There’s no getting around the fact that summer is better when you have a pool. That said, installing a pool in your backyard that is safe, compliant, and enjoyable requires careful planning. Not only do you need to think about what type of pool will work best for your family, but you also need to put it in the right spot, ensure that the area surrounding it is secure, and take any other precautions necessary. Today, Academy Swim Club shares some pointers on how you can install a pool the right way!

Decide Between In-Ground or Above-Ground

The first order of business will be to determine what type of pool to invest in. Will you be using the pool to make your property look better? Will you be using it for your exercise routine or simply to keep the family entertained? Or maybe you want to give your home’s resale value a boost—which can work as long as you keep track of the progress through receipts and photos.

In-ground pools are definitely ideal for exercise, looks, and resale value, though they require more planning and money. But if you choose to go with an in-ground pool, research the restrictions in your area to ensure the installation is compliant. And go through the costs to make sure you have the budget for it. It can cost at least $38,000 to install an in-ground pool. But you also have to factor in maintenance expenses, which vary, depending on the size, style, and water volume of the pool.

Choose the Location

Another important step in installing a pool is picking the right spot for it. You want it to be convenient for entertaining, but most of all, it must be safe. For instance, you don’t want to install your pool under a lot of trees and other hazards. If you determine that you need to put your pool in an area with trees surrounding it, you can get a tree removal service to take out any trees that could pose a threat.

These services can also trim branches so that the pool has more exposure to sunlight. Search for tree removal services to see comparable professionals in your area. You’ll find that these pros use all the right equipment, tools, and gear. When comparing tree removal services, look at testimonials and online reviews, and interview at least three different contractors before hiring someone.

Leave Time for Planning

There are certain times of the year that work best for installing a pool. For example, if you want it to be ready to go for summer, consider putting your pool in during spring. If you live in an area that gets excessive rain, you may want to install your pool during the fall to avoid flooding. The fall can be ideal for installing a pool because of the mild, more predictable weather.

Also, consider the construction and manufacturing industries. Materials will take longer than normal to arrive, and you may have to wait longer for contractors to do the actual installation. Moral of the story: leave plenty of time for the process.

Fence Your Pool

There are many things you can do to make the area around your pool safe and secure. One of the most practical measures you can take is to install a fence — specifically a fence designed to help prevent children from accessing the pool unattended. Not only will this help keep children and pets out of the pool when there is no adult supervision, but it can also keep pests away. Moreover, adding a fence can provide your family with more privacy.

In addition to a fence around your pool, you need to invest in a sturdy gate and a safety lock. Lastly, consider purchasing a pool alarm, which will alert you if anyone accidentally falls into the pool. Make sure you research your local pool alarm laws before you purchase one to ensure that you have all the necessary bases covered.

Swimming Lessons For Children

As a parent, it’s vital to ensure your children are swim trained before opening your pool. Look for local swim lessons to get them taught by a professional. If it’s during the summer, dropping them off for lessons at Academy Swim Club can be a great way to get some time for yourself. Once they’re trained, always be sure they have constant adult supervision when swimming at home.

Have a Party!

Now that you have your pool, it’s time to use it! For a fun change of pace, have a swimming party and invite your neighbors (as well as your children’s friends). You can even create posters to celebrate the event! To save money and put your children’s creativity to use, use a tool to create your poster using pre-existing templates. This is a great way to allow your children to express themselves, as well. You could also use this opportunity to post your swimming safety rules for all to see.

Chances are you don’t need to be sold on the benefits of installing a pool in your yard. But it’s critical that you consider what it takes to do it the right way. Along with considering the tips above, keep looking into other factors involved in putting in a pool. That way, you can ensure your family stays safe and gets the most out of their summer pool experience.

Academy Swim Club is here to teach swimming and water safety to your children.

Most children participate in some form of swim lessons each summer.  With bodies of water everywhere, and drowning the leading cause of accidental death for children 5 and under, it’s pretty much a cultural tradition.  However, not all children learn to swim in a few short months, and most forget their skills once they are no longer in the pool regularly.  Many parents just wait until next year and try again.  This could be a fatal mistake.  Drowning poses just as many risks in fall, winter, and spring, as in summer. 

Also, after weeks of trying, a child or toddler could easily be on the precipice of swimming on their own, only to be abruptly halted because of the end of a season at any given pool.  Every child learns at a different pace, and has a unique history of water experience.  Add to that what the parents feel about water and the personality of the child, and you can see the many factors that contribute to learning readiness.  When children are given consistent encouragement and skilled teaching, they respond positively, at a pace tailored to them, not to the “swim season.”  How frustrating it must be for the child to stop lessons each fall, only to start all over again the next spring, thus robbing them of the opportunity to meet the challenge and succeed!

