Swimming and Early Childhood Development

Researchers have shown that infant swimming has the potential to increase intelligence, concentration, alertness, and perceptual abilities. Improvement in social, emotional and physical development has also been published. Development of cognitive, personal and motor development skills take time, patience, and repetition. Swimming also strengthens your child's heart, lungs and respiratory system - which also aid brain development. It is crucial that babies acquire different kinds of movements and physical abilities during their first year of life, in order to promote the development of higher functions of the brain. Swimming gives babies free movement, meaning they can develop actions they wouldn't otherwise have had the opportunity to experience. It is excellent for improving core muscle development and co-ordination and teaches children to respond to commands that can make your baby sharper mentally; increasing levels of awareness and understanding. The movement and the stimulation of the vestibular system in early childhood actually helps prepare and develop the brain for what we term “higher learning” (focus, concentration, problem solving, speech, language, reading, writing, and social-emotional maturity). Movement (rolling, swimming, spinning, jumping, etc.) helps organize and facilitate the flow of information within the brain and lays the foundation for the development of “higher learning”. John J. Ratey, MD, had this to say about movement and brain development, “Mounting evidence show that movement is crucial to every other brain function, including memory, emotion, language, and learning…Our “higher” brain functions have evolved from movement and still depend on it.” The Staff at Gold Medal Swim School believes learning to perform a flip, a turn or a backstroke are great ways to learn new skills and develop self-confidence in the process, but there is really much, much more going on during this process. The water offers an environment where movement becomes free, balance is a stimulating challenge and the bonding between babies and young children and their parents is cemented. Regular swimming often improves eating and sleeping patterns, as well.

Last Updated on Thursday, April 01 2010 11:59