Are swim lessons the much-needed mommy hack to molding a brilliant, kindergarten-ready kid in one fell swoop? Researchers in Australia figured out a way to feed two, no, LOTS of birds with one seed. Get your child a step ahead of his peers? Check. Get him prepared for kindergarten? Check. Advance his motor development skills while having fun? Yup.
All you have to do is put your tot in swim lessons. Seriously!
Oh yeah, and your child may also learn how to swim while he’s at it.
Researchers at Griffith University found that swim lessons actually teach a whole lot more than bubble blowing and back floats. In fact, their study showed that kids who took swim lessons before the age of 5, were 6 to 20 months ahead of their peers…in a ton of different areas. You can read more in detail about the fascinating study here but because we know you are crunched for time, here’s the snippet:
The study looked at 7,000 kids who took swimming lessons in the USA, Australia and New Zealand. Turns out, those swim class kids had a substantial competitive edge across all developmental areas:
Intellectually, they were 6 months ahead of their peers in counting and mathematics reasoning. Physically, they were 7 months ahead in motor development. Socially, they were 15 months ahead in socio and emotional development.
And, most importantly, to the modern education-driven mom…
Preparation for school? Researchers found they were almost 2 YEARS ahead of their peers when it came to following directions (just maybe not yours). And, 17 months ahead when recalling stories (let’s just hope they temporarily lose this skill when they overhear you gossiping about the neighbor).
And, that’s not all for the toddler swim set, swim lessons seemed to improve their visual-motor skills, with cutting, coloring and drawing lines and shapes!
So, how can swim lessons accomplish ALL that? Researchers explain the correlation here. You can read it (after you finish enrolling your child in swim lessons.)
I mean, we’ve known swimming is good for the body, but who knew it was so great for your kids development?
