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Peer grouping makes sense in
By Ron Shaw If you are an administrator of instructional swimming programs, see if you know any of these people: A mother comes into your registration office to sign her daughter up for swim lessons. The girl has had swim lessons before and passed beginner so she signs her up for advanced beginner. When the girl gets into the program she can't keep up with the advanced beginners so she has to be dropped and by that time all the beginner classes are filled. A 12-year-old comes into a beginner swim class and is embarrassed to find that he is much older and bigger than any other swimmer in the group. He never really learned how to swim because he has always been afraid of water. The instructor talks "baby talk'' to all the small kids and the student feels bored because they take so much time playing games. A 6-year-old is signed up for an intermediate swim class. She is really very advanced for her age because her parents and older brothers have always helped her. Yet in this class she has trouble keeping up because all the other swimmers are much older and stronger. Even though her strokes are as good or better than theirs she doesn't have the power or endurance. Also she doesn't always understand what the instructor is talking about because she doesn't recognize all the "big words." If your swimming program is like most, you know that these situations are pretty common. Children, parents and staff are frustrated because of them and the learning experience is nowhere near what it could be. Why do we have these kind of problems in swimming? It may be that we forget a simple principle that is applied to so many other activities for children. The principle is that children don't all develop at the same rate. Of course they don't, you may say. Yet when we divide swimming classes we usually do it only by skill. Most other experiences in a child's life, from school to sports programs, take more than one aspect of their development into account when dividing into groups, yet in most swimming programs we consider only the child's skill level. Applying peer grouping as well as skill grouping will not only simplify things for everyone involved, it will provide the swimmer with a superior learning experience. Registration Applying peer grouping to swimming classes begins with registration. The office staff that handles registration will find that it actually takes less work. Rather than trying to help a parent decide which class to register his child for they simply sign the child up according to age. This means less staff time will be spent during registration trying to figure out which class a child should take. It also means less frustration for parents and less moving children around when they are signed up for the wrong group. Two year age divisions seem to work best. This also works well with the new American Red Cross Infant and Preschool Aquatic Program. In this program infants are categorized as ages 6 to 18 months, toddlers are 18 to 36 months, and preschoolers are 3 to 4 years. At age five the Red Cross begins its Progressive Swimming program, with the levels we recognize as Beginners, Advanced Beginners, Intermediate. With this program using two year age divisions means five and six year olds in one group, seven and eight year olds in the next group, and the oldest children grouped together in a 9 and up group. Scheduling Scheduling presents a challenge for a program making the transition from skill group to peer grouping. To make it convenient on families with more than one child in the program it is important to schedule different peer groups close together in time. However, it's important to avoid the temptation to schedule two different peer groups at the same time. This defeats the purpose of peer grouping because it is almost inevitable that the groups will be combined. A program has been devised that allows a family with almost any combinations of children's ages to be in classes on the same day. If times available for instructional classes are sparse or scattered it is difficult to apply peer grouping since the schedule will be inconvenient for families. First day evaluations Any large swimming class must be divided into groups of workable size. In peer grouped programs this practice is no different. Working from a master roster the head instructor watches each child perform a few key skills and places children of like abilities together. Groups that are too big for one instructor are split into two smaller groups. It helps to have a set instructor-swimmer ratio for making these decisions. For instance a beginner group with 10 children is too much for one instructor to do a good job so it can be split into two groups. This can be done either numerically with each instructor taking five swimmers at random or the instructors can attempt to further subdivide the group with a finer skill distinction. Another thing that helps make these first days go easier is to have an accurate record system. By knowing how a swimmer was placed in previous sessions the head instructor can cut down on the number of children that need to be evaluated. Children who have been in the program before can be assigned to groups before they even start. Advantages Swimming skill in youth programs tends to follow a normal curve. Statistically, the majority of swimmers fall in the mid-range of ability and there are excep- (continued on page 37)
Peer grouping makes sense in instructional swimming programs (from page 22) tional swimmers on either side of the curve. In the example, the majority of swimmers tend to be beginners who have little real skill yet have had some exposure to the water. In this age group there are fewer children who are really afraid of the water. This is especially true with the advent of pre-school instruction. There are also fewer children in the 5- to 6-year-old age group who have exceptionally great skills. Even though some swimming coaches will brag about their 6-year-olds doing repeats of the butterfly, this is not typical. The extent to which the ratio of swimming skills to age follows a normal curve will depend on the number of children in the program. As in any measurement, the bigger the population the more closely it follows the curve. For this reason, peer grouping does not work well with smaller swim programs. Experience has shown that it takes at least 100 swimmers registered in several classes in a session to make the process work well. What peer grouping gives children who are exceptional in either direction is the added advantage of smaller groups and more individualized instruction. In the example, the children who are really afraid of the water are assigned to a small group where the instructor can work patiently on their needs. The advanced beginners are also given the advantage of a small group. This allows them to continue to excel and move towards their potentials. While the children at either end of the skill curve have an advantage of smaller groups all children in a peer grouped program have the advantage of instruction geared to their age group. Instructors of younger children can incorporate shorter drills with a lot of variety to compensate for lesser endurance and shorter attention spans. Instructors of children in older age groups can take advantage of the swimmers' higher language abilities with more in-depth explanations. The transition from a skilled-based program to a peer grouped program can't be made overnight. No matter what its advantages may be it is a new concept and since most people react suspiciously to change, it requires some preparation. The registration staff needs to be prepared. Whereas they may be glad to do away with some of the problems they have had with placing children in classes, they need to know enough about the program to make parents understand when there are questions. Parents may react with suspicion at first, especially if their children are in an exceptional group. Careful explanation will help but some parents will not be satisfied until they see it work. That means that the first session will require a lot more attention than usual. The best time to talk with them is during swim classes before the new system is even published in the brochure. This kind of personal contact will help head off much of the apprehension. Peer grouping makes sense Peer grouping only makes sense in light of how other youth activities are conducted. A third grade class may have children who are all the same age but it will be divided into different reading groups. Swimming is no different. Peer grouping can turn a good swimming program into a great one.
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