Mike N. 11-11-14
Based on my experience, I can’t find much to complain about regarding the Lucky Duck Swim School. Before my six year old daughter started her first swim lesson I could not get her to dunk her head underwater for 1 second. In addition, she had absolutely no natural talent for swimming and could not stay afloat for 2 seconds to save her life. After 2 lessons, she could glide (swim by kicking only) about 15 feet. After 8 lessons she could swim the length of the entire pool, flipping on her back for air and rest, as well as jump off the diving board at the deep end with no fear. She was water safe and passed her survival test after 8 lessons (4 weeks). We are now five months in and she can freestyle the length of the pool and backstroke back. All of the instructors follow a carefully developed, step-by-step lesson plan focused on developing a student’s skills in a thoughtful chronological order. This insures the student learns proper form and does not develop bad habits when advancing to the next skill level.
Regarding the survival test, the student is not supposed to know when and what will happen during the test. The purpose of the test is to catch the student off guard and verify he/she can stay calm and save him/herself under a real life worst case situation. This allows the instructors to evaluate a student’s survival skills and determine if he or she needs more work in this area. My understanding is that the test is voluntary so you can opt out if desired. My daughter enjoyed the test and wanted to be thrown in a third time, but once the instructor (Tyler) saw her smiling he concluded the test.
Some reviewers complain about the cancellation policy, but it is clearly stated on the registration form so I’m not sure what the problem is. It’s a strict policy, but if students are constantly cancelling and rescheduling classes the school will have swim instructors reporting to work with giant holes in their class schedules. How are they supposed to run a business if they don’t know how many kids will show up for lessons on a given day?
Finally, the lessons are 15 minutes in length (which is actually a perfect amount of time for young children). This doesn’t give the instructor much “play” or “fun” time with your child. All of the instructors are great with kids, but they are being paid to teach them how to swim, not play with them. My daughter thinks it’s great fun knowing how to swim from one end of the pool to the other.