Not to mention, your investment in your child’s swim lessons is better off when sticking to it year round, therefore, producing better results and saving you money in the long run!  Think about it.  Would you ever enroll your child in piano or karate lessons for 8 weeks out of the year, each year, and expect them to learn much?  That would just be a waste of money and your investment would take years.  Just like any other skill, practice and repetition is required to grow and retain skills that are learned.  

Swimming leads to confidence, self-esteem, fitness, an element of safety, and countless other psychological, emotional and physical benefits.  It is a large part of our culture, in sports, recreation and socialization.  And water is too intriguing to children of all ages to forget that it is our responsibility to teach our children to swim…for LIFE!

Be a good listener.

Obey the rules.

Follow directions.

Do your best.

Have fun!

School readiness is more than ABC’s and 123’s.  It’s a child’s ability to learn from someone other than mom or dad in a group setting.  Some children adapt well to the massive changes school brings; for others, it’s a bumpy road with many stops for parent-teacher meetings.  What can a parent do to help their child prepare for the leap to the classroom?  Turns out, swimming lessons might be the answer.  Researchers at Griffith University studied the effect of swimming lessons on children under 5 years and found that early swimmers appeared to make the transition to school more easily. 

“It was found that the children (who received swim lessons) scored better on measures of understanding and complying with directions,” the Interim Report states in November 2012.  The effect was more pronounced on children who began lessons earlier and participated for longer.  These early results reinforce what learn-to swim professionals have believed all along:  swimming lessons teach more than a lifesaving skill. 

A child practices active listening by hearing a skill described, watching a demonstration and performing the skill him- or herself.  Rules are obeyed because they are clear cut and consistently enforced to maintain safety.  Goals are set, and by following directions and putting forth the best effort, success is achieved and celebrated.  All the tools your child needs to thrive and learn in school are present in a swim lesson. 

The Griffith researchers noted that the quality of swim schools varies.  Parents should carefully examine where their child takes lessons to ensure the most benefit is received.

To read the study go to www.griffith.edu.au and search for Early Years Swimming. 

            A Lifesaving Skill.  Children are drawn to water and need every layer of protection they can get.  Teaching this vital skill is like fencing your pool or locking your doors that open out to the pool.  Every layer of protection may help buy you time to save your child’s life!

            A Lifelong Skill.  Everyone can see the difference between a child who takes lessons a few months, or even weeks, out of the year and the child who has developed swimming skills with year-round lessons.  The thrashing, splashing and wasted energy is quite evident.  It may not even matter to the parents, until the unskilled child gets tired, panics, or finds him/herself in a predicament they are not accustomed to.  The skilled swimmer usually finds their way through these predicaments without incident.  An excellent swim program is one that teaches children how to help themselves when they panic, and push them to gain the confidence in doing so.

            A Growth in Confidence.  Consistency and repetition is vital to steady growth and confidence. Your child’s progress grows exponentially when skills are learned, defined, refined and repeated.  When progress grows, confidence, skills and proper habits are developed.  When practice stops abruptly, skills and confidence are lost.  Would you even think of putting your child in piano lessons or karate for 6-8 weeks a year, hoping to gain great skills or confidence?  Enrolling in lessons year-round will prove incredible results.  Your child can be confident in having learned swim skills that will last a lifetime.

            A Sensible Investment.  Even you will be confident that your time and money were well spent, and you will be amazed at the growth and progress made.  Year-round swimming is an Investment that will benefit all in the long run.  A few years of consistent swim lessons is better than a decade of Summer swim lessons – “Just Keep Swimming”!

• With drowning being the #1 cause of accidental death for children under five, in the state of CA, formal swim lessons can reduce the risk of droning by 88%
• Our Water Safety Program will help your children know what they can do to help with another swimmer is in trouble, avoiding a double drowning

Water resistance:

• Water weighs 8lbs per gallon. Moving through water is like lifting weights – the safe way!
• Improves strength and cardiovascular fitness
• Compared to exercise on land, the same level of fitness can be attained in up to ½ the time! Water can be from 4 to 44 times more resistant than air, depending on how hard you work.
• Even athletes train in water because it produces resistance for every muscle group.
• Immersion in any water, chest deep, increases endurance. Hydrostatic pressure creates a compression on the chest wall, added to the increased blood volume, making it harder to breathe; about 60% harder when immersed to the neck.  This strengthens all respiratory muscles, lowers stress hormones and turns out better land based performance and endurance

Low Impact:

• Swimming and exercising in water is low impact on joints – reducing injuries that other sports produce.
• Virtually no impact, as gravity is reduced to 10% of that on land.

