • How Many Followers for Amazon Influencer Program: Essential Key Points
  • COURSES
    • Free Course: How to Prepare Your Baby for Swim Lessons 0 to 8 Months
    • Online Swim Academy
  • FREE RESOURCES
  • MY BLOG
    • How to Start a Swim School
      • Small Business Ideas for Teachers – How To Start A Private Swim School Business Without Any Experience
    • Overcome fear of water
      • Fear of Water? Help Your Child Learn to put Their Face in the Water
      • Toys for Swimming Lessons: The Benefits
      • Games to Motivate Your Child to put Their Face in the Water
      • Help Your Child Learn How to Front Float
      • Help Your Child Learn How to Back Float
      • Having Fun Learning Various Rolls, Floats and More
      • How to Give up the Nose Clip, Goggles and Ear Protection
      • Teach Your Child to Propel through the Water
      • Breath Control: How to Blow Bubbles for Beginner Swimmers
      • Help Your Child Overcome Their Fear of Deep Water
      • Functional Needs Swimming: Tips for Safe & Enjoyable Learning
    • Swim Product Recommendations
      • Period Swimwear: Revolutionizing the Way We Swim on Our Cycle
      • Best Swim Caps for Keeping Hair Dry: Top Picks for 2024
      • Best Swimming Goggles with Nose Cover: Top Picks for You
      • Best Swim Goggles for Women: Top Picks for Comfort & Clarity
      • Best Swimming Goggles for Glasses: Top Options for 2024
      • Best Swim Goggles for Men: Top Picks and Ultimate Guide 2024
      • Best Swim Goggles for Beginners: Top Picks and Guide 2023
      • Best Swim Goggles 2023: Top Picks & Expert Guide
      • 4 Must-Haves for Your Vacation Getaway
      • Best Swim Fins for Kids
      • Finis Floating Island: Not Just for Kicking Practice
      • Finis Tempo Trainer: Not Just for Competitive Swimmers
      • Swim Mirror: Best Teaching Tool for Swimmers of All Levels
      • Treasure Chest: Proven to Motivate Even the Most Fearful Young Swimmers
    • Water Safety Topics
      • Your Family’s Guide to Swimming Pool Safety: Top Resources and Tips
      • Teach Your Child to Respect the Water
      • Water Safety Quiz
      • Do Swim Diapers Hold Urine?
      • International Water Safety Day May 15
      • Do Life Jackets Prevent Drowning?
      • Don’t Become a Drowning Statistic – Fence It In! Part 2
      • Don’t Become a Drowning Statistic – Fence It In!
      • How Do You Prevent Drowning?
      • What Is the Least Amount of Water It Takes to Drown?
      • How Do You Know If Someone Is Drowning?
      • What Does It Mean to Be Water Safe?
      • There Ought to Be a Law
      • When Will My Child Ever Learn?
      • What Are the Statistics of Drowning?
      • Where Drowning Takes Place Changes with Age
      • Having a Pool Party? Consider Hiring a Lifeguard
      • Don’t Take Offense but You Need a Fence
      • Are Water Wings Safe?
      • Are You Comfortable around Water?
      • Any Source of Water Is a Potential Drowning Hazard
      • How Common Is Drowning?
      • My Story
    • Water Safety Newsletter
      • What Kind of Learner Is My Child Quiz
      • How to Prepare Your Baby for Swimming Lessons Part 3
      • How to Prepare Your Baby for Swimming Lessons Part 2
      • How to Prepare Your Baby for Swimming Lessons
      • How I Stopped Swimmer’s Ear Infections Once and for All
      • Tips and Tricks to Motivate the Scared Child to Float
      • How to Teach Assisted Floating
      • Respect for Deep Water
      • What Is Breath Control in Swimming?
      • Got a Child Afraid of Water on the Face? Watch This Video
      • Shallow Water Blackout: What Every Parent Should Know
      • Self-Rescue Challenge: 3-Year-Old Pulls It off Without a Hitch
      • Drowning: The Silent Killer
      • Thailand Cave Rescue Mission + How to Teach Nose Bubbles to a Young Child
      • Dry Drowning: Real or Fake?
      • Self-Rescue Swim: Amazing 2-Year-Old Crushes Self-Rescue Challenge
      • International Water Safety Day 2018
      • This Is How to Get Your Child to Put Their Face in the Water
      • 2 Clever Ways to Get a Swim Cap on a Child in Under 2 Seconds
      • Water Safety Tips for Adults: A Drowning and near Drowning Within 30 Minutes
      • Self-Rescue Challenge: 3-Year-Old Survives Test
      • Swimming Pool Safety Act for California: Updated Jan 1, 2018
      • Pool Gate Left Open: The Unspeakable Happened
      • Pet Doors: Are Any of Them Childproof?
      • Do You Have a Fearless Child?
      • All about Swim Diapers, in the News and Water Safety Tips
    • Frequently Asked Questions
      • How Long Does It Take to Learn to Swim: Understand The Timeline
      • Can Babies Swim Naturally?
      • How Do I Know If My Child Is Dry Drowning?
      • What Is the Best Age to Start Swimming Lessons?
      • How Do I Make My Child More Comfortable in Water?
      • Does Your Baby Suddenly Have a Fear of Water?
      • How I Stopped Swimmer’s Ear Infections Once and for All
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What Kind of Learner Is My Child Quiz

