Online Support for children learning to dive?

[Riger]

Hello all,

My wife and I recently (30 dives each) did OW and subsequently AOW and EANX. Our daughter (12) will start scuba lessons in the next few days.

I was wondering if there were any good learning aids online that I could use to support the inevitable questions about gasses, pressure, NDL's and so forth. I am comfortable giving theoretical support but would like some visual aids to support me.

Anything out there at youngsters level ?

Thank you in advance

Richard (Riger)

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Scubatoys has some good table tutorials but my advice is to let the instructor determine the best way to support her diving and the development of the knowledge required for it. If you go into the shop and she's been exposed to things one way and the instructor uses different methods, teaching aids, and learning exercises you may actually hinder her advancement. I have a 12 yr old girl in class now. Her parents are both experienced divers, both professionals, and both very protective of her. Their course of action that is working very well- be sure she does the homework assigned by me or the other instructor, make sure she gets to class and pool sessions, and stay out of the way. I don't know what your background is but the questions she'll be asking should be directed to the instructor or his/her assistants. (Without trying to sound nasty but probably will you do not know enough to support her in dive theory.) Not to new divers, parents or not.

Want to help her? Have her write the questions down and bring them to class. Let the instructor direct her to the proper resources. Parents who are not instructors have no business teaching their own kids. Some smart parents that are instructors have someone else teach their kids. Many times expectations are too high and too much pressure is put on the kids. I've asked parents, husbands, boyfriends, etc to back off. Sometimes politely, sometimes a little firmer. Unless you are willing to take full responsibility for any misinformation she may unintentionally pick up and use perhaps to her detriment stay out of it other than get her to class, do the homework, encourage her to write down questions, and open up the wallet.

 

[ronbeau]

Hello all,

My wife and I recently (30 dives each) did OW and subsequently AOW and EANX. Our daughter (12) will start scuba lessons in the next few days.

I was wondering if there were any good learning aids on line that I could use to support the inevitable questions about gasses, pressure, NDL's and so forth. I am comfortable giving theoretical support but would like some visual aids to support me.

Anything out there at youngsters level ?

Thank you in advance

Richard (Riger)

I have a 14 year old daughter that went through her NAUI OW class when she was 12. I was certified at the time she took the course (OW, AOW & Nitrox) but her mother was not (she is now OW, Nitrox & AOW).

Her mother is a full-time college professor and I teach on the adjunct faculty at the college. I only mention this as background relative to our teaching background.

Given that background, the approach we agreed on was that we would not be in the water at all when the confined water training or the open water checkouts were being conducted. Although I attended all of her classroom sessions (since I had to drive her there) I determined in advance that I would remain completely in the background and say nothing unless asked by the instructor. We requested that all her questions be directed at the instructor and not to me.

While the instructor already knew my position I made a point to mention it to her with the instructor present. "The instructor is the sole person who determines whether or not your scuba skills are adequate to proceed to the next step and whether or not you will be certified. There will be no Mom or Dad appeal process."

"You are responsible for putting the effort in to study the material. This is not going to be like middle school where they spoon feed you the classroom material over and over."

The net result was that she had some scuba skills she had to put in extra sessions to get down real well. Both instructors at my LDS are NAUI course directors (authorized to train and certify up to an including the instructor level) and require a grade of 90% or higher to pass any NAUI written exam (at least open water through Master Diver). I assume the Dive Master exam is the same but I have not yet taken that exam so I cannot say for sure. The NAUI minimum passing grade is 75%.

She ended getting 92% on the NAUI open water exam. She was thrilled and I was proud of her. Her mother and I used this as a way to illustrate the level of effort she would have to put forth in high school when she would be taking some advanced courses.

She has since passed the NAUI AOW and will be taking the NAUI Rescue course later this year.

I think is was a good experience for her over and above getting the NAUI open water certification.

This is from the perspective of her parents. Jim gave you a good perspective from an instructor vantage point.

Hopefully this is helpful to you.

 

[2905luvsbubbles]

I am currently doing the instructor course and am seeing a 12 and 13 year old student in class, they respond very well to the instructor. As parents, we sometimes put to much or not enough pressure on our kids. When they do something incorrect, they respond much better to the instructor than to the parents. As instructors, we have to have a good understanding of the gas laws, physics, physiology. That being said, we also have to be able to put it in a context the student understands. I could go in to a detailed discussion of boyles law, but explaining it in terms of a balloon and what happens when a balloon ruptures makes sense to both adults and younger students. Trust the instructor to provide the information and to judge the knowledge your child has gained. That allows your child the independence they are now begining to learn (pyschological theroies of development) as well as it keeps you from being the bad guy if they don't do as well as they or you would like. (We all have expectations of our kids). Just my 2 psi.

 

[Riger]

Hello all,

All valid points of view. Let me clarify, we have absolutely no intention of interfering with the instruction of our daughter, I am an Air Traffic Controller and my wife is a highly qualified nurse. We both know our strengths and realize that we need to leave diving instruction to the professionals in that field, no questions or arguments.

The point I was trying to make was that I am sure Richanne (daughter) will be coming home and discussing the course content with us, just as she does with Math, Science and her other subjects at school. I would rather have "official guidance material" to use as a reference point if there are queries.

Having said that, and now having had the responses above, I will take even more care not to muddy the waters (ooh nice pun) for her.

Thank you for your valuable advice, it is understood and appreciated.

 

[PinkPADIgal]

I am assuming she is going through PADI training.

If so, the best references for her is the PADI open water manual and the DVD.

The best way to ensure she is understanding the material is have her do the quick quizes the manual provides in each chapter.

As for the tables, I am not sure which option was provided to you but the PADI eRDP is very easy for most kids to understand and play with. If she has the traditional tables, that is OK too. There is a book that comes with the tables and eRDP on how to use them. Have her read the book and do the sample problems provided. Most people who read the book, and do the sample problems provided have no issues understanding the tables. If they don't read the book provided, most will not understand the tables and fail.

Many instructors have other sample problems she can work on to ensure mastery as well. I would give the instructor a call and ask.