54 June 18 - July 1, 2011 by Alison Stanton
When parents think about what they can do to help make their young children smarter, they often consider purchasing educational toys, books and videos, and maybe enrolling them in a preschool that has a strong academic curriculum.
According to Lana Whitehead, owner of SWIMkids USA in Mesa, parents should also sign their children up for swimming lessons, and the earlier the better, she says.
STSN photo
START YOUNG: Children who start learning to swim early not only are safer around water, but can also be smarter.
Youth Swimming lessons smart choice
while swimming have been shown to help with learning. “It’s not just good for babies; it’s good for all of us,” she adds.
An additional bonus of swimming lessons, according to Whitehead, is that children who participate have been shown in studies to have higher ratings of self- esteem and independence. She says a study conducted in Norway found babies who learned to swim had better coordination, grasping,
Whitehead explains that more than one scientific study has found a link between year-round swimming lessons for very young children and an acceleration of not only physical development, but also intellectual and emotional development.
“A study at the German Sports College in Cologne found that swimming lessons for babies, toddlers and young children was not only physically very good for them, but that in problem solving and intellectual tests, they scored higher,” she cites.
Whitehead says these findings may be due in part to the “bilateral cross patterning,” which helps develop a baby’s brain when he or she does activities like crawl or swim.
“The more they do these cross patterning movements, they more nerve fibers that develop in the corpus callosum area of the brain,” she says. In other words, Whitehead says the motions we do
movement and balance skills that persisted until they were 5 years old.
In addition to swimming lessons and gymnastics, SWIMkids USA offers a program called Water Smart Babies that focuses on teaching babies 9 months and older water safety lessons as well as instruction for parents on home water safety.
Parents may sign their babies and children up for swim lessons at any time during the year, Whitehead says, adding that with the weather heating up, this is an especially appropriate time of year to begin swim classes.
SWIMkids USA is located at 2725 W. Guadalupe Rd. in Mesa. For more details, call 480-820-9109 or visit
www.swimkidsaz.com or
www.watersmartbabies.com.
Alison Stanton is a freelance writer who lives in the East Valley. She can be reached at
Alison@SanTanSun.com.
www.SanTanSun.com
Ice cream social, open house at Goddard School
Find out more about The Goddard School for early childhood development during an ice cream social from 4 to 7:30 p.m. Thu., July 14 and then again during a weeklong open house from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mon., July 11 through Fri., July 15.
Attendees can tour the school, meet teachers and take part in a variety of fun activities for the children. The Goddard School offers curriculum for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, kindergarteners with programs after school and during the summer as well. The Chandler location is at 1815 W. Chandler Blvd., 480-821-1234. The three Gilbert locations include: 1420 N. Higley Rd., 480-830-6028; Gilbert II, 720 E. Warner Rd., 480-633-3196; and Gilbert III, 4080 E. Germann Rd., 480-988-0185.
For more details, visit
www.goddardschool.com.
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