If you follow me on Facebook, you will know that I have been struggling to find someplace to take my kids for swim lessons. I live on the south side of Chicago, you would think we would have a ton of options. In all honestly, we don’t! What few places you can find either only have summer swim lessons (and I’d like Will swimming without floaties before that) or they have sessions and you have to sign up at the perfect time to get in. That is why I was excited to learn about the Goldfish Swim School.
When I went in to take a tour, I was impressed. My first concern is that I have a boy and a girl. Locker rooms don’t do me a darn bit of good. Will is only 6, so there is no way I’m sending him into a locker room by himself. Instead, the Goldfish Swim School has changing rooms. They have single rooms and family rooms, so you can help your kids get changed. I totally love that! I had my kids change in rooms next to one another. I’m going to be honest, this alone would have me send my kids here for swim lessons. You can’t be too safe.
I totally love the “get ready” station. I can’t remember what they called it, but after our swim lessons, it was so nice to be able to blow dry the kids hair. It is totally freezing here in Chicagoland, and I love that Madison didn’t have to walk outside with a wet head! Also, they had a swimsuit dryer over there too. We had a baptism going on after our lessons, and I was so happy to not leave wet icky suits in the car.
While your kids are waiting for their lessons, they have lots of fun stuff to look at. My kids totally adored these tanks. Also, right next to them were cubbyholes. We were able to put all the kids stuff in there instead of me trying to keep all of it by me. (Being winter, there’s a lot of stuff to keep track of!).
I also love how they take of you while you are there! There was plenty of seats for the parents and siblings watching. (And yes, that setup was one of them!). Goldfish Swim School even has free wifi! Yes, you heard me right – free wifi. You can’t go wrong with that! I love how they made me comfortable. They even had food and drinks for you too (that you can purchase).
After our lessons were over, the kids got ribbons and got forms with what skills they can and can’t do and what we are working towards.
Our first impression of the Goldfish Swim School was awesome. I will be doing a follow-up post of our thoughts about the actual swim lessons themselves (I’m at 500 words already!). However, we absolutely loved the facility.
Did you have your kids take swim lessons? What do you look for in a facility before you sign them up?
I remember taking swimming lessons as a kid and loved it! Swimming is still one of my favorite ways to exercise, especially if it’s in the ocean. I’m glad my niece and nephew are taking swim lessons in the summer.
I remember taking swimming lessons as a kid and loved it!
Kudos to the Goldfish Swim School for offering the family rooms for parents. It’s nice that they are keeping the needs of their customers in mind.
I feel your pain. The options here are expensive this time of year
I love the set-up they have going on. It’s so beachy and really gets you in the mood for swimming!
It’s kinda sad – swimming is a fun way for kids to get exercise!
Aww! That looks like a great place to take the kids swimming.
We are big promoters in “year round” swimming lessons so they are practicing all the time.
So hard when the kids only go swimming in the summer.
This looks like a great place. I love the setup. When my boys are a little older I will probably register them for swimming classes.
I wish we had a Goldfish Swim School near us. We had the kids take lessons at the local YMCA and they were awful. My kids still don’t know how to swim and they were too expensive to do another round.
swim classes are so fun and so useful – I hate that your struggling to find a place 🙁
how cute!!
What a cute place. All of my kids have taken swim lessons except Willow who will take them this summer.
That looks like a fun place! We live on the lake(and my mom has a pool), so both of my older kids learned to swim by being in the water almost every day in the spring/summer!
I think this is awesome. I really wish we had one like this. Because I live in the south everything is outdoors but we do shut down for like 4 months a year. I would go to one locally!
I can’t wait to see the pictures of the swimming area! This place looks so fun, and I love pools!
I am PETRIFIED of the water. I remember when I as about 7, and my dad took me into a pool at a gym. My mother sat on the edge of the pool screaming that he was going to hurt me or drown me, and I’ve been afraid of the water ever since. But I decided that was NOT going to happen to my baby, so when Lauren was 9 days old she was in the water with her dad, and the next summer, at 3 months I took her to the YMCA. You should have seen me with my pride and joy in the water. I didn’t want my fear to be known to her, so I had to to my best to blow in her face and get her to hold her breath, put her under the water (which had me horrified!) and bring her up again! Long story short, Lauren is a Fish. By not exposing my fear to her she learned to enjoy the water, and even the pool in our back yard (which I never used). Whatever you decide for your children, you are doing the right thing and I’m proud of you!!
I wish there was a place this cool close to me for swim lessons! My kids did take swim lessons and had a great class. We had swim lesson times where both could get dressed in the same dressing room. Have a great time learning your little one how to swim!
Looks like you found a winner! What a great swim school.
Erica
What a great place to learn how to swim! I love all of the decorations. I know I would love to learn to swim there!
This is the coolest looking swim school ever.
That place is SO cute! What a fun place to take little swimmers. I live in Chicagoland so I will have to check them out! I am 100% with you on making children go unaccompanied into the changing rooms. That Freaks me out too so this is a BIG convenience and selling point!!
What a great place. Lots of side benefits!
We have options here but omg. Nothing like this! I want to come to Chicago!!
Sounds like a really great place. I am thinking of enrolling my toddler this summer in swimming lessons. I only wish I can find somewhere as nice as this one.
What a perfect way for Chicagoland kids to get out of the cold and exercise!
Hmm, I wonder how far away this is from me. I’m in Oswego and would love to get my 4 year old in classed. Well, I’d love to get my 1 yr old in classes too… I’ll have to check this out and see if there is one out here. Thanks for sharing!
Totally close! (I use to live in Aurora!) It’s right off of Ogden. If you end up calling them, let them know you read my blog post!
I love that they had blow dryers for hair and even a swimsuit dryer! Living in a cold weather climate in nothern New England, I can relate to stepping outdoors with a wet head! I wish our local YWCA had those!
i would love to take my kids to this swim school!!
I LOVE the name! What a fun environment to learn how to swim!
This seems like a great place to learn to swim. It looks like a lot of fun.
They seem to have everything one could need. My favorite part is the checklist of progress points.
It’s amazing how motivational a ribbon can be to kids, it’s a great tool they’re using! I love the check list too, a great way to set goals. Looks like a great place!
What a cute place– yay for swim school 🙂
My son is a lifeguard. With that being said, the most important thing a parent should look for at any swim school is qualified staff who take their job seriously. Goldfish swim school looks like a really nice place for kids to take a swim lesson.