We went for our first swim class for my littles. The facility, although still work in progress, is…read morequite nice. You have a wonderful viewing area both inside and outside the pool area. The lockers are communal but huge. The coaches and staff are very invested in your satisfaction and showed a lot of care to the littles. I do not like the communal showers but unfortunately the facility prefers rinses over full showers after class, which is unusual. Looking forward to seeing how the classes develop further.

Our son has attended Northstar for Toddler, Pre Casa and now Casa. He loves it, and we have seen…read moresuch progress with his learning and social skills. The building is wonderful, the teachers & curriculum are excellent and our kiddo is happy.

From the owner: We incorporate the Montessori approach within our swimming lessons. Our swim school specializes in…read moreswimming lessons for kids and adults. Our all-season, heated, salt-water swimming pool is beautifully surrounded in a solarium-type enclosure, and a spacious, rubber surface decking all around the 18 x 50ft pool. We are currently accepting students for the waitlist and hiring for swim instructors ready and able. Contact us today!

I have been a student and instructor for Janet Barber Aquatics for many years. As a student, it was…read morea very positive, fun and friendly environment. Having much smaller class sizes compared to the town or YMCA classes, I was able to get more attention and develop faster. The quality, experience and energy of the instructors I had and continue to see are outstanding. As an instructor, having a smaller class allowed me to focus on my students progress a lot more then my experience with the YMCA. I was able to create a great connection with the student(s) and interact with the parent(s) to keep them up to date on their child's progress. The way Janet Barber Aquatics has designed the progress reports is brilliant through the use of star ratings. Instead of telling a child at the end of the term that they didn't pass (which can be de motivating for some) they are given a certain colour of star. The star indicates how many requirements they have completed in that level so far. This is also extremely beneficial for the next instructor as they will be able to target the areas the student needs improvement on. I highly recommend Janet Barber Aquatics!

My wife and I have two kids who have taken classes with Janet Barber Aquatics and we have seen…read morereally fantastic results. The one-on-one instruction gives kids the confidence to learn how to swim. We have especially seen great results with our son, who was initially apprehensive about swimming with his face in the water, jumping in, etc. The focused attention and care of his instructors gave him the confidence and skills to learn how to swim and do all of these things, and now there is nothing holding him back in the water. It has been very heartwarming to see such significant results. We would highly recommend Janet and her team!

Went through half a dozen swimming instructors private and public and the kids didn't learn a…read morething. Went here and they almost immediately got better. Highly recommend this place for kids to learn how to swim.

This place is incredibly close to my house. Over the last couple years however, we had a family…read morepass to the YMCA just a few blocks over. Since we could put my son in swimming lessons there for no extra cost, we just went there. However, my son has a bit of apprehension in the water. He gained some skills in their lessons, but he was stagnating over time. We've known a few people who enrolled their children at Making Waves, and one thing I knew right off the bat that would make them ideal is the max of 3-1 child to teacher ratio. I can't emphasize enough how important that is, as I watched my son at his previous lessons have to wait several minutes at a time for his turn when there were about 5 in his class. From what I've seen, the instruction is also at a high level. One example is previously my son was learning to float by having the teacher hold him under his shoulders and pull them along the water. Here, the teacher actually helps support him more under his lower body. It makes sense, as the upper body is where the body floats, with the lower body being prone to sink being only muscle and bone. This technique seems to give the student a better sense of learning how and then trusting their body to float. They also do a great job of helping push students just outside of their comfort zone. Enough to encourage learning, but not enough to scare them too much. For example, for some of the lessons you'll see the teachers count loudly to 5 as the student is doing their best to stay afloat when swimming,which seems seems a reasonable amount of time for them to push through, without worrying about being under too long. Terrific facility as well, with a huge viewing area to watch the lessons, a play area for kids who may be waiting, and a nice change area. A terrific thing about this place is that they use salt water as a natural cleanser/disinfectant for the pool rather than chlorine. It improves the smell, but I'm sure it's better for skin too. It is naturally more costly to attend here than most other places. I can't fault them for that given the details above; but I wish they'd offer the 10% discount for the second child rather than only if you have 3 attending. Many don't have 3 kids to begin with, and I think a 10% is still a fair deal if family have 2 children attending given the cost. It is what it is, but ultimately, everything is at a high standard. One month of lessons in, my son has progressed at a rate that may have taken 6 elsewhere.

This is a place where your child can, depending upon the instructor, receive decent swim lessons…read more As someone who has been a client for 7 years, however, I can tell you that they remain ABYSMAL administratively. Why? 1) They NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER EVER answer the phone!!!! Why even have a phone number? Good luck with getting answers or customer service is you have questions about your account. 2) Getting a receipt for (EXPENSIVE) private lessons is a extremely PAINFUL EXPERIENCE!! Why? Because, even after witnessing the inconvenience that parents experience, nothing has been done to improve upon this major shortfall. They clearly don't really give a CRAP about parents of, or clients who are, special needs.

LIl's is pretty much perfect. Craig has created a motivating, chill, professional, place/space and…read moreteam. Dan is the best private trainer I could imagine. He knows his stuff- and he is supportive, challenging, and an amazing role model for balancing fitness of mind and body. If you care as much about the 'why' as you do the "what", Dan has so much to teach you without ever mansplaining. Nothing hidden at this gym- costs of different programs and training are all transparent (and very fair). It's a little badass to get to (behind an old church), but kinda feels like the kind of place Rocky would have taken Adrian to work out.

From the owner: Lil's Gym is the top personal training gym in Kitchener/Waterloo. We specialize in providing the…read moreabsolute best training available. Our professional trainers offer world class personal training as well as small-group person training.