KidsCanSwim Program
(3 – 12 years)
The KidsCanSwim program focuses on:
- Engraining water confidence and water safety as the #1
- Fun with lots of repetition to nail down those sticky skills
- Providing kids with both safety skills for real life and technique (your kids will be as ready to join the swim team as they are for a pool party or cottage visit)
- Personalized service, where everyone know your name and your kids sticker preference!
You can read about our levels below or find your child’s KidsCanSwim level now by using our KidsCanSwim Level Finder.
Age
3+
years
K1/K2
Prerequisites: None
K1/K2 is our beginner level, with no swimming experience or skills needed. Kids will learn how to confidently and safely enter and exit the pool, get comfortable swimming with their face in the water, learn how to kick with power, and how to float on their backs.
Age
6.5+
years
Older K1/K2
Prerequisites: Height 1.2m (Kanata) or 1.3m (Orléans)
Older K1/K2 is our beginner level for kids that are over 1.2m (Kanata) or 1.3m (Orleans) tall, with no swimming experience or skills needed. Kids will learn how to confidently and safely enter and exit the pool, get comfortable swimming with their face in the water, learn how to kick with power, and how to float on their backs.
Age
3.5 +
years
K3/K4
Prerequisites: Kick for 3m with straight legs – Back Float with minimal assistance
K3/K4 builds on the foundations of good streamline, proper kicking and basic back floating established in K1/K2. Here kids will learn to back float without assistance, kick on their back, roll over from a back float to a front float (and vice versa) and learn the basics of front crawl arms.
Age
6.5 +
years
Older K3/K4
Prerequisites: Height 1.2m (Kanata) or 1.3m (Orléans) – Kick for 3m with straight legs – Back Float with minimal assistance
Older K3/K4 is for kids that are over 1.2m (Kanata) or 1.3m (Orleans) tall and builds on the foundations of good streamline, proper kicking and basic back floating established in K1/K2. Here kids will learn to back float without assistance, kick on their back, roll over from a back float to a front float (and vice versa) and learn the basics of front crawl arms.
Age
4+
years
Younger K5/K6
Prerequisites: Can Float on Back and Front Unassisted – Can Kick 5m comfortably – Can swim a basic front crawl
In Younger K5/K6 we start moving from water confidence to developing swim strokes! Your child will learn a basic back crawl, the beginnings of front crawl breathing and safety skills like treading water and underwater swims.
Age
6.5+
years
K5/K6
Prerequisites: Height 1.2m (Kanata) or 1.3m (Orléans) – Can Float on Back and Front Unassisted – Can Kick 5m comfortably – Can swim a basic front crawl
In K5/K6 we start moving from water confidence to developing swim strokes! Your child will learn a basic back crawl, the beginnings of front crawl breathing and safety skills like treading water and underwater swims.
Age
7+
years
K7/K8
Prerequisites: Can swim 10m front crawl and 10m of back crawl – Can tread water
The K7/K8 level is all about perfecting front crawl and back crawl technique before extending kid’s endurance. Here we will be focusing on proper breathing technique with continuous arms (no stopping) for front crawl and back crawl, as well as introducing whip kick. Kids will also work on Ice Safety and life saving strokes.
Age
7+
years
K9/K10
Prerequisites: Can swim 20m of front crawl with side breathing – Can do a basic whip kick
With K9/K10 we start pushing our kids to increase their distances in front crawl and back crawl, while still maintaining perfect technique. We also learn to put whip kick and breast stroke arms together to make a complete stroke and learn about what to do when swimming in currents.
Age
7+
years
K11/K12
Prerequisites: Can swim 50m of front crawl with perfect technique – Can swim 20m of Breast stroke
K11/K12 is the last level of our program – once kids reach this level they will master 100m of perfect front crawl, 100m of perfect back crawl, 50m of perfect breast stroke and start learning the basics of butterfly. For our safety skills, kids will complete a stamina swim and learn how to make judgement calls on common safety scenarios they might encounter.
Monthly Assessments
Our full and complete swimming education program includes monthly assessments of each child’s technical and practical progress. Children have the freedom to learn at their own pace and graduate to the next level when they are ready. No one fails and no one gets left behind.
Safety Week
In addition to our real-life focus, every month includes Safety Week training, where we work on core survival skills. Kids learn what it’s like to swim with their clothes on, how to call for and receive help, and more.
Learning Guarantee
We know our approach works and that if kids attend their weekly lessons regularly, they will progress through our program and become confident and safe swimmers for life.
That’s why we offer a Learning Guarantee for all swimmers age 3 and up.
If your child meets the following criteria but hasn’t passed their level, their lessons are free until they do!
- Attended 20 swimming lessons where they got into the water;
- Maintained continuous enrollment (no breaks of 2 weeks or more);
- Been regularly assessed by our assessors; and,
- Maintained 90% attendance in their classes.
After qualifying, to retain the free lessons, your child must maintain 90% attendance and stay enrolled without breaks—otherwise, the Learning Guarantee will be removed.