What is ISR?
ISR is a one-on-one survival swim program for children six months through six years old. We focus on drowning prevention, not just swimming.
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What Will My Child Learn?
After completing a regular ISR session, your child will have the skills and confidence to swim independently and save themselves in the water.
ISR Lessons are customized to the developmental level of each child, physically and mentally. Babies who can crawl -- generally 6 to 24 months -- learn to hold their breath underwater, roll onto their back to float, rest, and breathe. Children who can walk -- generally 2 years and older -- learn to hold their breath underwater, swim with their head down and eyes open, roll onto their back to float, rest and breathe, and roll back over to resume swimming until they reach the side of the pool and can crawl out.
When a child falls into the water, their survival depends on their ability to react immediately. They do not have time to navigate their environment and think about what to do next. That is why our lessons are customized to help each child learn specialized aquatic survival skills by building muscle memory in the event of an accident.
We work hard to accommodate all children, regardless of their medical or developmental history, and work with each family to ensure each child is water-safe.
Rollback to Float
All children learn this basic life-saving skill. Children as young as six months will learn how to hold their breath, rotate under water, and float. Children up to one year old learn to hold their float until help arrives.
Swim Float Swim
Children approximately two years and up learn how to swim underwater with their eyes open and mouth closed for about 3-5 seconds, roll onto their backs to rest and breathe, then flip over to resume swimming. Importantly, they learn how to navigate the pool to swim to the steps or wall and get themselves out.
What Makes ISR Different?
Skills before thrills!
Our lessons are skills-based. Ditch the floaties!
Typical swim programs teach children that the water is a fun place where someone or something will be there to support them or help them float. These swim programs focus on play and water acclimation (blowing bubbles, using goggles), not survival. They may be in the water with a parent, so they are not learning how to respond if they find themselves in the water alone. In traditional swim lessons, fun and comfort come first, and competency (skill) in the water is not given the importance it deserves. These programs are time-based, not outcome based, so your child may take lessons for an entire summer (or summers), but still require flotation devices at the end of the season. Your child should not need floatation devices after swim lessons!
Lessons are short, frequent, and always one-on-one
Your child cannot learn to walk by practicing once a week; they cannot learn to swim that way, either. Research has shown that shorter, more frequent lessons help aid in skill retention in children younger than six years old. Frequent lessons give children more confidence in the water as they learn these new big motor skills.
We prepare your child for real-world accidents
Statistics show that 86% of all children who drown are fully clothed at the time. During the final week of lessons, while under close supervision of the instructor, each of our students has the opportunity to practice their ISR Self-Rescue skills in both summer and winter clothing.
Instructors are highly trained, annually recertified, and have access to medical and support networks
ISR Instructors are trained in childhood behavioral psychology, sensorimotor learning, and actual survival swimming techniques. We have access to medical staff and Senior Master Instructors that have decades of combined experience to provide support if lessons become challenging for students. Instructors keep active certifications in pediatric CPR as well as undergo yearly recertification and training.
Maintain your child's skills as they grow
Children's bodies grow quickly and undergo many different physical and mental milestones as they age. Your instructor offers several different lesson types to help your child maintain their hard-earn skills as they go through the different stages of development after they've completed a regular ISR session.
Become Educated in Overall Water Safety
ISR is just one of the tools we give our families in their Water Safety Tool Box. Our goal is to give our families the resources and information they need to make sure children are not only water-safe, but can play and explore safely. We educate families on proper pool barriers, pool and door alarms, how to designate a Water Watcher during active swimming times, what flotation devices are safe for play and which reinforce drowning postures, and so much more. We remind parents that no child is drown-proof! Children can experience a number of unexpected obstacles, environments, and temperatures if they fall in that make self-rescue difficult or even impossible. Self-rescue skills are just one of the many barriers we try to put in place to prevent accidents when all other barriers have failed.
Lesson Structure
Ten minutes a day, five days a week, for six weeks.
Children come ten minutes a day, five days a week (Monday - Friday). It takes approximately six weeks for a child to become fully-skilled.
Why?
Children under six years old learn best through short, frequent bursts of practice. Children in this age group also get tired and become cold much more quickly than older children and adults. By practicing a little every day, we slowly build these skills into a child's muscle memory and build their confidence at the same time.
It is helpful to compare a child learning how to swim to a child learning how to walk. If a child only practiced learning how to walk once a week for 45 minutes (the way traditional swim lessons are set up), they would make less progress compared to a child practicing a little bit every day. Learning the mechanics of walking and balance while building muscle memory and confidence is best through small bursts of repetition. Since navigating the water is a completely different sensory experience, children's bodies need time to navigate and adapt to all the different challenges of being in the water.
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