FAQs

Children between the ages of 6-12 months old are taught to roll over and maintain a back-float position in the event of an accidental fall into the water. Teaching your infant to float takes approximately 4 weeks. Private, no more than 10-minute lessons are held 5 days per week, Monday through Friday. Fully skilled infants can maintain a back-float in a bathing suit or in clothing. ISR highly recommends survival training once your infant begins to crawl and can sit unassisted.

Children over the age of one year are taught to swim with their face in the water, and rollback onto their back to float. After resting and breathing, they will roll over and continue to swim to the nearest point of safety. A child can perform this swim-float-swim sequence to reach safety in a survival situation. Children can also perform this sequence fully clothed. If a child does not see a way out of his predicament, he will roll over onto his back and maintain a back-float position. This buys the parent time in the event of an aquatic accident. This same sequence is most often used for fun at the pool! The confidence and self-esteem of these young swimmers is truly amazing! Teaching this technique to your 12 month to 6 year old will take approximately 6 weeks.

Learn all about our registration process here. Be sure that you have reviewed the available times, locations, and dates to ensure they work for your family. Refer to the Contact Us page if you have any questions.

Yes! ISR is dedicated to safety and maintaining numerous safety protocols to promote safe lessons. Your child’s health and well-being are closely monitored on a daily basis. In addition, your child’s medical and developmental history is a mandatory part of the ISR national registration process and is held strictly confidential.

All ISR Instructors undergo an intensive and rigorous training program that far exceeds any other training program of this kind. Each ISR Instructor is also required to attend yearly conferences, and undergo an extensive recertification process. Your education in the area of aquatic safety for your entire family is an integral part of your child’s lessons, as well. You will receive resources that educate you about every aspect of swimming for infants and children.

Consider these additional points:

• No child is ever thrown into the pool.
• A child is never submerged for more than seven (7) seconds.
• ISR Instructors monitor your child for temperature and muscular fatigue, as well as physical and psychological well-being.
• Your child’s daily routines outside of ISR lessons hold valuable data for your instructor. You will receive instruction on how to communicate this information to your instructor.

By reading the resources we provide, you will understand why ISR Instructors are truly qualified to teach actual aquatic skills to infants and young children under the age of 6 years.

ISR Instructors teach infants to swim by honoring each child’s individual strengths and experiences. They understand the fundamentals of the behavioral sciences, child development, and sensorimotor learning as it relates to the acquisition of aquatic survival skills; they use this education to guide each child through the sequence of learning to swim and float through non-verbal communication.

ISR parents enroll their children into ISR lessons because they feel it is important to teach their children how to survive an aquatic accident. Children will learn to float and breathe until rescued should they find themselves alone in the water. Research shows that swimming is best learned early in life. (Newsweek and Drowning Statistics)

Research shows that it takes an incredible amount of concentration and objectivity to teach a baby or child how to respond to an aquatic emergency, and parents often find it too difficult to be objective to be effective teachers with their own children in the water. Also, having parents in the water can be distracting to the child and the instructor.

There is an important difference between being fearful and being apprehensive because you are not yet skilled in a certain type of environment. ISR is not like traditional swim lessons; it is a drowning prevention program that teaches survival swimming. Your child may not happily skip to his or her ISR lesson each day at first, but that’s okay. Sometimes as a parent, you make sure your child does things for his or her safety, like receiving vaccinations or sitting in a car seat because you know they are safe and important. The same can be said for ISR. FUN can be defined as when SKILL meets CHALLENGE. Once competent in their skills, many children cannot be dragged away from the pool. They are having entirely too much FUN. When you learn about ISR, you know this is the most important level of protection you can give your child to prevent drowning. If fences, supervision, and alarms fail, your child’s skill is an additional measure of protection.

ISR is continually growing while maintaining its high standard of quality control. Parents who take the time to investigate the programs that are available for their children find ISR; hence, the program continues to grow by word of mouth with hundreds of thousands of educated and satisfied parents. We look forward to the day that Not One More Child Drowns!

Each ISR Instructor has spent a minimum of 6 weeks in the water working beside a Master Instructor and/or Senior Master Instructor, gradually taking more and more responsibility for each child’s lesson. Each Instructor is also required to maintain certifications in First Aid and CPR for Healthcare Providers. In addition, each Instructor is required to attend the ISR National Recertification Conference each year for continuing education about every facet of ISR, as well as quality control and quality assurance.

Children under the age of 6 months are not neurologically mature enough to benefit from ISR instruction.

