Scuba Sharks - Scuba Diving for Children

[Joe Cross]

Hi Everyone, I've wrote this blog about Children learning to dive. Check it out Scuba Sharks - Scuba Diving for Children

 

[maj2]

Looks like a very basic click-bait article, but in the event that you are looking for critical appraisal, I will give some very brief thoughts (from a fellow diver with a 13 year old diving daughter)...

• Bubblemaker and Seal Team are PADI products. Not sure if they are trademarked as such or not, but should be credited to PADI and the terms capitalized since they are products. Should also be recognized as trademarked, etc. as necessary. Should also recognize that other training agencies may have similar programs under different names. The article should note thatthis is PADI only, and programs/guidelines may vary by certification agency.
• PADI's Seal Team has fewer "games" than Bubblemaker, and is very much geared to introducing more of the skills that the young diver will encounter in a later open water course. That is how my daughter's course went anyway...
• No mention of PADI's Master Seal Team program? My daughter had a blast with that one. Skills here are designed to introduce items that will be encountered in a future Advanced Open Water course. Think of Bubblemaker as a kids version of "Discover Scuba," Seal Team as a way to introduce kids to the rest of the basic OW skills, and Master Seal Team as an intro to AOW skills.
• PADI's Junior program can include various specialties, Rescue Diver and right up to Jr Master Scuba Diver. My daughter had no trouble getting her First Aid/CPR and doing Rescue Diver, and had lots of fun with her various specialties.
• Scuba for kids is not always that straightforward. PADI's cards will limit diving to being with a PADI professional, a certified parent, etc. The wording varies by age and card. Don't let non-diving parents think that they can enroll their kids and then let their 10 year old go diving anywhere. I am sure that you would love a kid's parents to sign up for their OW courses, but around here, most of the kids getting certified already have one or more diving parents.

I'm done... I am sure that I have barely scratched the surface though... Others are welcome to chime in.

 

[Joe Cross]

Looks like a very basic click-bait article, but in the event that you are looking for critical appraisal, I will give some very brief thoughts (from a fellow diver with a 13 year old diving daughter)...

• Bubblemaker and Seal Team are PADI products. Not sure if they are trademarked as such or not, but should be credited to PADI and the terms capitalized since they are products. Should also be recognized as trademarked, etc. as necessary. Should also recognize that other training agencies may have similar programs under different names. The article should note thatthis is PADI only, and programs/guidelines may vary by certification agency.
• PADI's Seal Team has fewer "games" than Bubblemaker, and is very much geared to introducing more of the skills that the young diver will encounter in a later open water course. That is how my daughter's course went anyway...
• No mention of PADI's Master Seal Team program? My daughter had a blast with that one. Skills here are designed to introduce items that will be encountered in a future Advanced Open Water course. Think of Bubblemaker as a kids version of "Discover Scuba," Seal Team as a way to introduce kids to the rest of the basic OW skills, and Master Seal Team as an intro to AOW skills.
• PADI's Junior program can include various specialties, Rescue Diver and right up to Jr Master Scuba Diver. My daughter had no trouble getting her First Aid/CPR and doing Rescue Diver, and had lots of fun with her various specialties.
• Scuba for kids is not always that straightforward. PADI's cards will limit diving to being with a PADI professional, a certified parent, etc. The wording varies by age and card. Don't let non-diving parents think that they can enroll their kids and then let their 10 year old go diving anywhere. I am sure that you would love a kid's parents to sign up for their OW courses, but around here, most of the kids getting certified already have one or more diving parents.

I'm done... I am sure that I have barely scratched the surface though... Others are welcome to chime in.

Hi Maj2,

Thanks for the critical appraisal . The reason I only mention PADI courses is because that is what I personally teach and therefore what I know, as I teach in the UK we are governed by HSE which means all the agencies have to abide by the same standards. I'm a big believer in its all about how well the instructor teaches the courses rather than which agency is better.

The Seal Team course should have a mix of games and skills. Again I don't know about other agencies but PADI encourage you to play games on a Seal Team and give you lots of ideas on the Pro's website. I didn't mention the Master Seal Team course as I was trying to keep the blog post short and interesting. Again in an attempt to keep the blog shorter I didn't mention that a Junior Open Water Course has a limitation for 10-11 year olds that they have to dive with a PADI pro or a Parent/Guardian. I personally tell the parents about all the limitations before they book the course and in my experience this has never been a problem for them as there children obviously the most important thing and they want there children to get some experience with a diving instructor or guide before they would consider letting them go with someone else anyway.

I'm glad to hear your daughter had a blast learning to dive, its always great to hear about new people taking up diving and enjoying it.

 

[kgilb]

From a technical standpoint, your CSS is loading after the content. This is causing the page to "flash" as it applies the new CSS. Include your CSS in the head section before the content to prevent the page from re-flowing like that.

 

[Joe Cross]

From a technical standpoint, your CSS is loading after the content. This is causing the page to "flash" as it applies the new CSS. Include your CSS in the head section before the content to prevent the page from re-flowing like that.

Thanks I'll look into it!