August 23, 2020 by Tessa Rhodes Leave a Comment

There are four types of learning styles

  1. Auditory learners. These children learn best by listening to someone explaining the process. 
  2. Visual learners. These learners progress more quickly by seeing someone demonstrate something.
  3. Reader/writers. These students excel when the new information is visible in front of them in words. 
  4. Kinesthetic learners. These energetic pupils are hands-on and get the most out of learning a skill by physically performing it.

Swimming lessons implement all four learning styles

Auditory learning is employed when the swim instructor tells the child what to do. 

The Visual learner understands best when the instructor shows the child how to do something. 

Reader/writers thrive when the instructor illustrates activities or water safety rules with written words on posters or flashcards. 

Finally, kinesthetic learning is applied when the student is allowed to practice the skill.

So swimming lessons provide your child with THEIR most effective way of learning, and this is just one of the many reasons swimming lessons make children smarter.

To see the other contributing factors to a more intelligent young person, check out reason number 8 in this article.

How to Prepare Your Baby for Swimming Lessons Part 3

March 1, 2020 by Tessa Rhodes 2 Comments

Water Safety Newsletter

Teach your baby independence

prepare your baby for swimming lessons part 3

Just as you teach your baby to be independent on land, learning independence in the water is even more crucial.

I don’t mean that you should leave your baby alone in the water—quite the opposite. Teaching independence is done under strict supervision. You must always stay within arms reach of your baby.

how to teach your baby to swim 0-6 months

Watch the video to find out exactly how to encourage independence in your little one. 

This video clip is part of a FREE course on How to Prepare Your Baby for Swim Lessons 0 to 8 Months. For the full version head on over to my Online Swim Academy now. While you’re there, you’ll discover more curriculum on how to teach your ðŸ‘¶  baby to swim yourself with my in-depth online courses.

(This post contains affiliate links. This means if you click on an affiliate link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. Full disclaimer.)

Here are the links to the teaching tools that I utilized in this video:

Finis Floating Island

Rings

Sticks

Balls

how to teach your baby to swim 0-6 months

This video is part of a whole series on how to teach your baby to swim. It’s something that I’ve been working on for a while, and it’s finally live. Click here for the free course or become an Online Swim Academy member for access to all the curriculum.

Love the water but fence it in,
Tessa

P.S. Test your knowledge of water safety. Take the quiz. You don’t have to enter any personal information. Get instant results.

P.P.S. Join my private Facebook group. If you need to help your child overcome their fear of water or if you’re a swim instructor and would like to share some tips and tricks on the subject, please join my private Facebook group here.

P.P.P.S. To start your child on the path to becoming water safe, click here.

how to teach your baby to swim 0-6 months

How to Prepare Your Baby for Swimming Lessons Part 2

February 16, 2020 by Tessa Rhodes Leave a Comment

Water Safety Newsletter

Teach your baby to float on his back

prepare your baby for swimming lessons part 2

Watch the video for tips on how to get your baby comfortable with this life-saving skill. 


