FAQ

Why do you require cloth swim diapers for babies/toddlers?

Because they are much more reliable than disposable paper ones. We see over 250 baby swimmers per week, so for everybody’s sake it’s important to do everything we can to avoid accidents in the pool. The cloth suits are also more comfortable to wear—not to mention way cuter!

Why do you require online cancellations?

Our flexible cancellation policy is great for our swimmers but creates hours upon hours of extra work for the office. This inevitably creates room for human error and scheduling mistakes, which are no fun for anyone! By keeping a time-stamped record of all cancellations, we have cut down hugely on these problems, to everyone’s benefit. Cancelling online is super easy; you can do it from your phone, computer, or at our front desk!

Why is there a 30-minute limit on lessons?

We have found that a 30-minute lesson suits youth and adult participants the best. After 30 minutes, lessons lose productivity due to fatigue and decreased focus. Remember, you will work much harder one-on-one with an instructor than you would in a large group class!

What happens when my baby ages out of their class?

Guppies classes go up to 18 months, after which babies should move to a Minnows (18mo–35mo) or Fishbowl class (4mo–35mo). When your kiddo turns 3, they can finish out the month of their birthday and then they must leave Baby Classes. So, make sure you get on the wait-list to switch classes at the appropriate time! It’s never too early to get on the wait-list!

Why can’t my child stay in Baby & Me Classes after turning 3? What if they are fearful, inexperienced, or have additional needs?

Time and again, we have seen that if a child is still having difficulty with some aspect of swimming at age 3, then it is all the more important that they progress to private lessons. To learn to swim, 3-year-olds with fears and additional needs require more professional attention than they can get in a group class where the instructor must divide their time equally between 6 students. If your child truly cannot tolerate being separated from you, or your main goal for them is just to have fun in the water, then consider attending our Open Swims!

BILLING & OFFICE

How do I make a payment?

We currently accept: check and cash (exact change please), credit/debit cards in person or over the phone, and PayPal.

Why didn’t I receive an email invoice?

This does happen from time to time. Usually it is because your email server rejected the email or tagged it as spam. Invoices come from “billing@farberswimschool.com”, so be sure to put that address in your contacts list. Even if you don’t see or receive your invoice email, you are still required to pay by the 10th to avoid a late fee.

Why can’t I get credit for a short-notice cancellation? 48 hours ago I didn’t know my child would come down sick!

We understand! But without advance notice we have no way to try and recoup the cost, yet we still have to pay our instructor, overhead costs, etc. during your lesson time. In fact, if you compare other local swim programs, you’ll find that Farber actually has the most lenient cancellation policy around. (Most schools require you pay ahead of time for several months, and then if you can’t make it, too bad—no credits or make-ups at all. Some schools will even charge you an extra “processing fee” for cancelling!)

Why do you charge late fees?

Believe us, nothing would make us happier than never to charge another late fee! Unfortunately, we have found them to be necessary. FSS is committed to private lessons, 90-degree saltwater, uncrowded pools, a flexible cancellation policy for our families, and competitive wages for our staff. Frankly, our profit margin is smaller than other swim programs. It is therefore crucial that we are paid in full and on time for our services.

Why is it so hard to get in touch with you by phone?

Oh, so many reasons! We do our best to answer the dozens of phone calls we receive daily, but tiny office space + heavy (and noisy!) customer traffic = impossible to answer most phone calls, especially in the mornings when upwards of 20 persons come through our doors every 30 minutes! We can usually answer emails much more promptly. If you must call, try to do so in the afternoon or evening.

Is it safe for my baby to go underwater? What if they are very young, or it’s their first time in a pool?

Infants instinctively hold their breath underwater, and our Baby & Me Classes reinforce that instinct and build from there to teach babies how to be safe in the water as early as possible. We advise parents to take their babies underwater during their very first lesson—usually within the first five minutes! Your teacher will explain and demonstrate how best to handle submerging your baby, and give you lots of support and encouragement. 

Why don’t you have group lessons and levels like other swim schools?

FSS’s teaching philosophy is all about the individual. Everyone learns differently, gains skills in their own order, and may not fit into cookie-cutter levels. So many students come to us from other swim programs who have been stuck in a certain level for way too long, just because they couldn’t do one of the skills required to “move up.” This is only made worse by the crowded, noisy format of group lessons. It’s hard to learn when you feel rushed and under pressure, and many swimmers get discouraged when they have to stay behind while their peers move on. 

Enter FSS! When swimmers have the full attention of one of our private instructors, a more flexible lesson structure, and a quieter environment, amazing things can happen! Sometimes all it takes is that little bit of extra support to overcome past hangups and start moving forward.

For example, we once had a young swimmer who had a very difficult time blowing nose bubbles, which held her back for over a year in another program. Once she came to us, and had the freedom to explore skills beyond her old level, she and her parents were surprised and delighted to discover she had a real knack for backstroke! All of a sudden she could be proud of herself in a big way. She kept working on those bubbles of course, but now she had a teacher who could say, “Good try, we’ll work on that again next week! Now let’s move on to something you are good at and enjoy!” 

