This spring we had the wonderful opportunity to take L&H to swim classes at Goldfish Swim School.  I was thrilled since I had been wanting to get them in the water for months – plus the program and facilities at Goldfish sounded amazing, so I was very excited to give it a try.

And boy, did they deliver. Goldfish Swim School is a fun, energetic, and inviting place.  We went to the location closest to our house in Fort Washington, PA  (there were four near us to choose from).  From the moment we walked in I knew L&H were going to have a blast – and they did!

The staff was very friendly, the facilities were clean and fun, and the pool was….extremely inviting.  For anyone who has memories of swim lessons as a kid which include jumping into a freezing cold pool — you will be delighted to hear that Goldfish keeps their pool at a very comfortable 90 degrees.  It’s literally a bathtub.  So there were no issues getting L, H, or ourselves into the pool.

When we began our lessons, L&H were under 2 years old – so they were enrolled in the Mini 2s class, which is a parent-child class.  With twins I need hubs to come with me to handle one kiddo – so this made our schedule options a bit limited since he works full time during the week.  The weekends are the busiest times at Goldfish, so our pickings for times were a little slim, but it ended up working out just fine.  If we do continue lessons there, I would try my very best to sign up as early as possible before all the “best” Saturday and Sunday time slots get filled up.

The focus of the Mini 2s classes is to get your child comfortable in the water, start teaching them basic swim skills, and also begin to teach them water safety skills.  Seeing as L&H weren’t even two at the time, this seemed like a big ask, but the lessons did prove their worth! Week after week (we did 8 weeks total) L&H showed signs they were grasping basic concepts – like pull and kick, they were very happy to be in the pool, and they even showed understanding of the water safety skills.  For example, now when we go to the baby pool at our swim club, H has begun chanting “elbow elbow!” which is the way the instructors at Goldfish teach their students to climb out of the pool.   Elbow Elbow Belly Leg! The idea being that if a child is in trouble in the pool, they know – from learning water safety skills – to swim to the edge and are able to climb out.

One thing that I struggled a little bit with during our lessons was the busy-ness of the pool.  As I mentioned, we had to go for lessons on the weekends to make sure there was a handler for each twin.  With this being the busiest time for Goldfish (at least our location), during our time slot there were at least 5 different age groups taking lessons so the noise level in the pool was very LOUD.  I often had a hard time hearing the instructor.  Also, the lessons are short – which is understandable since 30 minutes is at the high end for time a kiddo can handle being in a focused environment.  But at times I felt like things were a bit rushed.  I wished that the instructors were able to take a little bit more time to explain a little more about WHY we were doing various exercises with our babies.  There were times during our lessons I felt like the instructor was just going through the lesson plan without providing much background.

But, overall, our experience was very positive.  We’ve taken a break from swim lessons at Goldfish for the summer since we’ll be spending time at our pool club and taking advantage of the option for outdoor lessons! But I told the staff to be ready for me to call in August about lessons for the Fall.  L&H are two little fishes in the water — and I love that Goldfish has helped them be comfortable and excited about the pool….but also has given them a solid foundation of swim skills!

If you’re interested in swim lessons at Goldfish Swim School be sure to check their website! They have over 80 locations nationwide so there’s a very good chance you have one near you. Goldfish offers lessons for kids ages 4 months to 12 years old, including infant swim lessons, toddler swim lessons, and more. Plus, they have Family Swim – which is basically like “open pool”!  You do not need to be enrolled in lessons to attend a Family Swim – and it’s a great way to explore a facility before committing to a session.

Note: This post sponsored by Goldfish Swim School, but all opinions are my own. We received a free 8 week session of swim classes and in return I wrote this honest review.