Meet Maria\u00a0Di Fiore Solanki, whose love for water and kids made her start Water Town Swim – baby and toddler swim and water development classes in Delhi as well USA.<\/p>\n
Tell us something about yourself.<\/strong><\/p>\n I have done BA and Masters in psychology with a focus on child development.\u00a0\u00a0I am certified swimming coach and\u00a0been teaching swimming for over fifteen years.\u00a0\u00a0I married a guy from Delhi, the best guy ever!\u00a0\u00a0we have one daughter, Vivienne who is 3 years old.\u00a0\u00a0We live in the USA.<\/p>\n What motivated you to start Water Town Swim School?\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n This is something I wanted to start for years.\u00a0\u00a0I just love being in water.\u00a0\u00a0I feel so free.\u00a0\u00a0I also love working with kids.\u00a0\u00a0Putting both together and it was my dream job.\u00a0\u00a0But what I wanted to do was to create a business that would generate profit that could be put back into the community.\u00a0\u00a0I volunteered for years to help the NGOs raise money and\u00a0was left selling candles and cards. I\u00a0wanted to make a lot of money for charities to grow and so I decided to start\u00a0Water Town Swim.\u00a0My hope is that it grows and spreads across Delhi, India, Asia and beyond. We would be donating 100% of all profits.<\/p>\n Were there any challenges you faced while establishing it?\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Of course!\u00a0\u00a0first, the concept being new, there are many questions that parents ask.\u00a0Its difficult to find a good team here, many of the questions either go unanswered or have to wait until I have the time to answer them. I know my classes are the highest quality and this is just the beginning, so problems are bound to happen and we have to learn to cope with them and make Water Town Swim work.<\/p>\n What is the right age for kids to start swimming and how important it is for their development and health?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n See even this question is a question that comes from a country that has not experienced such classes before.\u00a0\u00a0What I would like to answer is “what is the correct age to expose a child to water and swim safety classes ?\u00a0I can’t tell you how many times parents ask me in how many lessons will their child learn swimming and they have a six month old!\u00a0\u00a0We do not expect a child to learn our native language in six months, in fact, by age 3, after being exposed daily to our native language they are just starting to speak in sentences, and they will continue to learn all the way through high school if not life.\u00a0\u00a0Now for some reason we have this misconception here in India that they will learn in just a few classes and that the goal is to get from point a to b.\u00a0\u00a0This cheats both the parent and child.\u00a0\u00a0Children begin absorbing information the moment they enter the class.\u00a0\u00a0A child’s brain develops over 85% by the time they are 3\u00a0\u00a0Water classes aid in this brain stimulation.\u00a0\u00a0We want to get as many neuron connections as possible and grow that brain for later output.\u00a0\u00a0Studies show that children who are in early swim lessons statistically have higher IQs than children who are not enrolled in early swim lessons.\u00a0\u00a0There are cognitive and motor skill benefits along with social and emotional as well.\u00a0\u00a0Yes, children will learn to swim eventually, but are we considering a doggie paddle or a front stroke with mistakes or a perfect butterfly?\u00a0\u00a0One problem I noticed is that most of my parents in Delhi do not know swimming so it is difficult for them to grasp how their child is progressing.\u00a0But I would just highlight the fact that at this age, we are moving through progressions and one major progression is to be comfortable in the water.\u00a0\u00a0You can’t ever learn swimming if you are scared.\u00a0\u00a0These early swim classes help to eliminate the fear while also work on other techniques that will later turn into swim strokes and will help with the child’s development.<\/p>\n Being a working woman, how do you manage your business, family and kids?\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Well this is a challenge.\u00a0\u00a0It is even harder for me because I absolutely love my work and I am on the verge of being a workaholic.\u00a0\u00a0Last week we went to Disney world which is about 80min from my house.\u00a0\u00a0On the way I was emailing and sending whatsapp messages, even as we waited in the queue, I was doing the same.\u00a0\u00a0Sometimes I go overboard. I\u00a0try to wakeup early or go to bed late at times to manage everything.\u00a0Now\u00a0I come to India only for seven weeks.\u00a0\u00a0I just had to make the decision to do less or it would be an issue on my other favorite job, being a mom.\u00a0\u00a0I made this decision after speaking to my cousin who shared her feelings growing up with my aunt working so much.\u00a0\u00a0I knew if there was one thing I would regret in life, it would not be that my business wasn’t the most successful, but it would be that I failed as a mom by not spending enough time with my daughter.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It’s a hard balance.\u00a0My husband is great at taking life casually and helps me to remember to stop and smell the roses!<\/p>\n