Save a Life {PediaSwim}

It's a beautiful sunny afternoon in August and you're relaxing by the pool with your family.  The warm sun and the smell of sunscreen and chlorine lull you into a haze as the kids splash within reach.  You're watching the kids and reading your favourite magazine, but before you know it your eyelids are heavy and you're starting to drift.  You bolt awake when the bright orange of your toddler's lifejacket catches your eye -- it's lying on the pool deck, with no toddler in sight.

Your oldest hollers "Mom!", and you frantically scan the water for your toddler, only to catch a glimpse of her pink patterned bathing suit under the water.

And there she is, alternately floating on her back and then rolling over to kick her way to the side of the pool.  You jump in and call her to you, breathing a huge sigh of relief.

Drowning is the #1 cause of death for young children.

As many parents can attest to, this scenario has played out much differently for countless children.  A brief moment of distraction, a little Houdini, or an overconfident child falls into a pool or the lake, and is under water for too long.  Their brief life is cut short in an instant.

It happened to me.  While I don't remember it, I've heard the story many times.  I had just started walking and I decided to step right into the deep end of a pool while on vacation.  If my parents hadn't been right there, I wouldn't be here to tell the story.  In fact, drowning is the #1 cause of death for children aged 1-4 in the US.  It's the 2nd in Canada, and it's entirely preventable.

Joy McGinty wants to change that.  She developed a method using insight from Behavioral Psychology to teach young children to keep themselves afloat after falling into the water.  It's called PediaSwim, an Infant Toddler Instructor Education Course, and it's been around since 1992.



And now, not only can you enroll your child in a PediaSwim program near you, but you can build your own business around the methods that Joy McGinty uses.  You'll be teaching infants and toddlers how to swim and you'll be making your community safer.  What a great way to make a living doing something that teaches such valuable skills and that saves lives!

Make your community safer.

The PediaSwim Instructor Course is 4 weeks of hands-on, in-the-water instruction.  You'll work with young children of all ages, learning how to teach them the skills to survive in the water, breath control, floating and propulsion.  You'll learn about child psychology, child development and child anatomy and physiology.  You'll also learn how to open and run your own PediaSwim school, how to market it, and even how to give back to your community by offering programs for disadvantaged families.

What are the requirements?  Simply a desire to learn how to keep kids safe in and near the water.  You don't need to have any swimming or teaching experience.  You'll learn everything you need to at the PediaSwim Instructor Course.

Open your own school with the PediaSwim Instructor Course.

The course is offered at Southwest Aquatics in Winter Garden, Florida, close to Orlando and many beautiful beaches.   Bringing your family along is recommended -- a daycare is available across the street from Southwest Aquatics, and they'll even teach your children to swim while you're taking the Instructor Course!

Janice Mortimer has completed the Pedia Swim Instructor Course, and here's what she had to say:

"I did my training with Joy at SW Aquatics (PediaSwim). I love everyone there. So proud to tell people about them. Thank you Joy for changing so many children’s lives for the better. You make a huge difference in so many lives you can’t even imagine!"

Find a PediaSwim Instructor near you and enroll your infant or toddler today.  Or make your own community safer by becoming an Instructor yourself!

Did you teach your children how to swim at a young age?  How has it helped?

Disclaimer: I was compensated to provide this informational post.  All of my opinions are my own.