PokerCub Takes Swimming Lessons

[PokerDad]

Due to Cub's grandmother giving me an entire day off, I was able to update the blog with Cub's swimming lessons...

the video highlights...
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/RvZ7Wm-OOWk&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/RvZ7Wm-OOWk&rel=1</a>

You can read about it in greater detail on the blog
pokercub.blogspot.com/2012/10/pokercubs-first-swimming-lessons.html

ENJOY!

[Mela Bala]

You are doing an amazing job PokerDad.   

PokerCub will be swimming this coming summer like a Pro! Thanks for keeping us updated.

[kiwimum]

We were on the edge of our seats watching this. Your cub is obviously relaxed and trusting. You are doing an amazing job. wow

[TeachingMyToddlers]

This is pretty amazing! You can see the difference in his response in such a short time, and it looks like PokerMom might be changing her stance on early learning? For being so involved with this process she must be, right? I dunked my son in the pool the first summer after he was born and he handled it well. After a winter's break, he lost all of his progress-- when I tried to dunk him the following summer he rioted, poor kid LOL. That was the end of that!  So, I think continuous exposure really is key.

I love that you are documenting this journey so well, it's awesome!

[bella]

same happened here , my daughter swam like champ from the start and at six she is amazing . I did the same with her brother but then we stopped because of the cold weather and the next season when i tried again it didn't work and he actually started avoiding mama when in he pool because of this one time i tired to dock him in .So poker dad make sure you continue what you are doing , lovely video !!!
viv

[PokerDad]

Thank you for all the responses! We're still doing lessons, but we've slowed down quite a lot. His last lesson gave me hope that he'll eventually get the back float before I have to spend the money for an instructor, but we'll see.

As for PokerMom: right now things are good. She's come around in some respects like you've noticed, in particular the swimming and the EC. She was never disagreeable about the swimming - she just didn't want to participate until he had it down because she knows herself enough to know that watching him go under would make her nervous. She's a bit over that fear, but not the whole way. And with EC, she's now completely on board which I expected would happen eventually and I couldn't be happier.

But, I'm not out of the woods yet. Though she swam on a team as a teen, I was comparatively the creme de la creme in the sport - so she felt okay deferring to me. EC she left up to me until she finally saw the positives. Reading and Math is where my future struggle will likely come from, because she's the expert in education while I'm not. I'm not worried about the reading since he'll be reading before she can even protest or worry about it.... but math is a different story. Her school uses TERC and she's made me promise "not to teach him" how to do math the traditional way until she says it's okay.... well, ha ha, I went ahead and promised and told her I planned to introduce the Soroban when he's 2 or 3 years old. She doesn't have an opinion of this yet (but didn't tell me I couldn't) and I'm hoping it stays that way until he's adding, subtracting, etc. Once he learns math, I won't care if she wants to waste time deconstructing math problems visually - it won't slow him down, it will likely just bore him 

Anyway, thank you all again and I'll be sure to post an update when I get him independent (but this might take 6 months)

[TeachingMyToddlers]

She's made me promise "not to teach him" how to do math the traditional way until she says it's okay....

Have you started him on a dot math program? It's definately NOT teaching math the traditional way like she specified The kids who have the most success with dots seem to the ones who start earliest.  I wonder if she would care, since you are only showing him quantity and not "really" sitting him down to drill calculus or something. If I had to do a very early dot program again, I would focus early not necessarily on HIGH quantities (although at one point my son could pick something like 46 dots out of a line up), but instead I would focus on using dots/LM to teach number bonds to mastery (particularly for 5 & 10) and rote counting from the beginning 1-100 fwd & back,  and skip counting too (which provides a wonderful foundation for so much to follow).

Some people think they cannot use LM because their kids are too old....no way. If a child cannot count 1-100, they need LM daily until they can, slowly building up the amount of numbers. If they cannot count backwards 100-1, they need LM. Same for skip counting.

Soooo... if you plan to teach soroban early, you can introduce number bonds very early. Even through play with toys, etc, and possibly with a dot program if she'll let you. I don't think you have to wait until 2 either to introduce a soroban if those are your long term plans....why wait!? well, aside from personal reasons over your wife's feelings of course.

[Korrale4kq]

I was about to say what Tonya said!

No reason why you can't teach dots. it won't hinder him to learn to subtitize. I also wouldn't go with high numbers. Just stick with 1-20. Show him groupings of 5s and 10s.
Teach  him to count. Every parent does this for fun not strictly teaching math, right? When you teach him to count though just expand it a little more. Teach him to count and recognise dots, and numerals. Go forwards and backwards. Skip count by 10s then 2s then 5s. Check out touch math or even better dot matrix math. If you do all this he will easily being doing addition, subtraction and multiplication by the time he is 2-3. 

