A Note to Parents, from a Swimming Lessons Instructor

Dear Parents (guardians, care givers, grandparents, etc.)-
    THANK YOU, for investing in your child's safety and well being and enrolling your child in swimming lessons, I really do believe that having the ability to swim is a life saving skill and every kid should at LEAST be able to swim to save themselves. Thank you for spending your hard earned dollars to pay me to teach your kid to swim. I believe every penny you have spent is worth it. I read on the CDC website that an average of ten people die A DAY from drowning  and one in five who die are 14 and younger. It breaks my heart, so thank you for teaching your child to swim.
    Now here's the thing, there is a reason you chose to put your child in swimming lessons and didn't just opt to teach your kid to swim yourself. And somehow the stars aligned and your child ended up in my class. I actually LOVE teaching swimming lessons, and I have been doing it for over 15 years, I love seeing you child progress and see his skills advance. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to work with your child. I understand that you want your kid to be the next Michael Phelps, however, not every kid is Michael Phelps. I also realize you come to every swimming lesson and sit on the benches and you spend about 85% of that time playing on your phone (seriously, this doesn't bother me, I have a daughter, I understand the need to space out from time to time) so when it comes time at the end of the session PLEASE don't yell at me for not advancing your child to the next level.
    I don't see any harm in having your child repeat a level, they did learn a lot in this session, its true, however, I don't think you noticed, but your child isn't ready to advance. Their skills aren't at the level they need to be to be successful in the next level. If we pass him to early, he (and probably you and me) will end up really frustrated with the next level and it will take him even longer to gain the skills necessary for that level. Please do NOT put your child up a level, when they haven't passed the previous one, unless, there are some other circumstances (lots of time has passed since the previous session, you practiced hard with your child all summer and he is ready, etc.) happen and you talk to us about it.
    I want the best for your child. I want to see them succeed. PLEASE don't yell at me and write nasty things on my review paper at the end of the session just because your child didn't pass the session. Trust me, one more time in a particular level won't kill them, and they probably won't even notice a whole lot if you don't say much about it.

Sincerely,
   Your Child's Swim Instructor