Level 4 : Seahorse independence is the key to progressing through the Seahorse Level. Woggles/Noodles continue to be used in our lessons but at this level we would be encouraging children to start to master these on their own, in an open position, gaining their balance. This can take some time and practise in your own time will make a huge difference.
Children’s confidence at this level should be growing especially when doing ‘Ready Splash’ from the side or off a large mat; we would be aiming for the children to be able to do this unassisted.
Big Floats which we introduced in Dolphin now start to play a bigger part, and we are encouraging the toddlers to gain their balance, with help from Mum/Dad.
We continue the ‘turning’ theme in this level but now are looking for children to be able to turn under the water themselves.
We continue work with dive sticks/zoggies increasing the difficulty only when the child is ready.
Independent 'crab-walking' in now completely mastered and the children look forward to 'chasing' their parent around the poolside.
We also introduce ‘Tigger bouncing’ and encourage the children to start to ‘bounce on the trampoline’ – with Mum or Dad of course.
We are now aiming for slightly longer swims both to and from the Teacher/Parent to build up confidence. More life-saving skills are introduced to help the children learn to ‘save themselves’ and become more independent.
We also introduce some more fun songs for you both to enjoy, and take part in, all with the aim of increasing your toddler's confidence in the water. Skills such as rolling/rotation from front to back and 'unassisted turns' are brought in through our songs.
This is a big level and there are a number of key skills your Aquatot needs to master before moving onto the Otter level.