Swim Lesson Re-Enrollment Decision Checklist

The session is ending and a deadline is coming. Ask what your child can do, compare your options, check the cost and schedule, then decide on purpose. This page puts the whole decision in one place so lessons never drift off the calendar by accident.

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📅 Step 1: The Basics

Child’s name and age

School and current class (level, day, time)

Instructor

Sessions completed so far

Re-enrollment opens

Re-enrollment deadline

Do this first. Put the deadline in your phone calendar today, with a reminder a few days before. Popular class times often fill with returning families first.

📊 Step 2: Progress Check

Ask the instructor what my child can do alone. Ask for the specific skills, and how steady they are.
Ask what still needs practice. Write down one or two skills to work on between sessions.
Ask what the next level asks for. Moving up should follow skills, not age or number of sessions.
Watch a class if the school allows it. See for yourself how your child handles each skill.
Check comfort as well as skills. Is my child happier, calmer and more willing to try than at the start?
Ask for the instructor’s recommendation. Keep, move up, repeat or pause, and why.

Skills my child does alone

Skills that need practice

Instructor’s recommendation

My child’s own feelings about lessons

🚦 Step 3: Compare Our Options

Option	Level, day and time	Session dates	Cost per class / total	Make-up rules	Fits our week? (Y / N)
A: Keep the same class
B: Move up a level
C: Repeat a level or change time
D: Pause for a set time

Remember. Repeating a level is normal and often helps a child become calmer before the next step. It does not mean lessons are failing.

❓ Step 4: Questions for the School

Do current families get first pick? Ask when it opens to everyone else.
Can we keep our instructor, day and time? Tell the school if continuity matters to you.
What level will my child be in, and why? Ask for the skills that decide it.
What does the next session cost? Ask about registration fees, sibling discounts and payment dates.
What are the make-up and cancellation rules? Write them down before you pay.
If we pause, is our place held? Ask for how long, and whether the level stays the same.

💵 Step 5: Cost and Schedule Check

Check the dates against holidays and breaks. Mark any classes we already know we will miss.
Check travel time and traffic. A class we can reach easily is a class we attend.
Check the total, not just the price per class. Include fees and any gear we need.
Check sibling and family schedules. Can classes line up to save trips?

⏸️ Step 6: If We Pause

Pause length and restart date

Skills to practice (from the instructor)

Bath-time or pool practice (what and when)

Who is in the water with our child

Lessons are one layer, not the only one. Enrolled or not, a child needs close, undistracted supervision, a designated water watcher, barriers around pools and a properly fitted U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket near open water. Lessons do not make a child drown-proof, at any age.

✅ Step 7: Our Decision

We chose (A / B / C / D)

Because

Who registers, and by what date

Calendar reminders set? (Y / N)

A line to remember: “Ask, compare, decide, register.” Ask what your child can do, compare the options, decide on purpose and register before the deadline.

Created by WaterWiseKids.com — Free water safety education for families

This checklist is a family planner, not medical or legal advice, and does not describe any particular school’s policies. Re-enrollment, level and fee rules differ by school, so follow each program’s written policy. Guidance: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Drowning Prevention); American Academy of Pediatrics (HealthyChildren.org).

Back to the full guide · Progress audit · Level placement guide