Buzz Lightyear (aka Austin)
Austin is still following the same pattern of "It's not my turn yet." If he had his way, we'd still be there waiting for his turn.
Tanya had a breakthrough with him today. He screamed getting into the water and wouldn't relax. This conversation turned the corner for him:
Tanya: "Hey Austin. Do you know Buzz Lightyear?"
Austin: {crying and tense} "Yes."
Tanya: "Can you put your arms out like Buzz when you float on your back?"
Austin: {less crying, still tense} "Yes....to infinity and beyond."
He actually stopped fussing and crying and relaxed a bit. Every time she put him on his back he said, "To infinity and beyond." I imagine that when he's 12 he'll still think of Buzz Lightyear when he floats on his back.
Her next brilliant move was asking her 4-year old to get into the pool and show Austin how to float. He was mesmerized by her. She floated on her back and then Tanya asked Austin if he could do that. He said, "SURE!" It was pretty amazing. Today is the first day that he got out of the pool without crying.
The Clapper (aka John)
John is still up to his crying/clapping and saying "yeah" routine. Today he said a lot of "Allllll done". Every time Tanya picked him up after she had him swim to the stairs, he clapped, said "yeah", followed by "all done".
The Screamer (aka Lauren)
She put Lauren on her back today. She reached her arms backwards toward me and squeezed her fingers to have me pick her up. There were a lot of calls to "mama" from her today. Her kick is stronger, though. Progress!
Mr. Clingy (aka Tyler)
Tyler has mastered the art of being a suction cup. First it was hard to peel him off me and get him into the pool. As soon as he realized he was going in, he attached himself to Tanya. Her daughter was still in the pool and the first time Tanya got him to let go to swim to the side, he went right for her daughter. He wasn't about to be alone in the water.
Everyone showed improvements. I'm hoping they'll start relaxing a bit soon. More tomorrow.
4 comments:
So thankful for the blog! Would love to see them in person progressing each day. Sounds like they are all being little troopers.
I love reading stories about brilliant teachers and Tanya certanity sounds like she is one yaye :) I love it when teachers are able to find something that appeals to kids and use that to encourage and teach them. Yaye also for Austin
pleased John is going well
praying for Lauren its good to hear her kick is getting better
I am sure Tanya will be able to work out how to get Tyler to stop being Mr. Clingy and become more confident
Austin is too cute!
I wish we had a program like that here. It's nearly impossible to do swimming lessons in a group setting when you're outnumbered 4 to 1. I like that your kids get one-on-one time in the pool.
What a great teacher! My task for the next week is to find out what people think of the ISR teacher in our area.
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