capt. dave
Registered
My son, age 10, will be completing the "Adventure in Diving" program at the local dive shop in the next month or so. This will be his "yes I want to" or "probably not for me" day. He loves to read my diving magazines, watch the PADI videos and has a sincere interest in learning to dive. I am certified with OW, AOW, Rescue and Nitrox and dive in the 1000 Islands in NY. Our agreement is that he goes through formal PADI instruction with a DM, including classroom instruction, home instruction and studying and pool training etc. I will assist him in drills, skills, studying, watching videos etc. I advised him that I will give him as much or as little "help/input/assistance" as he would like.
I want this experience to be a positive one for him, filled with a lot of fun yet making sure he will be able to, in the future, handle situations that arise under the water. I want him to understand the serious nature of diving while enjoying everything it has to offer. Due to my employment background in the medical and legal field, I can be over-bearing, OCD, strict, goal orientated etc. and push hard. However, as some are thinking now, no, I would never try to out-do or take over a class and my son was advised that the DM is God in terms of teaching and learning.
So, I am looking for suggestions from the community who have taught their kids to dive on how not to approach this, how to be patient, to teach him correctly and "not be like the typical father teaching their kids to drive" (boy do I remember my dad teaching me to drive-rather have taken the bus or walked!). Suggestions, stories (good and bad), methods etc. of how you taught your kids to dive will all be appreciated.
I appreciate this very much.
I want this experience to be a positive one for him, filled with a lot of fun yet making sure he will be able to, in the future, handle situations that arise under the water. I want him to understand the serious nature of diving while enjoying everything it has to offer. Due to my employment background in the medical and legal field, I can be over-bearing, OCD, strict, goal orientated etc. and push hard. However, as some are thinking now, no, I would never try to out-do or take over a class and my son was advised that the DM is God in terms of teaching and learning.
So, I am looking for suggestions from the community who have taught their kids to dive on how not to approach this, how to be patient, to teach him correctly and "not be like the typical father teaching their kids to drive" (boy do I remember my dad teaching me to drive-rather have taken the bus or walked!). Suggestions, stories (good and bad), methods etc. of how you taught your kids to dive will all be appreciated.
I appreciate this very much.