What if you work from Monday to Friday with utmost dedication and sincerity, giving your best to every task and assignment that comes to your table but still able to make only a handful of money; it does feel very disappointing. Or let’s say you’re a college student who spends all your weekdays going up and down from college to home, struggling hard to make a bright future and sits all weekends moaning over empty pockets; the situation is really disheartening. We will here introduce you to one such job that you can take up in your free time, especially during the weekends and can manage to make money – a substantial amount of money.
CAN I PICK UP AS A PART TIME SWIM TEACHER?
If you have a talent to swim, have a way with kids, are a fun loving, pleasant personality who enjoys teaching and has some spare hours with willingness to work outside, then you can efficiently make money by picking up a weekend swim teacher gig at your local recreation center. You can opt to train small kids with the right technique and style to swim for money. This job requires special skills and is not of a kind that everybody and anybody can take up. Apart from the skill, one also needs to be certified to work as a swimming instructor as at most places you are asked for a certificate.
WHY SHOULD I HAVE A CERTIFICATE?
Most swimming institutes look for a certified swim instructor, i.e. those with a diploma in teaching swimming are preferred over the others. Though not always, sometimes parents do check the credentials of the coach, wanting an accredited tutor for their child. Parents feel a sense of security if the coach handling their child is qualified in his field. Plus it is expected that a credited teacher would be able to train his students better, making them learn to swim better and quicker. A specialized instructor has more and newer and better training techniques, knows how to create a fun-loving and friendly environment for tutoring the kids; over the top they can be trusted. Thus it is important for everyone who plans to serve as a Swim Instructor, to enroll into a swim training certification course and get certified.
VARIOUS CERTIFICATION COURSES FOR SWIM INSTRUCTORS IN US
BY AMERICAN RED CROSS
a) AMERICAN RED CROSS CERTIFIED LIFEGUARD TRAINING COURSE
This certification course is for those who wish to get themselves specialized in giving First Aid to the victims of swimming accidents. In case of an emergency inside the pool, Lifeguard Trainers are responsible for taking appropriate measures to save precious lives at danger. This course includes training in First AID, CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) and AED (Automated External Defibrillator). Students involved in this course would be dealing with the patients of respiratory and Cardio emergencies.
A minimum age of 15, plus 300 yards of continuous swimming with 2 minutes of tread water are essential preconditions for enrolling in this course.
Regular attendance of theory classes along with practical sessions is required for the successful completion of this course.
The cost of course is around $250, including all textbooks and certifications.
b) WATER SAFETY INSTRUCTOR (WSI)
One can become a swim instructor and can also opt to teach water safety techniques after this certification course. Under this 30 hour program, the applicant will be trained with all such activities needed to save a life at risk due to aquatic emergency and to make young kids learn the of swimming. Different organizations under American Red Cross offer this course (study material provided by Red Cross itself).
For successfully becoming a part of American Red Cross Water Safety Instructor Certification Course, the candidate needs to be of minimum 16 years and skilled in swimming. He/she should be at ease with Front Crawl, Back Crawl, Breaststroke, Sidestroke, Butterfly, and Floating and must be able to tread water for almost a minute.
The course will cost a fee of about $225, inclusive of all textbooks and certifications.
CERTIFICATION COURSES TO BECOME A SWIM TEACHER IN AUSTRALIA
AUSTSWIM is the main organization and training center in Australia responsible for training teachers in this water sport of swimming. Quality swim teachers are made in this learning center AUSTSWIM with the help of following different training courses:
BASIC COURSE
- 1. AUSTSWIM Teacher of Swimming and Water Safety (TSW)
The course of Teacher of Swimming and Water Safety is concentrated mainly on producing teachers who are capable of training kids from four years of age in swimming and water safety techniques. This is a 16-20 hours certification course, combining theory sessions and practical activities, which aim at briefing the teachers on AUSTSWIM organization, guiding them on
how to train kids in swimming, and also include lessons on various scientific theories related to swimming.
The applicant applying for the course is expected to be minimum 16 years of age, healthy and a skillful swimmer. The certificate is valid for 3 years.
EXTENSION COURSES
a) AUSTSWIM Teacher of Infant And Preschool Aquatics (INF)
Those who have successfully completed the TSW course can further apply for the course named Teacher of Infant and Preschool Aquatics which is aimed to groom teachers to train infant and young kids of age 6 months to 4 years, in the art of swimming. The INF course includes 8-14 hours of theory and practical sessions on how to delicately handle very young kids in a playful manner and make them water confident. Dealing with a toddler requires great care and skills; hence this certification is very much compulsory if you are planning to take up swimming classes for the kids of this age group.
