By Guest Blogger: Nicole Pomeroy

In The Art of Learning, Josh Waitzkin discusses the Power of Presence and how it applies to your child’s approach to their studies and other activities. Josh is asking us, as parents, to consider what things our children give their full attention to and the ways we can encourage less distraction and more awareness of presence. So I really started thinking about how I could translate this way of living to my kids. How can I teach them this important skill so this is all they grow up knowing? What I realized is that they already know it. They were born knowing it. We all were. At some point along the way, life just beats it out of us and we forget how to not let the pain and drama of yesterday and fear and uncertainty of tomorrow take us over.

So when I really thought about it, I came to see that more often than not, it was me that was pulling them out of their moments of presence. They aren’t thinking about what’s coming next or what needs to be done — only I am. While the kids are doing something, I always seem to be preparing them for what was coming next. I try to create excitement by talking about future events. I rehash things that have already happened. I seem to constantly send this message that says, stop focusing on what you’re doing now to think about the thing you’re going to do next. On one hand, they are kids and they need guidance and preparation and yes, a schedule to live by. They need notice so that transitions throughout the day happen smoothly. But instead of allowing them to fully enjoy the tasks currently at hand, I’m asking them to focus on something that has yet to happen. Mostly this is my own neurotic, list-making, busy bee self creating chaos where none exists. As with everything else, it’s not about what I tell my children, but what I show them. It stands to reason that if I am living in the present moment, then they will too.

Bahamas, Bahamas — Bonnie Waitzkin initiated a new swim program for Bahamian children after discovering that so many bahamians don’t swim. After some anthropological digging, Bonnie discovered that children wander the island, and as a way of protection, parents instill a fear of the water (sharks, barracudas, etc.) to keep their children dry and safe. This has slowly perpetrated as a culture of NON SWIMMING on the island. The program builds on the principles in The Art of Learning. By slowly overcoming the fear of water through “making smaller circles”, the kids are transformed into swimmers one small lesson at a time.

They are learning about body bouncy, water safety and comfortability, proper equipment use, kickboarding, learning balance, treading water, proper-energy saving kicking, arm strokes, hand positioning and angle, underwater swim, proper use of snorkeling and most important, building a trusting relationship between the kids and the ocean.

The program began with a four week summer session supervised by James Rolle, a soulful island elder, who was hired to oversee the integration of The Art of Learning and the overall development of the program. Currently, Lisa and James Goodin, who were initially sent to Bimini by the Methodist Church, continue to develop the program through summer sessions and year round Saturday classes.

They are encouraging the bahamian culture to “celebrate swimming as a new found skill set, helping to overcome fears and produce a new level of confidence; a confidence that will allow a new belief system about the ocean” as Lisa Goodin explains. Future islanders’ relationships to the ocean will no longer be one of fear, but one of endless learning and having fun.