Physical Health:

• Multiple studies link moderate exercise with improved immune system function, making those more resistant to both the cold and flu
• When you sit or stand in warm water to your neck, buoyancy and hydrostatic pressure increase your flow of blood, while simultaneously decreasing your heart rate
• Cardiac output is up to 30% higher. This is good for every organ in your body, including your skin, and for increased peripheral circulation.
• Warm water lowers blood pressure for all individuals, even those with hypertension. Arterial blood vessels relax when adjusting to increased blood circulation. 
• Swimming is one of the best whole body workouts, especially for small children. It incorporates all major muscle groups plus cardio! 
• Allows newborn’s to move and improve motor skills well before being able to crawl or walk

Cognitive Function:

• Griffith University Study shows that children that participated in swimming lessons exhibited higher school readiness
• Sweden Sahlgrenska University Hospital concluded that children who regularly exercised to improve their heart and lung health and lung capacity, have higher IQ scores
• One study of adults in mid-life and later life showed that after the six months of moderate exercise, several cognitive functions improved, including multitasking, cognitive flexibility, information processing efficiency and selective attention. Researchers speculate that the positive effects could come from improved blood flow to the brain.

Mental Health:

• Recent studies show that exercise improves body image, therefore, boosting Self Esteem
• Exercise also stimulates the creation of new brain cells and enhances mood
• Another new study confirms that exercise is the leading factor in preparing the brain to cope with stress in a calm manner

So get your children swimming; it boosts their immune system, self-image, confidence, mood, intelligence and ability to handle stress!  Enroll today!

Photo via Rawpixel

Article by: Jenny Wise

Enjoying your backyard pool requires more than tossing on a swimsuit. In fact, home swimming pools can be very dangerous, especially for children. Here, the experts at Academy Swim Club share the safe swimming tips every family can use.

Secure the Pool Area and Share Safety Basics

Always make securing the pool area the first step. Safety measures can keep kids, pets, and non-swimmers safe.

• Follow safety barrier guidelines for your home pool.
• Install pool alarms to help prevent accidents.
• Use pool safety covers that meet federal standards.
• Recognize the signs of drowning and learn how to respond.
• Learn CPR, just in case it becomes necessary.
• Remember to make note of the changes you make to your home and pool, as these could actually help increase the value of your home if you decide to sell.

Teach Kids Proper Water Safety

Having a good time in your backyard pool is obviously top of mind. But safety is another crucial consideration when playing in and around water.

• Watch fun water safety videos by the Red Cross.
• Have kids take breaks while swimming, so they don’t become fatigued.
• Start swim lessons at age four (or even younger).
• Swim lessons can be a great way to get some time alone if you work from home.
• Teach babies to hold their breath underwater as an additional safety precaution.
• Size non-swimmers for an appropriate flotation device.

Be Consistent with Pool Maintenance

Cleaning and maintaining your pool ensures that it’s safe and healthy for your family. Understand how to manage your pool chemicals and keep the area clean.

• Look for signs that a pool (whether home or public) is unsafe before entering.
• Maintain pool water chemistry for a cleaner swimming environment.
• Operate your pool pump per the manufacturer’s instructions.
• Cover the pool each night after you finish swimming.

Enjoying the family pool can be an excellent way to spend time together. And by taking proactive preventative, safety, and maintenance steps, you’re well on your way to enjoying fun in the sun. Just remember to lock up the pool area afterward.

This article is brought to you by Academy Swim Club, the SCV’s Premier Swim School. 

When we enforce the shower policy for everyone, we don’t have these problems.

Does your child’s hair smell like chlorine after you get home?  Since there is more bacteria in hair than anywhere else on the body, chlorine adheres to it to remove the bacteria.  Be sure to shower your child’s hair to remove bacteria, and the hair will absorb the clean shower water rather than the chlorine water; and the chlorine will not need to bind to the hair to remove its bacteria. 

Thank you for helping us keep our pool so clean that health inspectors have told us that ours is the only public pool they would let their family swim in!