b) AUSTSWIM Teacher of Aquatics Access and Inclusion (A&I)
This training course, originally called ‘AUSTSWIM Teacher of Aquatics for People with Disability’ has been designed to meet the water needs of the varied populace of the country. Initially dealing with just the disabled, this course has now been reorganized so that not only people with persistent diseases or some kind of disorder, but also the over aged citizens and folks from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds, can become water friendly. The TSW licensed teachers enrolled in this 8 hours course are accredited with a three year valid license on the successful completion of this course.
c) AUSTSWIM Teacher of Towards Competitive Strokes (TCS)
Making a Teacher of Swimming and Water Safety (TSW) into a competitive swimming coach is the chief goal of this course; valid TSW license is required for enrollment. 9 hours of theory and practical session as well as 10 hours of practical observation make up the course. The teacher is guided on different strokes techniques useful in competitive swimming. Like the other AUSTSWIM certification courses, ‘Teacher of Towards Competitive Strokes’ is a 3 year license granted on completion of the program.
d) AUSTSWIM Teacher of Adults (AD)
This course as the name suggests is aimed to develop proficient swimming skills in the basic adult swimmers. The teacher is expected to understand the ways or how to teach an adult to swim efficiently, learn the differences in the bodies of an adult and a young kid. Trainers have to excel in providing flexibility and stretching to a stiff adult body through warm ups and exercises before the actual swimming session can begin. The teacher of Adults license is again valid for three years, requiring a minimum of TSW license for enrollment. The course includes 10 hours of theory and practical lessons along with practical observations and assessment.
HOW TO BECOME A CERTIFIED SWIM INSTRUCTOR IN SINGAPORE
SWIM SAFER INSTRUCTOR is a certification given by the Singapore Swimming Association (SSA) after going through a strenuous procedure. Teaching swimming in public pools is not a joke, anybody with just the right skills cannot opt for such a part time or full time job. You need to be SWIM SAFER INSTRUCTOR in order to come to the community pool to train students in swimming, as specified by the Singapore Swimming Council (SSC) which is in hold of all the public pools in Singapore.
You need to follow many steps to achieve this certificate, which may take around about a year or so. First and foremost step, you need to acquire “National Coaching Accreditation Program (NCAP) Level 1” training from the SSA which is a course dedicated to inculcate the right techniques and methodologies required to become a coach. Next you need to have a CPR (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation) certificate which basically is a technique, as reviving a suddenly stopped heart may be because of shock. Lifesaving 1, 2, 3 or Bronze medallion Certificate from the Singapore Lifesaving Society, is the next thing required. Along with the basic principles of coaching, it is mandatory for an instructor to know how to save the life of his/her student at risk due to some unwanted aquatic emergency.
After undergoing all the above certification courses, one can apply for the Swimming Instructor Technical Level 1 course. One needs to be proficient with his/her front crawl, back crawl, butterfly and breaststrokes in order to get selected. Once over with the selection process, theory and then practical exams are conducted, passing which you are certified as a SWIM SAFER INSTRUCTOR.
BEST WAY TO MAKE SWIMMING A FUN LEARNING ACTIVITY FOR YOUNG KIDS
Being a swim instructor at your local recreation center and handling small kids, you need to be really very watchful as they can easily harm themselves and have to be playful in your techniques and way of making the child understand. You can keep in mind the following points, which can make one of the most popular trainers among the kids:
è Teach children with the liveliest method you can adopt. Be good-humored and full of life, let the child chuckle and use his mind’s eye and enjoy every bit of your lesson. Try to make the child comfortable with the new surroundings.
è Ensure the size of the class is manageable for you as well as the kids. An overcrowded group makes the child feel neglected whereas an under crowded class may bring his mistakes into too much focus, both not good for kids.
è Progress slowly and steadily with your lessons. You first need to make the child lose his fear from going into water.
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Step by step guide students how to hold your breath, exchange gases while swimming, put his face underwater, glide around the pool and most importantly to kick in water. Instead of sticking to the technical terms, use something more vivid and childish.
è Show your practical skills instead of being theoretical. Demonstrate every lesson multiple times. Do the thing first in the wrong way, like you may find one of the kids doing and then explain it the right way again and again, signifying the difference in the two ways.
è Very importantly, take care that none of the child goes out of your sight at any moment, don’t leave them alone at any time. The situation can become risky, they may harm themselves. Don’t betray the confidence of the parent of the child in you regarding the security of the child.
è Teach the kids with water safety techniques once the child has learnt the fundamentals. These skills will keep the child safer.
è Always use words which increase the confidence of the child, praise him at every step. Never dishearten the child. Even if the child does something wrong repeatedly, don’t insult him. Praise him for his efforts instead of cursing him for not being a quick learner.
Always remember that once a child feels hurt in your class – both mentally or physically, he/she will always refrain from coming to your class, which is neither good for you or for the kid.
So now, you have all the knowledge, you would need in being a swim instructor, its time you roll up your sleeves and look for a local recreation center where you can turn your hobby into money making part time job. Plus make sure you have all the required certifications. They are indeed so important.
ALL the Best!
