I have a 3.5 yr old who is currently in community education swimming lessons in IGH. I was watching today and noticed that I don't think she is actually learning anything and with 5 kids in her class she maybe spends 5 minutes swimming and the rest of the session waiting her turn. We have a swimming pool in our backyard and a lake cabin so I believe there is a strong need for her to actually learn how to swim. She is very comfortable in water and really enjoys swimming now but I want her to learn more than I can teach her myself.
Has anyone used Foss Swim School and do you think it is worth the 175 bucks and did your child actually learn how to swim and at what age?
This information on Foss was exactly what I was looking for to help me decide to send my child to swimming lessons there! Thank you for the detailed responses!
I take my 1-1/2 year old to foss swim school in knollwood. It is lots of un and I think well worth the $$. My kid is in a class of 5 students but I feel as though he gets the attention needed. The older kids are in a class of 3 students. Everyone Ive met is pleased with the experience. The older kids get more indivual attention. I think it is worht the $$.
We switched to Foss when our older son was four. He learned more in his first four lessons there than he had at the Y in an entire session.
Totally worth the big bucks.
Both my kids take lessons at Foss in Woodbury and we love it. My daughter started at just over 2 years old but with my son we started him at 18 mo. Up through 3 years the parents get in the pool with the kids and the ratio is 5:1. After that the ratio is either 3:1 or 4:1 depending on the level but I think they get very individualized attention. My daughter who is 4 1/2 can swim by herself for about 10 yards without any flotation devices. My son who is almost 3 is diving for rings at the bottom of the pool (with assistance in pushing him down). They both love it and have progressed quickly. I think it is well worth the money if you consider how many lessons and how long it will take the kids to learn in a higher ratio setting. If you have additional questions, feel free to email me.
I say give it a try and see how it goes. I have a son who took numerous of lessons at the YMCA, then numerous through Community Ed then we even did 2 series of 1:1 through Community Ed!!! He NEVER learned how to swim. We then went to Foss and they were amazing.... He can now use great strokes. Our only problem was that the entire pool is shallow and he has not yet mastered that he can do it in all depths. They also never worked on treading... So to this day he does not have one of the basic water survival skills. We went through 4 levels but it did take him repeating one level 3 times... So that added up$$$. Now I would tell you something different if considering my daughter. She went through Foss and took over 6 Quaters of lessons and could never progress. We took her out after Lucky number 7... We decided to break and try it again later. We started with "Little Ones" and she just did not get it. There are 3 kids in this level. When she had a birthday they moved her to "Middle Ones" and took this 5 times. There are 4 kids in this level. So I say if you have the $ then try it for one quater. BTW all of our exsperience has been the Foss in Woodbury.
Foss Swim School is a very fun place, we've attended birthday parties there. However, it's a bit out of our price range. We have done swimming lessons through our local community ed. (Red Cross) but paid just a little extra to have semi-private lessons. There were just two kids in class with one teacher, and it worked great!
We go to Foss in St. Louis Park and love it. My son, now five, hated swimming lessons (at the U of MN from age 6 months - 3 yrs.) and wasn't progressing. In about four weeks at Foss, he was swimming and loving it!
We go to the Foss Swim School in Lakeville and I would highly recommend! We did a community ed class first and agree that they didn't really learn much. Foss is GREAT! My kids loved water as infants, but as they got around 2 years, they no longer liked their face in the water. The teachers at Foss were awesome and my kids now are great swimmers and love putting their faces under. The teachers were very energetic and kept the kids interested. My kids loved going to swim class. We started at 6 months of age and now our oldest is 6 years. We've even lucked out and had more of a "private" lesson without paying the private price as only a couple kids registered and the others never showed up after the first session. It seems like they do a lot of waiting their turn in the "Little" classes. The Tots they are all always busy (as Mom & Dad are with), and the level above "Little" is also. But, even with the wait time, I was satisfied as my kids learned and had fun.
We went to Foss Swim in Woodbury when it was inside Lifetime Fitness and they were great. But, with 4 kids in swimming and one in particular who really LOVES swimming, we couldn't afford it anymore. So we tried a number of different places and found that the private lessons through ISD #622 have been WONDERFUL! 3 of mine take the group lessons which have been good and the one who loves swimming is now in Level 5 of the Red Cross swimming and is only 6. It is cheaper to do the private lessons through ISD #622 than sessions through Foss.
We have done quite a few sessions with my girls there. I really like it and so do they. My almost 6 year old is starting to learn the different strokes now and my just 4 year old is even starting to swim on her own now. I have them signed up through June and I think they are both going to be so ready for summer! I think the instructors are great. I don't think class size is larger than 4? In one class there is 3 kids (twin boys) and my daughter, and in the other class, there is my daughter and one other child. Last week all the other kids were gone, so each one of my girls had a private lesson! I recommend it.
