Services
Specialized in offering aquatic training for all skill levels and goals!With Hope you will receive the best American Red Cross training and tips on how to be safe in, on, and around the water! Hope offers comprehensive, developmentally appropriate swimming and water safety courses that teach you, your children, and other friends and family members how to swim skillfully and safely, as well as think and act safely in, on, and around the water. With eight years of certified experience in the aquatics industry as a Red Cross water safety instructor, and lifeguard, Hope offers the opportunity for private, semi-private, and group swim lessons for all ages!
At this time I am available to come to your home for lessons or you can come to my pool. If I am coming to you, it is imperative that you provide a safe and adequate pool for your lessons. The Red Cross recommends maintaining the water temperature between 83 & 88 degrees.
Swimming Classes Offered:
The prerequisite for each level is the successful demonstration of skills from the preceding level, except for level 1 in all categories.
Parent and Child Aquatics
*6 months-about 3 years
Parents and children learn together to increase a child's comfort level in the water and build a foundation of basic skills, such as arm and leg movements and breath control. The two levels are fun-filled and help introduce water safety concepts, encouraging a healthy recreational habit that your entire family can enjoy.
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Level 1
Provides experiences and activities for children to:
- Learn to ask for permission before entering the water.
- Learn how to enter and exit the water in a safe manner.
- Feel comfortable in the water.
- Explore submerging to the mouth, nose and eyes and fully submerging.
- Explore buoyancy on the front and back position.
- Change body position in the water.
- Learn how to play safely.
- Experience wearing a U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket.
- Plus age-appropriate water safety topics.
Level 2
Builds upon the skills learned in Level 1 and provides experiences and activities for children to:
- Establish expectation for adult supervision.
- Learn more ways to enter and exit the water in a safe manner.
- Explore submerging in a rhythmic pattern.
- Glide on the front and back with assistance.
- Perform combined stroke on front and back with assistance.
- Change body position in the water.
- Experience wearing a U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket in the water.
- Plus age-appropriate water safety topics.
Preschool Aquatics (about 4-5 years old)
Throughout the three levels, preschool-age children are taught basic aquatic safety, survival and swimming skills, all the while increasing their comfort level in and around the water. Skills are age-appropriate, helping children achieve success on a regular basis and enjoy social interactions with other children. As in all Swimming and Water Safety courses, your child will always know that it's safety first.
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Level 1
Orients children to the aquatic environment and helps them gain basic aquatic skills.
- Enter and exit water using ladder, steps or side
- Blow bubbles through mouth and nose
- Submerge mouth, nose and eyes
- Open eyes under water and retrieve submerged objects
- Front and back glides
- Recover from a front glide to a vertical position
- Back float and recover to a vertical position
- Roll from front to back and back to front
- Tread with arm and hand actions
- Alternating and simultaneous leg actions on front and back
- Alternating and simultaneous arm actions on front and back
- Combined arm and leg actions on front and back
- Plus age-appropriate water safety topics
Level 2
Helps children gain greater independence in their skills and develop more comfort in and around water.
- Enter water by stepping in
- Exit water using ladder, steps or side
- Bobbing
- Open eyes under water and retrieve submerged objects
- Front and back floats and glides
- Recover from a front and back float or glide to a vertical position
- Roll from front to back and back to front
- Tread water using arm and leg actions
- Combined arm and leg actions on front and back
- Finning arm action on back
- Plus age-appropriate water safety topics
Level 3
Helps children start to gain basic swimming propulsive skills to be comfortable in and around water.
- Enter water by jumping in
- Fully submerge and hold breath
- Bobbing
- Front, jellyfish and tuck floats
- Recover from a front and back float or glide to a vertical position
- Back float and glide
- Change direction of travel while swimming on front or back
- Tread water using arm and leg actions
- Combined arm and leg actions on front and back
- Finning arm action on back
- Plus age-appropriate water safety topics
Learn-to-Swim (children about 6 years+ and adults)
Designed to help participants achieve maximum success, Learn-to-Swim courses are based on a logical, six-level progression that helps swimmers about 6+ years old and adults to develop their water safety, survival and swimming skills.
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Level 1-Introduction to Water Skills
Helps participants feel comfortable in the water.
