Review| I Can Do A Back Float By Ashley Mills Monaghan
Do you have a little swimmer?
I do.
From the moment that my son had his first bath, he loved water.
He frightened me half to death when he was 10 months old, sitting in the tub, and dunked his head right between his legs into the water. I thought my baby was going to drown, but his head popped right back up and he was all smiles. Not only that, but he immediately did it again. That’s when I decided that this kid probably needed to take swimming lessons.
We took “Mommy and Me” style swim lessons until he was about two and a half, then he moved into the Preschool level class. I’ve never seen anything like it. This kid, he can swim.
He just can’t do a back float.
He has CONSTANTLY struggled with this one thing. It’s honestly the only thing that holds him back from swimming in the “big boy” class.
This month’s featured author, Ashley Mill Monaghan, has a solution.
The book “I Can Do A Backfloat” is a step by step guide to doing a back float.
I bought the book and read it with my son.
So, did it solve all our problems?
Well, no. It’s not that easy.
But now that there is a book, my son is now more determined to try. We have a 2 ft kidding pool in our backyard and he practices the Swain Method, which the book covers, attempting to do the back float .
He still can’t fully do a back float, but he’s getting there.
Honestly I think it’s just the relaxing part that he hasn’t gotten the hang of yet.
But he will.
In the mean time, he really likes this book because it’s about swimming. He points to one of the boys in the book and says “Mommy, that’s me”. It’s been a great motivator to get him to practice his float, especially since there isn’t much else he can practice in the tiny kiddie pool (gee thanks, COVID-19).
Besides that, I personally find the book to be a great way of introducing this method of the back float to kids. Children are often very visual. Seeing the pictures helps, and the text is repetitive so they can memorize it as a little song for when they are in the pool.
“I Can Do A Backfloat” is on my Top Ten Swimming Books For Kids
I’m happy to have Ashley Mills Monaghan as the author of the month.
You can find out more about her here.
I also have a review and an activity from last week for her book “A Little Goes A Long Way”.
Also, be sure to “send in your wiggles” for a chance to be included in her music video.
Next Thursday, I’m excited to share with you a fun Would You Rather Interview that I had with Ashley. I can’t wait to share her answers with you.
What do you think?
Have you read “I can do a Backfloat?”
What other swimming books are your favorites.
