Quality Swimming Lessons in Your Backyard!
There is no need to leave your home to travel to a busy City pool for swimming lessons. Children can learn how to swim in the comfort of their home pool. Swimmers typically excel in our lessons as they are familiar with the pool and environment!
New Swim Program for Summer 2023: As the Red Cross ended their swim program on December 31, 2022, Flamingo in the Backyard will be using our own swim program. The swim program has been tailored to complement our students’ learning environment; backyard swimming pools! Through the six levels in our “Swim Like a Hippo” program, swimmers will go from learning to be comfortable in the pool to being able to perform five strokes and a number of water safety, lifesaving, & survival skills. See below for more details!
Private Swimming Lessons
- Private lessons allow our instructors to customize their teaching style to perfectly match the student and ensure they are actively learning the entire lesson.
- If you are looking for maximized learning, we highly suggest enrolling your children in private lessons.
- If you have two children, they can split a private lesson so that there are two private lessons back-to-back (i.e. 30 mins per child)
45 minute private: $65 + HST per lesson
60 minute private: $86 + HST per lesson
Semi-Private Swimming Lessons
- If you have up to three swimmers who are very close in age and are at the same swimming ability, then a semi-private lesson may be the way to go for lessons.
- Lesson cost covers the two or three students participating
- Our instructors are excellent at designing lesson plans that will benefit all swimmers during semi-private lessons and will do their best to keep all swimmers progressing.
45 minute semi-private: $89 + HST per lesson
60 minute semi-private: $115 + HST per lesson
Have a larger group for lessons? Hoping to schedule multiple private & semi-private lessons close together?
Select one of our back-to-back lesson options!
Purchase a Flamingo Deal package of 10 lessons & save 10%
See the package page in our booking system to purchase a Flamingo Deal prior to scheduling lessons.
Our semi-private lessons are for up to three swimmers of similar swimming ability. We do not put together swimmers for semi-private lessons so clients are responsible for signing up two swimmers for these types of classes. Only have one swimmer, sign up for our private lessons!
It is completely up to clients to choose to reschedule their lesson by the 4 hour cut-off time if they do not wish to have their scheduled lesson. This includes if it is supposed to rain, thunderstorm, be too chilly to swim, etc. Lessons will proceed as scheduled unless a client reschedules or cancels the lessons. If our instructor is at your house and the weather becomes unsafe for swimming (i.e. thunderstorm), they will end the lesson. Any remaining time left in the appointment, will be credited to your client account at face value. Please note there is a 30 minute minimum applicable (i.e. if you have a 1 hour booking and only get 20 mins of swimming, your account will be credited for 30 minutes).
Lessons can be cancelled / rescheduled online through our booking system, by sending us an email, or by calling our office. Our booking system is programmed to send out 24 hour & 6 hour appointment reminders to help remind clients of their upcoming appointments.
If we receive adequate cancellation notice (4+ hours), clients will be able to reschedule their cancelled lesson to a later date/time in the summer at no cost. If a backyard lesson is scheduled to start at 11:00 am or earlier, notice must be given no later than 7:30 am if you wish to not be charged to cancel or reschedule the lesson. If a minimum of 4 hours notice is NOT provided, the lesson will continue as scheduled or if the client does not want the lesson to take place, they can forfeit the lesson (no free rescheduling will be allowed). Forfeited lessons will only be allowed to be rescheduled upon payment of our backyard $39 + HST per hour rescheduling fee.
Refund Policy: When requested, refunds will be provided minus a 25% administration fee. Cancelled lessons will by default remain as account credits unless a refund is explicitly requested; credits never expire. NOTE: Flamingo Deal purchases have a different refund policy; see booking system for more details.
Lesson Modification: Just as we allow clients to reschedule lessons for any reason, we reserve the right to cancel / reschedule lessons or adjust instructors as needed.
