Friday, January 9, 2009

Swim Fun!

One of the best things about where we live is they have Recreation Centers with indoor and outdoor swimming pools and workout gyms and tennis courts- everything you could ever want. We decided we needed to utilize these gold mines, and Ben had the day off work so we took Audra down to go swimming. It was awesome! This rec center has a perfect water park for little kids. They have these spouts, as you can see, that Audra at first was afraid of, but then later enjoyed. Then, behind her you can see a "big toy" with a water slide- that was her favorite. She went up and down about 300 times. Ben was at the bottom catching her, of course, so that she didn't drown, and if he wasn't at the bottom when she got to the top and she had to wait for him, she would get quite upset. It was really funny.

They also have a lazy river so Ben put Audra on his lap and went around and around- she didn't like this as much as the slide (of course), but she liked Daddy holding her!We were there for about an hour and then about 50 kids showed up for a field trip. OK, a field trip to the local rec center pool???? I had a few problems with that, moms- let me know if you agree or disagree!!!

1. What kind of educational value is going to the local indoor water park? Unless they just finished a unit on seals and they were learning how to swim like seals, I do not understand how they can justify to parents that there is any reason a school could consider that educational. Now, I understand it is good for kids to have fun, but that's why I think they should have Halloween parades- not field trips to go swimming.

2. I found out it was a Highlands Ranch school that was going- that means, the kids can go to the pools for free anytime they want (and I am certain they have all been there a million times). Why do they need a field trip to go????

3. They have only been back to school for three days after Christmas break- do they really need a field trip that soon?

Luckily, we were ready to get out when they got there, but I just couldn't believe that a school could somehow justify the costs to go there for a school trip. Oh, well. If any of you want to join Audra and I for a day at the pool, give me a call! Audra loved it, and I am sure she will love going a million more times!!!

9 comments:

  1. I am jealous. Our local pool is cold and not fun.

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  2. That's all free for you to go to? That's GREAT! We have tons of spray parks that are free, but the FW Community Center that has slides, a lazy river, hot tub, etc. costs to get in. Always fun for toddlers, and even better when it's free!

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  3. I absolutely positively think a field trip to a pool or water park is a good idea. Too many kids are afraid of water and/or never get any good old fashioned exercise. Not all parents take their kids to the pool or the park for that matter so doing a field trip, to me, is perfectly acceptable. And water safety is educational. Hilde's school age program she goes to does theme weeks when the kids are not in school and there full time. One was a theme week on water. They went ice skating one day, to a water park similar to yours one day and played water games one day. Very educational (water changes forms, etc.), and most of all, the kids LOVED it and got a ton of exercise. Just wait until Audra is old enough to be in school and go on field trips, I bet your attitude will change.

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  4. It's kind-of free to us. We get memberships because we pay our HOA dues, so it's all through our HOA. That's another reason we decided we needed to utilize them.

    Shells, I could totally agree with you if it was a group of 5-yr-olds with one-on-one attention being taught water safety or something. But, they were 9-year-olds just running around chasing each other and jumping on each other- a glorified recess. But, I am sure it was fun, and you are definitely right that I may change my tune in 7 years- stay tuned, there may be another post about this then!!!

    It would have been cool, though, if they were doing group games like water relays and things- but, at least from what we saw, it was just a free for all. Oh, well.

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  5. First of all, I can't wait to utilize those facilities! And second of all, I totally agree with you, Christina, on the field trip thing. I would totally understand the teachers doing something like that the last week of school as a party-type activity but the first week back to school - in January? That just sounds weird to me.

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  6. Here in Oregon the 2nd graders take swimming lessons for two weeks every year. That means they are gone from school the entire afternoon every day for two whole weeks. I agree that kids need to learn to swim and not be afraid of the water, but is that more important than learning to read?

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  7. Learning to swim can save your kids life, learning to read is an ongoing process that two weeks of swimming won't slow down, so I say, go for it!

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  8. Maybe it's one of those things that parents should teach, but because so many don't, the schools feel like they need to teach it. Kind-of like sex ed or teaching values. Heck, I had to teach my 9h graders how to organize their backpacks, which drove me nuts because that had nothing to do with German, but it was a skill they needed to know...I don't know-I have no answers:)

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