- Enter and exit water using ladder, steps or side
- Blow bubbles through mouth and nose
- Bobbing
- Open eyes under water and retrieve submerged objects
- Front and back glides and floats
- Recover to vertical position
- Roll from front to back and back to front
- Tread water using arm and hand actions
- Alternating and simultaneous leg actions on front and back
- Alternating and simultaneous arm actions on front and back
- Combined arm and leg actions on front and back
- Plus age-appropriate water safety topics
Level 2-Fundamental Aquatic Skills
Gives participants success with fundamental skills.
- Enter and exit water by stepping or jumping from the side
- Fully submerge and hold breath
- Bobbing
- Open eyes under water and retrieve submerged objects
- Front, jellyfish and tuck floats
- Front and back glides and floats
- Recover to vertical position
- Roll from front to back and back to front
- Change direction of travel while swimming on front or back
- Tread water using arm and leg actions
- Combined arm and leg actions on front and back
- Finning arm action
- Plus age-appropriate water safety topics
Level 3-Stroke Development
Builds on the skills in Level 2 through additional guided practice in deeper water.
- Enter water by jumping from the side
- Headfirst entries from the side in sitting and kneeling positions
- Bobbing while moving toward safety
- Rotary breathing
- Survival float
- Back float
- Change from vertical to horizontal position on front and back
- Tread water
- Flutter and dolphin kicks on front
- Scissors kick
- Front crawl and elementary backstroke
- Plus age-appropriate water safety topics
Level 4-Stroke Improvement
Develops confidence in the skills learned and improves other aquatic skills.
- Headfirst entries from the side in compact and stride positions
- Swim under water
- Feetfirst surface dive
- Survival swimming
- Front crawl and backstroke open turns
- Tread water using 2 different kicks
- Front and back crawl, elementary backstroke, breaststroke, sidestroke and butterfly
- Flutter and dolphin kicks on back
- Plus age-appropriate water safety topics
Level 5-Stroke Refinement
Provides further coordination and refinement of strokes.
- Shallow-angle dive from the side then glide and begin a front stroke
- Tuck and pike surface dives, submerge completely
- Front flip turn and backstroke flip turn while swimming
- Front and back crawl, elementary backstroke, breaststroke, sidestroke and butterfly
- Sculling
- Plus age-appropriate water safety topics
Level 6-Swimming and Skill Proficiency
Refines the strokes so participants swim them with ease, efficiency, power and smoothness over greater distances. Level 6 is designed with "menu" options that focus on preparing participants for more advanced courses, including the Water Safety instructor course, or other aquatic activities, such as competitive swimming or diving. Each option also includes applicable water safety topics.
Options include the following:
- Fitness Swimmer
- Personal Water Safety
- Fundamentals of Diving
Longfellow's WHALE Tales (grades K-6)
The American Red Cross Longfellow's WHALE Tales course teaches children how to behave safely in, on and around the water. This classroom-based course helps children learn about water safety around the home, as well as in different environments, such as waterparks, lakes and rivers. It also teaches them about sun safety, boating safety and much more. The course features a fun, animated DVD, colorful posters, stickers, activity sheets and certificates.
Water Safety Presentations
Designed to help increase safety wherever and whenever water sports are enjoyed, American Red Cross Water Safety presentations teach safety tips for pools, spas, waterparks, lakes, rivers, oceans or any body of water. A variety of courses meet the needs of parents, the general public, youth in grades 4-12 or youth organizations and people who participate in activities in and around the water, such as camp staff and campers.
Choose from:
- Water Safety Today
- General Water Safety
- Home Pool Safety
- Parent Orientation to Swim Lessons
- Sun Safety
- Rip Current Safety
Safety Training for Swim Coaches
*professional and volunteer swim coaches
Developed in collaboration with USA Swimming, this course teaches swim coaches and other aquatic professionals how to prevent and respond to emergencies while at the aquatic facility. Topics include preparing an emergency action plan, recognizing a swimmer in distress, rescuing swimmers using non-swimming techniques, handling spinal injuries and more.
*8 hours
Basic Water Rescue
Ideal for public safety personnel, parents and camp staff, this course provides participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to prevent, recognize and respond to aquatic emergencies. It also prepares participants for aquatic emergencies by teaching them how to protect themselves while assisting others.
*4 hours
Personal Water Safety
This course teaches individuals, such as those who participate in aquatic activities or who work on or around water, the knowledge and skills necessary to avoid aquatic emergencies and perform self-rescues in a variety of aquatic emergency situations. Organized into five, approximately one-hour lessons that include both class activities and in-water skills sessions, participants build upon basic swimming and survival skills to improve technique and endurance, as well as increase water safety knowledge.
*5 hours
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