Website for City of Oakland Public Pools: http://www.oaklandnet.com/parks/facilities/publicpools.asp

See also: Oakland Parks & Rec - Kids' Programs

Re: Swim class for 4 and 7 year olds
You don't say where you are located, but Oakland Parks and Rec does kids swimming lessons at a number of pools around the city. My daughter (4 1/2) is currently taking their Tiny Tots program at De Fremery pool; last year we did a parent/child class together. Carrie

Re: Swimming classes for a two year old
Our son was two years old last year and he really enjoyed swimming lessons. Two-year old classes are all, I think, classes with parents primarily geared to getting the little ones comfortable in the water.

The place we started was at Lions pool in Dimond park. Saturday mornings, outdoor pool but heated. They actually have two classes, an A and a B. I think the ''B'' class is supposed to be a little more ''advanced'', but in practice, I didn't see it. The classes last summer were big classes with little individual attention from the instructors, but enough room to move around with the child and some attempts at structure--getting them to blow bubbles in the water, float on their back, etc. Toys to play with in the pool also.

We then discovered lessons at East Bay parks at the Roberts pool up in the hills ...

Happy swimming. katherine

does anyone have experiences (good or bad) with the tiny tots swimming lessons given at the lions pool at dimond park? my 4- yr old is interested in learning. i'd like a program where i do not have to be in the water with him. suzie

We took a saturday swim class through Oakland Parks and Rec at Dimond Pool. It's not a "formal" swim class but a parent tot swim class, where you teach the child to swim with the assistance of the very nice instructors. It's very affordable ($35 for an 8 week session). You might also look into evening sessions at Strawberry Canyon... I saw they had them as late as 6:30.
Myriam

I live in Oakland and the Oakland Parks and Rec offer swimming lessons at $10.00 for 8 sessions (every Saturday morning for 8 weeks). They have different age groups at different times. They have swimming lessons during the week as well. Very inexpensive and fun for the kids.