how we use it and how to work with them in different age periods in Finland.
The aim of my lecture is to illuminate the holistic approach of Finnish Baby- and Family Swimming for the listeners as well as talk about the theoretical basis and principles that guide our activities. These principles create the outline in Finland both for the instructor training as well as for the individual planning of the swimming activities and practical implementation all the way down to using toys and aids.
Finnish baby swimming method has been developed over its 30-year-long history into more and more child-centered and individually-oriented way and the starting point of all activities is the holistic regard of the child’s developmental stages. Different toys and aids support this goal and in this lecture it will outline the way how we utilize different equipment with children of different ages and developmental stages.
In the background of the swimming instruction of babies and young children there is the theoretical knowledge of motor development as well that connected to learning and cognitive processing. Another area which directs the approaces in Finnish baby swimming are the theories of early interaction and attachment development as well as the theories around the children’s different temperaments. Lately more and more attention has been paid to strengthening the child’s own participation and enabling their creative activities. Despite the many benefits of baby swimming in Finland the baby- and family swimming is seen as a valuable activity which brings together the whole family and this in itself is a value. This instructor training is based on this knowledge and values.
Master of Sports Science, Occupational Therapist.
Finnish Swimming Teaching and Lifesaving Federation Chair of Baby - and Family Swimming Committee - Educator / Trainer
She has a Master’s degree in Sports Sciences and she is also an Occupational Therapist.
In addition she has a pedagogical competency in teaching.
She has also done studies in psychology, pedagogics and special pedagogics.
In her working career she has been especially inspired by the understanding of the holistic wellbeing of children and the ways in which they behave and act.
Before her current job as a planning officer (for children’s physical education) she worked for around eight years at a children’s home with children and young people who had been taken into care.
She has been involved in Baby- and family swimming all her adulthood.
In addition to working as an instructor, she has been working in the Baby- and Family Swimming Committee of the Finnish Swimming Teaching and Lifesaving Federation since 1995 and she has been a Chair of the Committee since 2002
.In addition to the Committee work she has also been an Educator / Trainer in the Federation for almost 19 years.
Soini, Tytti. 2004. Sukellus vauva- ja perheuintiin (A dive into Baby- and Family Swimming). Can be found in a book by Sirpa Arvonen called Porukalla. Perheliikuntaohjaajan käsikirja (A Handbook for Family Exercise Instructor). Helsinki. Edita Prima Oy, 179-185.
Course materials for Baby- and Family Swimming together with the rest of the Committee.
Vauvan Kirja (Baby book). Vauva- ja perheuinti – aktiivisen elämän alku (Baby- and family swimming: the beginning of an active life). Espoo. Kustannus Oy Maamerkki, 104-106.
Internet articles (www.suh.fi/toiminta/vauva-ja_perheuinti).
Several interviews in the Finnish media.
She is the mother of three sporty daughters and the wife of a P.E. teacher. Most of her free time is spent on the children’s hobbies, football and springboard diving.
She herself likes to stay fit by doing yoga, tennis, gym and jogging. During the summer she also likes to spend her free time at a summer cottage in a small island where it’s possible to swim and paddle in a beautiful lake with clear water.
In the autumn she enjoys picking mushrooms in the forest.
