Private Swim Intructor
Description:
My friend gives one on one private swim lessons for children ages 2-14
Ages 2-5: He taught basic technique
Ages 6-10: Competitive strokes + diving
Ages 10+: Stroke refinement + real competitive swimming
How I got the idea / found the employment:
He had taught lessons at our town pool through the town program has a skill set as a competitive swimmer. One day a parent (whose child was in the public lessons program) approached him and asked if he would like to teach their child a private lesson. He did and thought it would be a great idea to do more consistently. He now gets paid close to five times the amount of minimum wage to teach individual lessons.
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
He found it hard for a while to find new students but now he gets referrals regularly. He finds the lessons difficult at times because each child learns differently and some parents scrutinize every move. He sometimes has to spend nearly 20 minutes explaining methodology to them at the end of the lesson. Also he is limited on when the pool is open and making his free time and clients' free time coincide.
What I learned:
He found out that he likes teaching. It allows him to earn a good amount of money quickly (one hour lesson = 5 minimum wage hours). He also learned how to speak to adults at equal level because he started getting asked about nutritional information and for advice about which competitive teams he would recommend. Finally, since he has to schedule all the appointments himself and the schedule, people, and places change constantly he's had to become more organized and become more variable in how he approaches adults and students. Finally, his lessons have progressed him into the world of Accredited Coaching for a club swim team.
Private Swim Lesson Instructor
Description:
I became Water Safety Instructor (WSI) Certified and began teaching public swim lessons. I didn’t, however, begin making real money until I began teaching private swim lessons. I also then began learning a lot about running a business. With public lessons, the pool arranged rates, lessons, and scheduling. When I began teaching private lessons, I had to arrange everything. By teaching at the common private swim lesson rate, I earned at least 3-4 times more money than I was making teaching public lessons. Private lessons take more lesson planning time, but it is well worth it. It took a few weeks to find students to teach (I found all of mine through the pool), but eventually my numbers started to build up because I generally had at least one lesson a week with each student.
How I got the idea / found the employment:
I began working as a swim lesson aide at the pool (no certification and low pay) before I realized what a great summer job becoming a WSI instructor was. That year I got my Water Safety Instructor (WSI) training through the Red Cross (class generally costs $100+). Keeping certification up is only a matter of teaching a few classes and submitting paperwork, so it is a one-time fee. Pools are always looking for instructors, so I think the fee for the class is well worth it.
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
To pass the WSI class, you do not need to swim a large distance, but you need to be fairly accurate with your strokes. If all of your strokes aren’t perfect, some WSI class Instructor Trainers may be willing to give you some pointers on improving your strokes. Ask for their advise, and then practice until your strokes are better.
Building up your number of students can be hard, but if you are a good instructor and respectful to parents, word will spread, and parents will ask for more and more classes. Talk to your local pool and see if they have a way you can advertise, or a referral system.
Being in the pool for several hours a day teaching lessons can be hard. Make sure you eat lots of food and drink lots of water. If the pool is outside, then wear sunscreen (there is nothing worse than getting sunburned on a Monday and having to teach lessons in the sun for the rest of the week). No matter what is going on in your life, try to be happy when you begin working. The children will behave and learn better, and the parents will be more likely to bring their children back.
What I learned:
I learned to schedule and communicate with people clearly. I learned to work with all kinds of people (parents, children, pool management, life guards, etc.). I learned about working with money and advertising. I learned about problem solving (pool closed for lightning, etc.) and how to be creative on the job (every child learns so differently. There is not a perfect way to teach anything.)
Tennis Instructor
Description:
As a Tennis Instructor I was in charge of teaching children ages 7 to 14 the rules of tennis. Each session lasted for two weeks and we met each day, Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and then from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. My job was to teach the fundamental rules of tennis, basic skills and also show the children that tennis was a fun game to play. I was in charge of coming up with a specific program for the children. This was rather difficult because in my group I might have younger children (7 or 8 year olds) mixed with some older children (10 year olds or even some 14 year olds). So I had to come up with ideas on how to teach the sport and make sure to teach it in a way that everyone would understand. It was difficult, but fun. I made sure to teach specific skills, but also teach them fun games so that the children would not get board. One possible game, to teach the children eye-hand coordination is to have them bounce the ball up in the air using their tennis racquet and whoever can do it the most times in a row wins. The winner wins a candy or some other small prize. This was a great summer job because it paid well (more than working at a fast food place) and was fun.
How I got the idea / found the employment:
I had taken tennis lessons since an early age. I loved the sport and one day one of my instructors offered me a job. I accepted and started working the next week.
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
I had never taught anything before. I was really nervous that I would not be able to teach well. I knew all the fundamental skills and all the rules of the game, but I had never taught them to anyone. However, I learned to teach by following the example of my instructors as they taught me. They would teach skills, and then we would play a game using that skill so that practice did not always seem like a drill; it was a chance to have fun.
What I learned:
I learned to work hard and to be prepared. It is hard to teach if you yourself are not prepared to do so. I also learned how to interact with people of various ages, kids as well as parents. I also learned to help others and to be a better person. It was a great experience for me.