How Do You Turn “Tears” into “Cheers?” – Secrets to Help Children Overcome their Fears!
PICTURE THIS:
You are ready to teach your first 3-4 year old class but you have little girl who refuses to get in the water . . . and cries . . . and screams . . . and the stress is building and building in both you and mom!
What are you going to do?
- Bring her in screaming? NO!!!
- Tell her mom she’s just not ready? NO!!
- Refund her money? YES . . . if you fail. But “NO” if you don’t! You don’t need to FAIL—YOU JUST NEED A FEW TRICKS UP YOUR SLEEVE!
- HAVE YOU EVER TRIED SAYING? “It’s okay to be scared–do you know I get scared sometimes too? By agreeing with them you magically reduce their anxiety. On the other hand, if you say, ‘Don’t be scared,’ it does the exact opposite.” The anxiety the child’s if feeling is real. Arguing that there is nothing to be scared of only makes it worse.
You can also build on “it’s okay to be scared” by turning that into a story about a time when you were scared about your swim lessons when you were her age. And say: guess what happened? And give it a happy ending (I learned this technique from Mr. Rogers!) - HAVE YOU EVER ASKED?
- “Are your ready for swim lessons?”
- “Do you want to get in the water?”
- “Do you want to kick your feet?”
DON’T DO IT! DON’T ASK!
The little one will quickly sense that he’s in charge and has complete control and now YOU ARE IN TROUBLE! The easiest answer is no.
Tell him what he’s going to do. You will have much better success! - HAVE YOU EVER HEARD? Have you ever heard of “mental rehearsal?” Elite athletes rehearse perfect races or perfect games in their minds all the time to prepare themselves psychologically for a peak performance. CHILDREN CAN DO THIS TOO WITH YOUR HELP! EVEN PRE-SCHOOLERS!
HERE’S HOW: Recommend to mom or dad to make up a bedtime story about a successful swimming lesson. Tell mom or dad to go the whole nine yards. Once upon a time, page 1, page 2, page 3, etc. From the start to the finish, use their imagination, make it interesting, make the story all about how great their child did, and in the end it will be so rewarding the child will look forward to swimming lessons when its time for next class it will be like already happened before. It really works wonders!
And I’m talking SUCCESS STRATEGIES that WORK almost every time!!!
Here are a few FREE Success Strategies that really work!
Would you like to hear more ideas about turning “tears into cheers?”
Order the FROM TEARS TO CHEERS audio program. How to Help Children Overcome their Fears – 10 SECRETS EVERY TEACHER SHOULD KNOW! Just $14.00
“Jim Reiser has produced some of the most interesting and innovative techniques I have ever witnessed for teaching preschoolers. His methods will cause children to look forward to their swimming lessons rather than fear them. Because his methods stress fun as well as skill mastery, they will signal a lifelong love affair with the water for your young swimmers.”
Ernest M. Maglischo, Ph. D. Author, Swimming Fastest
Would you like more ideas about creating the perfect swim lesson for a 3 to 5 year old?
Order the SWIM 101 DVD video program. Just $35.00.
“Your Swim Lessons University teacher training system has very much changed the way I teach little ones. The swim school is a new venture as previously most of our business was in stroke improvement for Triathletes so I was a little worried about teaching the kids, hence the purchase of your video. The one thing that stood out for me on the video was that the children should be upset because they don’t want the lessons to end, not because their parents make them have swimming lessons. I now have parents saying their children can’t wait for the next lesson which is really great to hear and also great for business, so win, win. Thanks again, Jim, and I’m looking forward already to your next one!”
Glen Walker, Slippery Fish Swim Clinics United Kingdom
March 26, 2009 at 1:25 pm Comments (0)