Goldfish Swim School Franchising, LLC, the premier learn-to-swim franchise concept, is celebrating International Friendship Month with the launch of 'My Goldfish Swim Buddy' – a campaign designed to promote the importance of childhood friendships and the role group swim lessons can play in building various social skills needed to grow and nurture such friendships.

Goldfish Swim School understands how incredibly important social development is for every child. While it may seem that kids are just playing when they spend time with their peers, they are learning lessons like sharing, empathy, problem solving and patience. Group swim lessons can provide a tremendous opportunity for socialization, helping kids grow and learn in new ways. Many kids are observers and like to see others do something before they give it a try – things can become clearer by seeing someone else, like their swim buddy, learning at the same level. Group lessons also provide an opportunity for kids to help each other – offering tips and tricks to best master a skill or providing comfort and motivation to try a new technique. It is all about learning, picking up on social cues and getting through new situations – together – because that's what friends are for.

"It's such a rewarding experience to watch the incredible friendships being built at our schools," said Goldfish Swim School Co-Founder Jenny McCuiston, who has a degree in Early Childhood Education. "Our entire swim lesson philosophy, The Science of SwimPlay®, was created on the foundation of building important life skills both in and out of the water using play-based learning in a fun and safe environment. These social skills - like teamwork, following instruction, sharing and interacting with peers - can play an important role in building ever-important childhood friendships. It's our goal to continue to find new ways to share these important messages and life skills, and make a positive impact in the lives of children and their families."

Outside of its renowned proprietary curriculum, Goldfish Swim School helps to further spread this message through its Bubbles & Friends board book series. Understanding that children can learn so much through the narrative of a great story, Goldfish Swim School created "The Fish Who Wouldn't Swim" featuring brand mascot, Bubbles, and his helpful friends. Parents are encouraged to use the book as a teaching tool to model friendly behavior – kindness, generosity, bravery, empathy – while sharing stories on how Bubbles' friends are able to help him overcome his fears. The newest board book, "It's Time for Swim School," highlights each character's unique personality – each carefully selected to align with common personalities seen within Goldfish schools to allow for inclusion and celebration of all swimmers:

• Puffer Fish: A swimmer who gets a little anxiety and jitters in new situations, but learns how to self-manage those feelings and lean on parents and friends for help.
• Dolphin: The social butterfly who loves meeting new teachers and friends, but needs a little help focusing.
• Octopus: The swimmer who needs repetition and understands the importance of doing something many times in order to master skills.
• Sea Turtle: The methodical swimmer who is focused and prefers to do small intervals of practice to build big skills over time.

Throughout the month of February, Goldfish Swim School is celebrating all of the amazing friendships built at its 100+ schools across North America by featuring 'My Goldfish Swim Buddy' friendship photos in schools and on social media. Kickstarting the celebration is Brand Ambassador and World Champion Swimmer Ryan Murphy with his newest swim buddy, Bubbles. The activation aims to bring awareness to the benefits of group swim lessons in developing social skills that can help foster childhood and lifelong friendships.

Goldfish Swim School provides swim lessons and water safety instruction to infants and children ages four months to 12 years, teaching more than 138,000 children each week how to be safer in and around the water. Each school offers year-round swim instruction in a family-friendly setting with highly trained instructors, small class sizes (max 4:1 student to teacher ratio), shiver-free 90-degree pools and a state-of-the-art water purification system. Families with kids of different ages and skill levels can conveniently have all their swimmers in the pool during the same half hour time slot and schedule makeup classes when necessary. Goldfish Swim School offers perpetual lessons, so families can enroll at any time.

For more information on Goldfish Swim School and how to enroll, please visit https://www.goldfishswimschool.com/.

About Goldfish Swim School
Founded by husband and wife team Chris and Jenny McCuiston, Goldfish Swim School provides swim lessons and water safety instruction to infants and children ages four months to 12 years. Classes are offered by specially trained instructors in a safe, child-friendly and fun environment using their research-based philosophy called The Science of SwimPlay®. Goldfish currently teaches more than 138,000 students per week to swim and be safer in and around the water. Headquartered in Troy, Michigan, Goldfish Swim School was established in Birmingham, Michigan in 2006, and opened its first franchise location in 2009. Recently, the brand was recognized by Entrepreneur in its Franchise 500® ranking, Franchise Times' 2020 Fast & Serious List, and Inc. Magazine's 2019 Top 5000. Goldfish Swim School is currently in the process of expanding franchise opportunities throughout North America, with 100 schools open, and an additional 100+ in development in more than 34 states and Canada.