Do you consider swimming an essential life skill? I do and for good reason.

2 years ago, one of my dad’s cousins lost her son in a drowning accident. They had gone for a picnic at a watering hole in Texas and their son drowned in a freak accident. He didn’t know how to swim properly and got caught in the crosscurrent and got swept away.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time we had encountered a family losing a young person in a water accident.

I decided then that I was going to stop being laissez-faire about my kids' swimming lessons and find the right swimming program for them.  We started trying the local swim schools and somehow, there was never one that worked for us. Either the kids didn’t like the instructors, the program wasn’t flexible enough to work with our crazy schedule, the facility was just old or a myriad of other issues.

When I was invited to try out the Goldfish Swim School in Glen Ellyn, I had just about given up on finding a school that would excite both my older son and keep the younger troublemaker entertained, as well as work with our schedule.

I can safely say our experience has been nothing short of amazing. The location, the team, the program, and the convenience have been phenomenal.

Let me elaborate.

The LOCATION

It is bright, beautiful, incredible, clean and full of awesome amenities like a blow-drying station, the cool contraption that help dry out the swim stuff and so many thoughtful touches like a diaper changing station set up with diapers in all sizes. My favorite feature, however, remains the gorgeously warm pool always heated to a delicious 90˚.

All Goldfish locations are built on the same model and that is the best part about the program- your experience with your location is consistent no matter which location you go to.

The TEAM

The best thing about this location is the team. Each instructor is amazing with kids, super friendly, first aid certified and every one of them does such an excellent job making swimming fun for their students.

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that my little one gives the instructors a really tough time, often trying to escape the pool and insurrecting mutinies. I am always so impressed by the patience that his instructors have and how they make learning the basics of swimming look like so much fun.

The PROGRAM

We started the program about 8 months ago. And in that time, the kids have made SO much progress. Not only are they both incredibly confident around water now and know the basics of water safety, but they are also very aware of how to behave in and around water. This is an amazing life skill to have.

Not only that, I love that the whole program is focused on helping the kids get better and move on to the next level. At the end of each class, the instructors give a brief summary of how the kids did as well as what they need to work on to improve. There are tons of positive reinforcements with happy high fives, ribbons and report cards, always encouraging kids to keep on improving their skills.

The CONVENIENCE

We have a crazy schedule with activities for both kids, travel, work commitment and random illnesses. The very best thing about Goldfish Glen Ellyn is that they are SO VERY flexible. Missed classes can be easily made up. They have a ton of sessions so you can even move your class over an hour and generally find a spot.

They are never annoyed when you call and reschedule. There have been so many times the kids had to make up the classes with a different instructor and they just pick up seamlessly where they left off.

These are just some of the reasons why we love Goldfish Swim School in Glen Ellyn so much.

For the holidays, they have an amazing deal going right now until the 31st, so for about a week longer where you can purchase an amazing holiday package for $199 which is valued at $285. The package includes 2 months of swimming lessons, waived membership fees, 4 family swim passes, a limited-edition towel and a complimentary book/bath toy gift. You can get more information by contacting the location here: Goldfish Glen Ellyn

I purchased one as a gift and I can tell you it was a HUGE hit.

I'd love to hear if you've tried a Goldfish Swim School and how your experience was. So far, we are absolutely loving it and it has been almost a year since we started.