5 Reasons You Should Be Exercising With Your Kids Every Day

Between a busy work schedule and family responsibilities, it can be tricky for parents to find the time for fitness. Video games and television can make kids reluctant to workout too. But fitness plays a critical role in all of our physical and mental health. So what’s a busy parent to do? Why not try working out with your kids! Creating a fitness routine for your family is one of the most basic ways to keep everyone healthy. Need more motivation? Here are five essential reasons you should be exercising more with your kids:    

You’re Guaranteed to Have More Energy 

Keeping up with your own schedule can be enough to drain your energy, but keeping up with kids can be even more tiring. These energy-boosting tips can help parents be more productive and stay focused throughout their busy days, and exercise is definitely on the list! Daily physical activity will lead to getting even more done, but be sure to check in with your doctor before you begin a new fitness routine. Fatigue can be a sign of an underlying health issue and you don’t want to worsen your symptoms. When you do get started, consider a low-impact workout like swimming, walking or biking to help get everyone used to moving. 

Exercise Can Equal Better Mental Health 

In addition to boosting your energy, exercising with your kids can also boost your mental health. You may already know that exercise increases endorphins in your brain. Recent studies, however, also show that daily workouts combat feelings of depression for adults and children. Activity also enhances brain development and condition, resulting in better mental health at all ages. So next time you go to the gym, take the kids along with you. Hit the basketball courts together or go for a nice, long swim. As an added bonus, swimming is an effective total-body workout and it’s so much fun for your family. 

Staying Active Will Keep You All Having Fun 

Stress seems to be a part of our everyday lives, but stress can be overwhelming for parents. Kids feel the pressure to, from school, classmates and social media. So how can you de-stress as a family? Exercise. Physical fitness provides a positive, fun way to relieve stress. In particular, swimming can have the same relaxation effects as yoga and meditation, without requiring your kids to sit still or be silent for extended periods of time. Relieving tension for your entire family is great way to keep everyone happy and having fun together. 

Fitness is a Natural Self-Esteem Booster 

Teens and children struggle with their self-esteem. Pressure from the media and friends can leave even young children feeling less than stellar about themselves. Self-esteem struggles can be present in adulthood too, but fitness can help break the poor confidence cycle. Teaching children to take care of their bodies is an important step in boosting their overall self-esteem and mental health. Even better, playing sports and working out with your kids gives you the chance to teach them other valuable self-esteem lessons like how to learn from failure and that you are proud of their efforts. 

You Can Teach Kids Life-Saving Skills

If you think exercise is all fun and games, you may want to think again. Certain exercises such as swimming and hiking can also impart valuable skills onto your children that will keep them safe throughout life. When you enroll your children in swim lessons and practice with them, they are also learning first-aid and water safety procedures. 

Hiking can teach important outdoor safety tips as well. Those are lessons they will keep with them for the rest of their lives and skills that may even help them save a life. Since exercise can also allow children and adults to live longer lives, you’re doubling the positive effects by swimming or hiking together. 

Working out with your kids is an excellent way to ensure your entire family sticks to a regular exercise routine. Staying connected through daily exercise is a great way to stay happy, healthy and having fun as a family! 

Photo Credit: Pexels

Debbie Phelps, mother of the world record holding Michael Phelps, has been very public about how much swimming helped her ADHD son.  As a 25 year licensed psychotherapist who specializes in ADD/ADHD, and a 30 year swim school owner, I feel qualified to clarify.  As I am limited in space, this article will span over 3 months.

First, a brief explanation of Attention Deficit (Hyperactive) Disorder:  ADD/ADHD is so much more complicated than just the “active child” or “couch potato.”  There are 12 different areas of symptoms for ADD, and each of these areas may be over active or under active.  Someone with ADD may be over active in one symptom, while under active in two others, and have no symptoms in 9 areas.  This leaves us with the equation 12!, which translates to over 479 million different combinations of ADD/ADHD symptoms.   You can’t know a few people with ADD and then compare them with anyone else who thinks they have it to even begin making a diagnosis.

The fundamentals for a diagnosis of ADD/ADHD are that there is a problem with focus and/or attention that dramatically interferes with academic/occupational, social, or behavioral life.  What isn’t included in the diagnosis is the potential for greatness that I have seen in most people I have come across who have ADD/ADHD.   Too often, the diagnosis and treatment focus on identifying weaknesses, which a child has had pointed out to them for a lifetime, taking a toll on confidence and self-esteem.  Debbie Phelps seems to have balanced this quite well by building Michael up for all of his wonderful traits.  The hyperactive side of ADD includes an amazing enthusiasm, which, when channeled and supported properly, has potential for magnificence.    Even ADD, without hyperactivity, has a quiet, unfailing determination that has accomplished feats which seem superhuman.

Of the 12 symptom areas of ADD/ADHD, swimming aids in:

Focal Maintenance – The inability to concentrate long enough, or even too long, is dictated by the amount of time spent in the water.  With very few choices or distractions, concentration tends to last as long as the task at hand.