By practicing back floating during every bath, your baby will be well prepared for his first swim lesson.


Good Luck & have fun!

This video clip is part of a FREE course on How to Prepare Your Baby for Swim Lessons 0 to 8 Months. For the full version head on over to my Online Swim Academy now. While you’re there, you’ll discover more curriculum on how to teach your ðŸ‘¶  baby to swim yourself with my in-depth online courses.

how to teach your baby to swim 0-6 months


(This post contains affiliate links. This means if you click on an affiliate link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. Full disclaimer.)


This is the link to the floating mat that I used in this video.

Love the water but fence it in,
Tessa

P.S. Test your knowledge of water safety. Take the quiz. You don’t have to enter any personal information. Get instant results.

P.P.S. Join my private Facebook group. If you need to help your child overcome their fear of water or if you’re a swim instructor and would like to share some tips and tricks on the subject, please join my private Facebook group here.

P.P.P.S. To start your child on the path to becoming water safe, click here.

how to teach your baby to swim 0-6 months

How to Prepare Your Baby for Swimming Lessons

January 27, 2020 by Tessa Rhodes Leave a Comment

Water Safety Newsletter

It’s a new year, so I would like to talk about newborn babies and how you can prepare your baby for swimming lessons. 

prepare your baby for swimming lessons

Conditioning your baby to hold their breath is the best way to prepare your baby for swimming lessons.

They’ve recently emerged from a watery environment where they spent the first nine months of their lives. Conditioning your baby will help to maintain that level of comfort that they already feel around water.

how to teach your baby to swim 0-6 months


If you do this during every bath with your baby, he will never develop a fear of water on the face. And he will have excellent breath control and will be well prepared for his first swimming lesson.


Watch the video clip to find out exactly how to condition your baby. This video clip is part of a FREE course on How to Prepare Your Baby for Swim Lessons 0 to 8 Months. For the full version head on over to my Online Swim Academy now. While you’re there, you’ll discover more curriculum on how to teach your ðŸ‘¶  baby to swim yourself with my in-depth online courses.

When conditioning your baby, make sure that you remain calm so that your baby stays calm. If your baby cries, stop the conditioning process and distract him with toys and songs. Once he’s happy again, try conditioning again or wait for the next bathtime.


If he ingests water, which is unlikely since the water pours down from the top of the head, remain calm. It doesn’t harm your baby. Your baby looks to you for social referencing. If you stay calm, he will remain calm.

FULL COURSE: HOW TO PREPARE YOUR BABY FOR SWIM LESSONS

Love the water but fence it in,
Tessa

P.S. Test your knowledge of water safety. Take the quiz. You don’t have to enter any personal information. Get instant results.

P.P.S. Join my private Facebook group. If you need to help your child overcome their fear of water or if you’re a swim instructor and would like to share some tips and tricks on the subject, please join my private Facebook group here.

P.P.P.S. To start your child on the path to becoming water safe, click here.

how to teach your baby to swim 0-6 months
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what kind of learner is my child quiz

ABOUT ME

Hi, I'm Tessa Rhodes, and I help children of all ages to develop a love of the water. I teach to respect it, not fear it. After more than fifteen years of coaching children, loads of research, and trial and error, I developed a series of techniques and exercises to help children of all ages overcome their fear of water and become confident swimmers.

View My Blog Posts

Recent Posts

  • How Many Followers for Amazon Influencer Program: Essential Key Points
  • Functional Needs Swimming: Tips for Safe & Enjoyable Learning
  • Online Professional Development Classes: Empower Your Team
  • Period Swimwear: Revolutionizing the Way We Swim on Our Cycle
  • Best Swim Caps for Keeping Hair Dry: Top Picks for 2024
  • How Long Does It Take to Learn to Swim: Understand The Timeline
  • Best Class Management Software 2024
  • Best Swimming Goggles with Nose Cover: Top Picks for You
  • Best Swim Goggles for Kids: Top Picks for Safety & Comfort

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