This swimmer is afraid of the water. How can you help them?

At FSS we offer lessons to all ages and abilities, and have techniques to ensure participants gain more confidence in the water. We believe in coaching swimmers through challenges, not forcing them. Don’t be discouraged if the first few lessons are rough! Remember that fear of water is, at its root, a perfectly logical fear and nothing to be ashamed of. It is very common but also very “treatable.” Patience and persistence is the key. Over the years we have successfully helped a great many participants overcome their fear of the water, and nothing makes us more proud! (For extreme fears, try one of our several teachers who specialize in Fearful swimmers [see our staff page or ask the front desk] and have a real knack for breaking through separation anxiety.)

For more ideas about helping fearful swimmers,

What should I do if my child won’t get in the pool, or starts crying?

In these cases we usually recommend parents leave the pool deck, ideally with a calm and cheerful “Bye-bye, I’ll see you after your lesson!” Imagine you are dropping them off at daycare or with a babysitter; letting go of you is not optional. Most children will start to calm down once the parent is out of sight and, now that their focus has shifted from parent to the nearest adult (teacher), begin to bond with that teacher. The teacher will then gently bring them into the water to play, or simply to be held and soothed if necessary. (Feel free to ask an office worker to “spy” for you through the lobby window and tell you how it’s going!)

What can I do at home, in-between lessons, to help a fearful swimmer?

Try putting them in a bath or shower every day to desensitize them to the sensations. After some playtime, pour water over their head and face. Don’t give up immediately if they cry—continue pouring while calmly counting to ten or singing a song so that there is an exact, predictable start-point and end-point. Snacks, books, toys, even movies—all of these can help take the fear out of water-time. Be sure to give them time to calm down and stop crying before taking them out of the bath. If they leave the water in a calm state of mind, that is a huge success!

It’s been a few lessons and my child is still scared and crying. Should I stop lessons and wait until they’re “ready”?

In our experience, “taking a break” is usually counterproductive for fearful swimmers. We know it may seem like a waste of time and money for a child to spend most of the lesson crying, but try to think of it not as a failed lesson but as a necessary step toward your swimmer eventually becoming comfortable in the water. Working through the fear is the lesson.

Why isn’t my child progressing faster? Why is the teacher working on rolls every lesson, instead of arm strokes?
or, Why are they not proceeding quickly to side-breathing?

At Farber, our top priority is creating strong swimmers who are confident and safe in the water, and can independently keep themselves safe in deep water for as long as necessary. The best way to accomplish this is to emphasize body position, backfloating, and kicking technique. Adding strokes prematurely can hinder a swimmer’s mastery of body control.

Body Control + Kicking Technique = Efficiency = Sustained Energy = SAFETY. Only when a swimmer is SAFE do we add arm strokes.

Body position means keeping perfectly horizontal on the water’s surface while kicking and rolling smoothly to their backs to breathe. We want kicks to be so steady and efficient during these rolls that they are almost automatic. This way, when arm strokes are introduced, swimmers can actually focus on their arm strokes because they no longer have to think about their kicks! (Even then, you will see that adding arms always slows a swimmer down at first, before helping them go faster.)

This goes double for side-breathing. Rolling to breathe is extremely efficient, and in fact is USA legal for competitive freestyle. Until a swimmer is strong enough that side-breathing will be more efficient than rolling, there is no reason to introduce it. 

It is true that many other programs start teaching strokes and side-breathing before a swimmer has mastered rolls. This is like teaching a child to stand up while pedaling their bike… before they’ve even learned to ride sitting down! It looks “fancy,” and may give them a few bursts of speed here and there, but good balance and steering will go right out the window. And you can definitely expect more scraped elbows!

Another analogy: we want to create tugboats, not speedboats. Speedboats are good at one thing: going fast, in a straight line, for short distances, on smooth water. They run out of fuel quickly. They can’t handle choppy water. And when they have to slow down or float in a harbor, watch out! They’ll rock back and forth at the least touch and dump passengers overboard!

But tugboats can go all day, effortlessly chugging along, solid, steady, and SAFE in the water!

Why is my child being taught in the smaller pool (at the Beaverton location)? Won’t that limit their progress?

Not at all! In fact, there are many advantages to the smaller pool:

It’s easier for teachers to move around to view and correct swimmers’ technique from multiple angles.

“Don’t let your feet touch the bottom!” is a great physical cue for swimmers to focus on keeping their bodies flat on the very top of the water. If a swimmer is not competent at staying flat on the surface (whether swimming or back-floating), they need to focus on that above all else.

At FSS our emphasis is on technique, not endurance, and our pools are much too warm for “working out”. If you want your swimmer to build endurance, you will want to take them to a cooler pool!

Some perspective: our owner, Adam, at 6’1″, can complete 4 full freestyle strokes in the small pool without scraping the bottom.

That said, we generally place kids 10 years and older in the larger pool. And some kids enjoy certain play activities in the big pool, like diving deep for rings or playing long-distance frisbee. If you want your child to only swim in the large pool, let the office know and we will put a note on your account, but be advised it may limit your scheduling options.