I don't even know where to start. I had some questions before paying the deposit and it was incredibly hard to get ahold of Laurie, I tried FB messages, texting and calling and she finally text me back
The first day of swimming lessons (beginner lessons 3.5-5 years old) one of my kids went into the water and went under, Laurie didn't even notice. Luckily my other child had a nurse that went in after him, she got him then in a panic that child pulled my other child under so the nurse had both kids and she couldn't touch where she was and was struggling yet no one came to help her. Speaking of my child's nurse, I had spoken to Laurie before even paying the deposit about the nurse being in the pool with my child and we talked about why and Laurie said she would be more comfortable with the nurse being there. She also took 15 minutes to do a safety class then spent the next 10-15 minutes in the pool wondering why her class was so large and trying to get people to change classes. She also was getting onto one of my children for moving his hands in the water after he had been sitting there 25-30 minutes waiting for her to start the classes. She also had the nerve to ask my child's nurse "What's wrong with him?!" Very rudely talking about my other child (that does not have a nurse) in the class because he was moving his hands around under the water. In reality it was just a very bored 4 year old. I had to speak with Laurie after the class and told her the nurse is only there for 1 child and she's not there to watch other children since she kept asking the nurse to watch more than just my child.
On the second day of lessons Laurie decided to announce to everyone why my child had a nurse in the pool, like specific medical reasons and it was loud enough even the parents who were 30 feet away heard and then had asked me about it. Laurie didn't have to or need to validate to the kids (or anyone else) why someone was in the pool with my child. So don't tell her anything you don't want everyone to know. On this day she also told my other child's nurse that she thought my children were scared of the water (but never said anything to me). I text her a video of my kids in a pool during a drowning prevention class and my kids were relaxed and having fun.
Day 3 Laurie unexpectedly shoved the same kid (the one that went under first Monday and she didn't notice) under water then proceeded to flat out lie to me and say he slipped off the step when my other child's nurse said that he definitely did not slip at all and she meant to push him under. After this she acted shocked that he didn't trust her, if he did indeed "slip" off the step that would have been the perfect time to show him you're there to help him not shove him under.
Day 5 of lessons the first time Laurie had her hands on my youngest (with the nurse) was right at the end of the lesson and he went under (in the deep end) which then made him not trust her and he wanted nothing to do with her after that.
Our last day was rough, my two children didn't even get to do anything besides sit in the water until 15 minutes before class ended. And then they finally got to participate where they had to save someone who was "drowning." Of course after that one of them got back in the water and kept saying "I'm drowning, help me," which will be interesting taking him to a pool or anything else. We also got an email asking us to pay our remaining balance, which had been paid the week before swimming lessons started.
She focuses on the strongest swimmers versus helping the ones who need help, if you can't do what she's asking she doesn't take the time to work with you she just moves on. It's almost like if a kid needs too much help it's too much for her to deal with. She has no problem insulting the kids or calling them out in front of everyone. She sets her student/ratio at 6/1 but we had classes that had 8/9 kids in them, she would do best with a class size of 3 max. She doesn't believe in wearing sunscreen and gripes about it being in her pool. She's very unorganized and even more easily distracted than my 4 year old. She doesn't actually show the kids anything, she tells them how to do it and says "you know like ..." apparently they don't and you should SHOW them. She gets very frustrated/irritated with the kids easily. She has her helper work with the kids that need the most work while she's yelling at them from the other end of the pool where she's sitting doing nothing. I can't tell you how many times she's had her back to the kids for 15+ seconds. She expects the kids to sit still and not move at all unless she's ready for them to do something. She does not stay within arms reach of them and honestly we never even saw her swim since she never showed the kids anything. I do know between 2 different classes at least 4 kids didn't come back, and I don't blame them at all. Bottom line I would not recommend Laurie to anyone. read more