Arousal – alertness: have you ever splashed water on your face to wake up?  Often, the hyperactivity of a child is an effort to keep the brain “awake.”  Think of when you are driving and need to stay alert.  You may roll down the window, turn up the radio, sing along, bounce in your seat a little.  In effect, you become temporarily hyperactive.  This is how a hyperactive child lives each day.  In water, there is no need.  In fact, hydrostatic pressure and resistance in water slows the world down, and can be quite calming and soothing to someone who always has to be wound up to stay awake.  There are also very few injuries in water that a “klutzy” kid would stumble into daily on land.

Mental activation – Underwater is a perfect forum for daydreaming and free association, which is what ADD children get in trouble for.  Underwater, there are no complaints of the mind wandering off, leaving plenty of time for dreams and aspirations without reproach.  Muscle memory takes care of the swim and flip turns, so that the heart can condition the athlete.

Processing Depth and Detail – With kinesthetic practice, more and more physical detail is required, starting with the “big picture” and then fine tuning the details.  Usually, in life skills, there is too much clutter around the details.  In swimming, it can start with 1 detail at a time, until muscle memory gets it and adds it to the “big picture.”

Saliency Determination – The barrage of sounds and background noises that so often distract the student are not present in water.  This sensory deprivation leads to better focus on the task at hand.

Satisfaction Control – The noticeable restlessness that craves excitement can be satisfied in competition and swim meets, which also breaks up the routine of workouts, including peaking and tapering.

Mental Effort – The difficulty in getting started with work, or finishing work that has been started, is ended when a coach is on deck holding the athlete accountable for the daily workout.  With good coaching, very little goes undetected, and when the athlete slacks, the workout gets harder, reinforcing working hard to begin with next time.

Previewing – Impulsivity, and failure to look ahead and see possible consequences can be dooming and habitual.  Good coaching, again, holds the athlete accountable, but a good coach also dreams with the athlete and holds those goals vividly before the athlete as the reward for hard work.

Facilitation and Inhibition – Hyperactivity itself is calmed and soothed in the aquatic environment, and in a tough workout, there is little ability to say or do inappropriate things while underwater or while panting for breath in between sets.  One learns to be silent, and actions speak louder than words.

Tempo Control – Timing is completely controlled by the coach.  Swimming too fast leads to quick burnout and a painful workout, while swimming too slow earns extra pushups or being “lapped” by other swimmers.  After months of daily swimming, the athlete learns the correct pace, and may apply this to other areas in life.

Self-Monitoring and Self-Righting – In a workout, it’s hard to lose track of what you are doing.  All you have to do is look around and see what everyone else is doing.  You also always have the goal of finishing the task at had so you can rest.  This becomes the singular focus.  Unlike the inability to read social cues and fix whatever you did or said, the cues come from your own body and there is some pain when you fail to correct behaviors.

Reinforceability – People who fail to learn from their mistakes, or those who do not respond to rewards are reinforced for their own good, in the pool.  As mentioned before, when a small change in the way an arm is propelled leads to an easier swim or a win in a competition, the reinforcement is so immediate that it is hard to ignore, and punishes the body when it is ignored.  People with ADD are smart; often, very smart.  But they are better aware of what is going on internally than they will ever be aware of what else is going on.  We often try to reinforce or punish with all the other stuff going on and they miss it.

Exercise, itself, is an amazing detoxin.  The increased blood flow through the muscles helps clear up toxins and acids that accumulate in the muscle, and the increased blood flow to the brain helps to keep the brain alert and stimulate thinking.  Putting a workout between two, two-hour blocks of study can accomplish more than a full six-hour block of study alone.

Michael Phelps has joined the ranks of other GREATS with ADD, including Walt Disney, Benjamin Franklin, and Winston Churchill, to name a very few, with the help and guidance of a devoted and wise mother and the talent and efforts of his coaches.

So here are a few points to consider regarding winter swimming:

* Swimming in winter poses no threat to children with functioning immune systems. Our pool is indoors and the water is heated to 90 – 92 degrees. As long as you quickly and thoroughly dry your child and change him into warm clothes he’s no more at risk from catching a cold after swimming than he is after his bath.

* Regular exercise helps keep the body, including the immune system, strong. Studies conducted in Germany indicated that swimming children are actually healthier than their non-swimming friends. go ask alice (Take that evil virus ninjas!)

* Year round swimming ensures that children do not forget skills learned between summers. Plus, it allows new skills to be taught at the most advantageous developmental age.
If you want more information on colds and flu’s, check out the links below.

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/disease.htm

http://www.childrenshospital.org/az/Site1719/mainpageS1719P0.html

http://coldflu.about.com/od/cold/f/coldandweather.htm