[Mandabplus3]

Wonderful video! I must say considering your previous reservations you are clearly very brave in dumping him under! Yay!
Ok so seriously having made this much progress already in so many areas I am questioning your sanity ( ) at still even considering the possibility of paying for swimming lessons. have your successes not given you enough confidence in your self yet? Your baby is doing amazing things. Please don't let those stupid swimming lessons ruin it. ( I admit to saying this based on only the baby swimming lessons I have been exposed to) have faith and ditch the back up plan so poker cub has your full belief in him.  Because we all believe in him 
It is quite clear your wife is much more on board now, not just with what you say. Most mums don't walk their 3 month olds around! I truly think you can get away with most anything but to keep the peace I agree with the ladies above. Dots are quantity recognition. Quantity recognition is something your wife will understand as she is all into those picture math things  S I would say she might just agree to showing dot cards up to 20. Also if poker cub learns to count to 20 by age 2 she will assume he is super smart and gifted with math and will then start teaching him math. Which will be your que to " adapt" her lessons to suit. An abacus also shows quantity recognition in pictures so she probably won't mind that one ( provided you can avoid the conversation about it becoming a crux). Anyway like Robert has clearly demonstrated it doesn't matter if you don't start math until age 4! Just focus on the reading for now.
Btw he is lovely! 

[akalori]

Amazing video.  It looks like he is using his arms and legs a bit to help propel himself under water.  Remarkable!
Congrats, Lori

[PokerDad]

Amazing video.  It looks like he is using his arms and legs a bit to help propel himself under water.  Remarkable!
Congrats, Lori

His last swim lesson he was kicking towards me. Today's lesson he didn't do that and was more focused on flipping over. If I let him, he might be able to flip fully over, but he hasn't mastered his back float yet so I'm not letting him due to choking hazard. We've gone independent momentarily on his back, but he can hold it about as long as he can stand on his own with no support - which isn't very long, but just long enough that you think he just might do it this time!

Ok so seriously having made this much progress already in so many areas I am questioning your sanity (  ) at still even considering the possibility of paying for swimming lessons. have your successes not given you enough confidence in your self yet?

After the last two swim lessons, I'm feeling as though it's a matter of time before he's water independent and it should happen before he even qualifies to take the lessons. Now, I ought to point out, the lessons were pretty much always the plan and they're not ordinary lessons. I believe they're the same lessons that (aangeles?) used where they teach the baby to become water independent. The lessons aren't cheap (maybe 600 USD or so) - but Cub is doing well enough that he ought to get this down in a few more lessons, plus I can save all that money!

As for my self confidence, I really feel as though I'm falling short in a few areas right now. We should be doing more... but then there's a thing called "Life" that keeps happening and it really slows us down. 

EDIT: to give an example of the above, I made dot cards about 6 weeks ago and still haven't gotten them out yet!!!!! Ouch. We will start on that ASAP, and the Mrs. knows about them and didn't raise a fuss. It's that whole number awareness thing. But, to illustrate what I might be up against here.... so recently the president of France, François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande, came out in favor of banning homework (!) because it favors the children from good homes.... and we cannot allow inequality of education like this. When I told PokerMom about this last night, she says "Sounds great and makes sense! Plus, I hate homework!"

[Mandabplus3]

Oh dear All I can say is I hope she is one of the good teachers! Because an attitude like that needs some skill to back it up!
For the record I am pro homework but anti busy work. So provided the homework is something that will benefit from the one on one interaction kids can get from home then great. If it's cut and colour it's a waste of all our time! I have preschool parents asking me for homework!
Well at least she is good for the dots! yay! You can teach ALOT of math with those dot cards. Plus you can always print the numerals on the back at some point. You can use them for years to teach math facts, quantity recognition, addition, subtraction even multiplication and division! Algebra? Hmm not sure....
I think overall you will be fine. Many teachers ( OK all of us ) expect our kids to be smarter than average and close to the top of the class. So she won't be surprised to find pokercub knows his phonics and can draw the periodic table 
Glad to hear reality is setting in!  Yes we all realize life gets in the way. The trick is squeezing the EL into life. Keep some dot cards in the car, some on the kitchen table, a few in the bathroom, a stack by the pool if you have to trip over them you will use them. babies are the worlds best time suckers. It's a fact of life. 
As to the swimming lesson glad to hear you are rethinking the need. Even if they are good lessons, I think you can do it. But at least if they are good lessons it won't be a waste of money. Although a spare $600 for other EL purchases is a little motivating! 

[Korrale4kq]

I kind of agree with poker mom. Homework is often a flop. I tutor a 5th grader and she is incapable of bringing it home! It is sad but because of not doing mindless drills it has bought her grades down substantially.

Now I like homework. But I see how busy families just can't fit it in.

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