ADAPTED AQUATICS PLAN by Whitney Stern

Case History: I will be making my adapted aquatics plan for children, both boys and girls, with mild to moderate forms of mental retardation between the ages of 7 and 12. It is easiest to group these children together because they can learn from each other and are all around the “same point.” These children can use swimming skills in their life to keep them in good physical shape and be a fun way to exercise and enjoy themselves. As they enter the program, they will have had little to no experience with swimming. The instructors will have to start from the very beginning, and there will be one instructor per child. This way, there is a one-on-one learning experience and no child will be left unattended.

Class Times: Monday & Wednesday: 3:00-3:30pm (Weeks 1-3)
Saturday: 9:00-9:30am (Weeks 1-2)

AQUATICS PROGRAM
Facility Needed: Any swimming pool with a low end of about 3 feet so that the children can stand or touch the bottom when needed.

Equipment Needed: Kickboards and life jackets for when the children are first introduced to the water and unaware of breath control and floating. Ping pong balls to help children with their breath control. Easter eggs that can be filled with water for children to grab helping with movement and submersion. Stuffed animals for children to mimic when learning new skills. Tubes for children to climb under and over working on crawl and breath control. Goggles for children with sensitive eyes.

Goals:
1) Children become comfortable in the water and able to continue being safe swimming without instructors.
2) Children can learn to float and swim certain strokes completely on their own.
3) Emotionally, children are comforted by the water and can possibly use it to relax and unwind.

Teachings: Children will be taught general entry skills into the water, moving in the water (walking), breath control, face submersion, front tow and recovery, back tow and recovery, floating on their own with basic crawl and/or freestyle swim strokes, and possibly (depending on how advanced) picking up coins/toys on bottom of pool.

Day 1
Objective(s): Students will become familiar with water by learning several ways to enter and exit the pool. Once in the water, they will begin working on movement and direction and the start of breath control by blowing a ping pong ball across the water.

3:00-3:05 – Welcome children and parents to program / Attendance
3:05-3:10 – Safety instructions around pool area. Repeat if needed.
3:10-3:15 – Introduce different ways of children getting into the water (slide in, roll in, ladder) / Explain other ways except that it is unsafe until they have proper skills.
3:15-3:20 – Children get into water their own way and begin to walk around.
3:20-3:30 – Children will become comfortable in the water and be towed by instructors. Ping pong balls will be given to children to begin working on breath control. Give children their own ping pong balls to practice at home on a table.

DAY 2
Objectives: Work much of the time on breath control and face submersion. Then, front tow with recovery will be assessed.

3:00-3:05 – Welcome / Attendance
3:05-3:15 – Review of last session (entry to water, breath control, and movement control)
3:15-3:25 – Face submersion. Most children will be stubborn or cautious. (students breathe with chin resting on water, exhale with mouth under water, duck head completely under with instructor there to keep safe, holding onto kickboard will put head under)
3:25-3:30 – Blowing bubbles and front tow. Grabbing onto instructors shoulders will be towed. As instructors dip underwater, child will go under as well. Recovery from front tow to standing position will be taught.

DAY 3
Objectives: Breath control will be reviewed, face submersion, front tow and recovery, back tow and recovery.

9:00-9:05 – Welcome / Attendance
9:05-9:10 – Entrance to pool (children encouraged to try new entries), review of breath control (ping pong balls on water, exhale chin underwater), familiarized with face submersion again
9:10-9:15 – Front tow and recovery reviewed. Kicking encouraged as children are towed. Holding onto side of pool, children are taught to kick as hard as possible, ducking head under every now and then.
9:15-9:25 – Back tow with kicking. Children encouraged to keep head neutral and looking at the sky as they float and kick as they did holding the wall. Instructor will hold under armpits while children are encouraged to move arms around to keep steady.
9:25-9:30 – Game played with instructors to grab eggs slightly submerged underwater.

DAY 4
Objectives: Review again of all previous lessons. Back tow and recovery revisited. Recovery taught in more depth with side of pool. Egg game played for a few minutes and then front crawl is introduced.

3:00-3:05 – Welcome / Attendance
3:05-3:10 – Entrance into pool. Movement around water.
3:10-3:20 – Face submersion. Front and back tow with kicking and recovery. Children are encouraged while moving around the pool to use arms as aids. In low end, taught to bend knees and tread water with moving arms and kicking legs.
3:20-3:25 – Introduce children to deep end with kickboards.
3:25-3:30 – Egg game played with eggs lower this time. The children must really submerge themselves to capture each one. They may tread water without knowing that they are actually doing it.

DAY 5
Objectives: Children can tread water and while being front and back tow, instructors can slowly let go so that children can swim and crawl on their own.

3:00-3:05 – Welcome / Attendance
3:05-3:15 – Review of previous lessons. Entry, face submersion, front tow, back tow, kicking off edge of pool and using kickboards to kick.
3:15-3:25 – Instructors will let go of children and let them float and crawl. Eggs will be thrown so that children must move on their own to get to them. Review of any skills may be gone back to for children who can not remember. Use of stuffed animals to help children imitate may also help with the learning of new skills and concentration.
3:25-3:30 – Children who are able, are taught to jump into the pool from the side into the low end (low enough to push off the bottom, but not too low that it is dangerous)

DAY 6
Objectives: Children can tread water and begin elementary freestyle stroke.

9:00-9:05 – Welcome / Attendance
9:05-9:10 – Entry to water. Children will wet their own faces and submerge on their own.
9:10-9:20 – Children are back and front towed. Because it has been 3 days since their last lesson, the skills will be reviewed and kicking will be taught. If children understand, they will be allowed to chase eggs.
9:20-9:25 – New toys will be introduced for children learning slowly. For children learning quickly, they will be given tubes to climb on. This will help with breath control and submersion.
9:25-9:30 – Freestyle will be introduced. Children will lay on mats on ground and move their arms in the correct motion while kicking. They will be asked to work on it at home before Monday’s class.

DAY 7
Objectives: Make sure that students are comfortable in the water. Review of previous weeks and teaching of elementary freestyle both on mats and on water.

3:00-3:05 – Welcome / Attendance
3:05-3:15 – Entry to water, wetting face, breath control, face submersion, egg game if needed to help, front and back tow. Kicking on side of pool or with kick board.
3:15-3:20 – Children will lay on mats and kick their legs and move their arms for a freestyle stroke.
3:20-3:30 – Children will kick while holding onto side of pool. While instructor is holding them while laying on stomach, have children kick and move arms as they should for freestyle. Make sure their face is submerged and breathing is controlled.

DAY 8
Objectives: Make sure children leave class with a comfort to the water, kicking on kickboards, breath control, front crawl and floating, and freestyle stroke.

3:00-3:05 – Welcome / Attendance
3:05-3:15 – Entry to water, breath control with ping pong balls if needed, face submersion with breath control, front and back tow with recovery.
3:15-3:25 – Because it is the last day, toys are given to the children. They are asked to pick up coins and toys on bottom of the pool with goggles because of their sensitive eyes. For children who are not comfortable with that, they can play Red Light, Green Light concentrating on movement and direction in the water.
3:25-3:30 – Freestyle stroke is looked at as the children understand the kicking and movement of arms.
3:30 – Farewell.

These children can leave the class with a comfort to the water. As many children with mental retardation are not physically fit, this can help them keep in shape while they are having fun and playing games. They will be safe in the water and can learn lifetime lessons through the use of aquatics.

Copyright © 1999-2007 | PELINKS4U All Rights Reserved