![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Of Pools and Pillows
Jul. 8th, 2009 06:16 pmMy kids are both signed up for swimming lessons this summer. She's in the absolute beginner's class; he's in the "advanced beginner's" class. Both are at 4PM, on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
You may note that time. It's at almost the perfectly worst time for me, since I typically sleep during weekdays, and too often don't get to bed until later than I ought. (Her class had a section on Monday which was unfortunately full when we registered; if she'd been able to take that class, then M could have overseen the lessons.) Getting home at 5:30 or 5:45 is a no-more-sleep proposition when I have to be up at 7:00, as well.
It wouldn't be so bad if this week hadn't started with us having finally, after too much deferring and not doing, cleaned up the front half of the apartment (entryway, main hall, kitchen, and bathroom) so that the exterminator could come in (the landlord correctly insisted that he had the right to require this). Since our apartment has, until recently, all been La Wreck di Tutti Wrecks, this required lots of heavy work and an all-nighter from several of us (and me calling out of work to make the time).
It also meant that I went into work yesterday with about three hours of sleep in the prior 48, and a complete zombie. (Must be a modern one; I had a salty pretzel and didn't dissolve, die, or become any less undead.)
Today I had upwards of five hours of sleep before having wakened my kids for the lesson, and while it's not nearly enough, I feel human again, for the moment.
About the lessons themselves: I wish his teacher was teaching her class. T's teacher is clearly a very good swimmer, with a grasp of how to teach advanced students, but went WAY too fast for a beginner's class. He didn't linger over any steps, worked only perfunctorily with individuals, and took "no" for an answer far too easily. (Not that it's a horrid thing, but with utter beginners, sometimes it's necessary to ask twice or even thrice to get them past fear or shyness.) Given that T is still kind of scared, both of the water and of failure, she didn't make lots of progress. Fortunately, we had a discussion about how learning requires trying and practice; we shall see if it stuck, next Tuesday. (Also, we'll get her goggles so that she's less concerned about water in her eyes.)
Z's teacher was much better, first evaluating her "advanced beginners" and then doing only two main things during the hour-long lesson, and making sure she worked with each student until they understood what to do, even if they were having trouble doing it on their own. I'm glad he has some kids in his class who are more advanced than he is; he thought he was getting really good, and needed to be brought to reality. (He's learned some things, like floating on his back, really well. But he still flexes his knees while kicking, and his strokes are atrocious. It's okay, he's learning.)
Gonna lean my head back here for half an hour or so. It won't be pretty when I wake, but at least I'll be able to speak in polysyllables tonight.
You may note that time. It's at almost the perfectly worst time for me, since I typically sleep during weekdays, and too often don't get to bed until later than I ought. (Her class had a section on Monday which was unfortunately full when we registered; if she'd been able to take that class, then M could have overseen the lessons.) Getting home at 5:30 or 5:45 is a no-more-sleep proposition when I have to be up at 7:00, as well.
It wouldn't be so bad if this week hadn't started with us having finally, after too much deferring and not doing, cleaned up the front half of the apartment (entryway, main hall, kitchen, and bathroom) so that the exterminator could come in (the landlord correctly insisted that he had the right to require this). Since our apartment has, until recently, all been La Wreck di Tutti Wrecks, this required lots of heavy work and an all-nighter from several of us (and me calling out of work to make the time).
It also meant that I went into work yesterday with about three hours of sleep in the prior 48, and a complete zombie. (Must be a modern one; I had a salty pretzel and didn't dissolve, die, or become any less undead.)
Today I had upwards of five hours of sleep before having wakened my kids for the lesson, and while it's not nearly enough, I feel human again, for the moment.
About the lessons themselves: I wish his teacher was teaching her class. T's teacher is clearly a very good swimmer, with a grasp of how to teach advanced students, but went WAY too fast for a beginner's class. He didn't linger over any steps, worked only perfunctorily with individuals, and took "no" for an answer far too easily. (Not that it's a horrid thing, but with utter beginners, sometimes it's necessary to ask twice or even thrice to get them past fear or shyness.) Given that T is still kind of scared, both of the water and of failure, she didn't make lots of progress. Fortunately, we had a discussion about how learning requires trying and practice; we shall see if it stuck, next Tuesday. (Also, we'll get her goggles so that she's less concerned about water in her eyes.)
Z's teacher was much better, first evaluating her "advanced beginners" and then doing only two main things during the hour-long lesson, and making sure she worked with each student until they understood what to do, even if they were having trouble doing it on their own. I'm glad he has some kids in his class who are more advanced than he is; he thought he was getting really good, and needed to be brought to reality. (He's learned some things, like floating on his back, really well. But he still flexes his knees while kicking, and his strokes are atrocious. It's okay, he's learning.)
Gonna lean my head back here for half an hour or so. It won't be pretty when I wake, but at least I'll be able to speak in polysyllables tonight.