Every child is different; however, many parents report that once their young children have mastered learning to swim, the resulting confidence in their abilities builds a positive self-confidence that is often demonstrated in other aspects of their personalities, growth and development.

Breath holding skills are taught in the first few lessons. ISR Instructors shape breath control using highly effective techniques along with positive reinforcement.

Yes, whether your child has been a water lover for their whole life, or this is the first time they have been introduced to the water, ISR lessons are designed for all children.

Flotation devices give children a false sense of security and hold them in postures that are not compatible with swimming skills. If a child learns that he can jump in the water and go into a vertical posture and he will be able to breathe, he is getting the wrong idea about that environment. Flotation devices are for children who cannot swim. Children, who cannot swim, should not be allowed to learn that it is safe to play in the water while relying on a crutch. Life jackets must be worn in a boat or around the water when there is the potential for an accidental submersion; they are not a substitute for the ability to swim or for adult supervision.

A baby does not need to perceive danger or be afraid to respond appropriately to being underwater. If a baby has learned to roll over and float when he needs air, he doesn’t need to perceive danger in order to respond in this manner. He needs skill, practice and confidence to calmly deal with the situation.

ISR recommends that you bring your child back for refresher lessons. Frequency depends on the child’s age, growth rate, skill level, and confidence level. The goal of refreshers is to help your child adjust his/her new body size and weight to his existing skill level. Your Instructor will work with your child to help fine-tune his or her aquatic experience to assist with building efficiency, which will result in self-confidence. This is especially important if your child has not been able to practice any appropriate aquatic skills between seasons. While NO program can “drown proof” your child, ISR lessons typically have a 94% retention rate up to one year later. Refresher lessons are important because children change rapidly both cognitively and physically during the first 4-5 years of life. It is important that their aquatic skills and abilities grow with their bodies.

Yes. At ISR, we believe that part of survival for a child who can walk is swimming. Children learn the swim-float-swim sequence so that they could get themselves to safety. The difference in our program is that they will learn swimming AND survival skills and how to be an aquatic problem solver.

SR claims a retention rate of 94-100% up to one year following lessons. Having said this, children will explore and may pick up bad habits watching other children or with interference like floating in a bathtub or playing on the steps. As your child goes through lessons, you will begin to understand, through communication with your Instructor, what activities may interfere with his/her learned Self-Rescue skills. Contacting and/or returning to your instructor in a timely manner is imperative to maintaining effective habits.

Because 86% of children, who fall in the water, do so fully clothed, we want our students to have experience with such a situation. If a child has experienced the sensations of being in the water in clothing prior to an emergency situation, he/she is less likely to experience panic and be able to focus on the task at hand. If you have ever jumped in the water with clothes on, then you know that there is a significant difference in weight and feel with clothes as opposed to a bathing suit.

The reason for this is multifaceted. First, repetition and consistency are crucial elements of learning for young children. Research shows that short, more frequent lessons result in higher retention. Second, most children have fairly short attention spans and will not be able to focus on the task for longer and we want to take advantage of the best time for learning. A third reason is that, though the pool temperature is maintained at 78-88 degrees, the temperature is still lower than your child’s body temperature. Lessons are work and therefore will also be loosing body heat. Instructors check students regularly for temperature fatigue since this is an indicator of physical fatigue.

The 6-8 weeks is an estimate that is based on the average time in which it takes most children to learn these survival skills. Every child is unique and ISR’s Self-Rescue program is specifically designed based on your child’s individual strengths and needs. It is important to realize that this is an average which means that some children will actually finish more quickly while others will need more practice. ISR is dedicated to safety and, therefore, we want to provide your child with the time and best opportunity to become proficient in his/her survival skills. We will always honor your child’s needs.

No. You are truly the best cheerleader your child could have. Your positive support and encouragement are invaluable to creating an effective learning environment for your child.

Children often fuss during the first few lessons because they are in a new environment and around new people. As your child becomes more confident in his/her ability in the water, the fussing will decrease. It is not unlike the first time you tried a new exercise class or were asked to perform a task at work that you’d never done before: the first time you try a new task it is always challenging until you get the hang of it. It is the same for your young child. Your child is learning to perform a skill that he/she’s never done before.

There is an important difference between being fearful and being apprehensive because you are not yet skilled in a new environment. ISR is not like traditional swim lessons; it is a drowning prevention program that teaches survival swimming. Sometimes as a parent, you make choices for your child’s safety, like sitting in a car seat, because you know they are important. The same can be said for ISR. FUN can be defined as when SKILL meets CHALLENGE. Once competent in their skills, many children cannot be dragged away from the pool. They are having entirely too much FUN!