Swimming
The Talmud teaches that among the most important skills to teach our children is the ability to swim. We take this teaching seriously at Ramah Boston and offer a strong instructional swim program that is designed not just to teach children how to swim, but to help them become confident, capable, and safe in and around the water.
Program Overview & Philosophy
Ramah Boston partners with Bentley University for our swim program, giving campers access to a high-quality aquatic facility in a structured, supportive environment. Campers swim Monday through Thursday, traveling by bus from camp to Bentley with trained staff supervising transportation and pool time.
Our instruction follows Lenny Krayzelburg’s SwimRight™ Academy Method, a nationally recognized approach to swim education built around one essential principle: water safety comes first.
Rather than rushing children into swim strokes, the SwimRight Method focuses on teaching kids how to stay calm, float, breathe, and respond safely if they unexpectedly fall into water. This “float-first” philosophy ensures that campers build real, life-saving skills before progressing to more advanced techniques.
At every level, we emphasize:
-
Water safety and emergency awareness
-
Confidence and independence in the water
-
Proper body position, breath control, and technique
-
Gradual, developmentally appropriate skill progression
Our goal is for every child to leave Ramah Boston knowing how to act if they fall into water, how to stay safe, and how to enjoy swimming with confidence.
Swim Levels
Campers are placed into levels based on ability, not age. Each level builds directly on the one before it, ensuring strong foundations and steady progress. Early levels focus heavily on comfort, floating, and safety skills, while advanced levels refine freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly for strong, efficient swimming.
We use an online progress-tracking platform that allows families to follow their child’s development throughout the summer. Parents can see:
-
Which level their child is in
-
What skills they are working on
-
When they are ready to advance
This transparency helps families understand the process and celebrate progress—especially in a program where mastering foundational safety skills is just as important as visible “swimming.”
FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions
All swim lessons take place at Bentley University’s aquatic facilities. Campers travel by bus from Ramah Boston to Bentley, Monday through Thursday, with Ramah staff supervising transportation and swim time.
The SwimRight Method is safety-first and foundation-based. Instead of teaching strokes right away, children first learn essential survival skills like floating, breath control, and how to recover if they fall into water. This approach builds real confidence, prevents panic, and creates stronger swimmers in the long run.
Back floating is a life-saving skill. If a child falls into water unexpectedly, knowing how to roll onto their back, float, and breathe calmly can prevent drowning. It is also the foundational skill to know before learning all other swimming skills. We don’t rush this skill—we make sure campers truly own it before moving on.
Families have access to our online progress-tracking system, which shows current level placement, skills being practiced, and readiness for advancement.
That’s okay—and very common. Our instructors are trained to work with nervous and beginner swimmers, using gentle, structured steps that help children feel safe, supported, and successful in the water.