Cancellation and Rescheduling Policy:
You have up to 4 hours prior to your swimming lesson to cancel the service through our booking system, Acuity. If 4 hours notice is given, you will be allowed to reschedule the service at no cost. After the 4 hour cut-off time, please call or email our office to cancel the service if needed (as Acuity will no longer let you change that service). The service will not be allowed to be rescheduled without payment of our $39 + HST per hour rescheduling fee.
Instructor Lesson Feedback:
As our instructors are on a structured schedule, if you wish to receive detailed feedback after your child’s swim lesson, please notify the instructor at the beginning of the lesson and they will end the lesson early in order to provide the feedback. Instructors do need to leave your house at the end of your booked lesson. They will not be able to stay late after the lesson to provide the feedback.
We pride ourselves in having dynamic, friendly, passionate, and experienced swim instructors. In order to attract the best, we compensate our swim instructors well to help ensure our lessons are of the highest quality. Also, as our instructors have to travel to our client’s backyard pools, they are paid for 30 minutes of travel time per house they visit (this helps cover their travel time as well as their gas).
Learn more about the new swim levels here:
In this level, swimmers will learn basic assisted skills to get them started on their swimming journey!
- Blow bubbles
- Front & back floats (assisted)
- Front & back rocketships (assisted)
- Kicking on front & back – 2 meters (assisted)
- Jumping (assisted)
- Submersion – 3 seconds
In this level, swimmers will continue their swimming journey by learning to complete all basic swimming skills unassisted!
- Front & back floats – 3 seconds
- Front & back rocketships – 2 meters
- Front & back rocketships with kick – 5 meters
- Roll-over rocketship with kick – 5 meters
- Front swim – 5 meters
- Side glide – 2 meters (assisted)
- Jump into deep water and return
In this level, swimmers will increase distances in all the basic swimming skills and learn some new water survival skills.
- Front & back rocketship with kick – 12 meters
- Front swim with arms – 12 meters
- Distance swim – 25 meters
- Sculling on front & back – 10 meters
- Tread water – 30 seconds
- Sitting dive & return
- Retrieve item at 3-4 feet depth
In this level, swimmers will learn three strokes, increase their distance swim, and improve their water survival skills!
- Front & back crawl – 50 meters
- Elementary backstroke – 25 meters
- Whip kick on front – 10 meters
- Distance swim – 100 meters
- Tread water – 1 minute
- Front somersaults
- Kneeling dive
- Head-up front crawl – 5 meters
In this level, swimmers will improve technique for the strokes they already know, learn breaststroke, and gain endurance.
- Front & back crawl – 150 meters
- Elementary backstroke – 75 meters
- Breaststroke – 50 meters
- Distance swim – 250 meters
- Tread water – 2 minutes
- Handstands & back somersaults
- Underwater swim – 5 meters
- Head-up front crawl – 12 meters
In this level, swimmers will refine their technique on four strokes, learn a new stroke, and improve their water survival skills.
- Front & back crawl – 300 meters
- Elementary backstroke – 150 meters
- Breaststroke – 150 meters
- Sidestroke – 50 meters
- Distance swim – 500 meters
- Travelling eggbeater – 3 minutes
- Dolphin kick – 10 meters
- Underwater swim – 10 meters
- Head-up front crawl – 25 meters
Frequently Asked Questions About Our New Program:
One parent is required to participate in the water during lessons if their child is under the age of 2 years old. If your child is 2 years old or older and is registered in Hedgehog, one parent can participate if desired (but not required).
Once a child is registered in Level #2: Flamingo (or higher), a parent is not able to participate in the lesson.
Level skills are constantly evaluated, and once a child is able to complete each skill to the level’s requirements, they will receive a passing report card. Level progression will depend on many factors: including how frequently a child attends lessons, how long their lessons are, whether the lessons are private or semi-private, whether the child has any fears of the water, etc.
If you have questions about your child’s progress within a level, please speak with your instructor at the end of a lesson, and they will be happy to provide you with an update.
Absolutely! If you prefer your child to have custom lessons and focus on learning a few specific skills, please include that information when booking online.
Children will receive motivational stickers and rewards as they make progress in their respective level. Once they complete all the skills, then they will receive a passing report card!