Parents/caregivers are not REQUIRED to get in the water during lessons. However, towards the end of the session your instructor may ask you to get in to learn how to swim with them in the water while honoring their hard-earned skills! Usually this is done on Fridays and is call “Parent Swim Friday”, but can be changed to accommodate a parents/caregivers work schedule.

Lessons are attended 10 minutes a day, 5 consecutive days a week for approximately 6 weeks. I know 5 days a week might seem daunting, but I PROMISE it’s worth it.

Research shows that children in this age range attain skills best within the first 10 minutes. We are sure you know this all too well that attention spans for little ones can be quite short.

The consistency of daily lessons is critical for learning efficiency. These are NOT traditional swim lessons! We are teaching highly specialized skills, and it is very important to attend class every day. If you cannot commit to this schedule, you may want to hold off on registering until you are sure you can.

Our program does focus on survival swim, but children who are SOILD walkers can learn to swim. As toddlers and young children gain more physical skills on land, they are ready to learn more skills in the water as well. ISR teaches children to swim a short distance, rotate onto their back to a floating position, and then turn over to continue the sequence of swimming and floating until they can reach safety at the steps, side of the pool, or shoreline.

NO! Every child can learn to INDEPENDENTLY float and INDEPENDENTLY swim. ISR Instructors are highly skilled, precise aquatic behavior specialists who understand the unique cognitive, intellectual, and physical development dynamics of young children. Understanding the behaviors of children in the water allows each Instructor to respond with ISR’s proprietary technique.

The 6 weeks is an estimate 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 specific strengths and needs. It is important to realize that this is an average which means that some children will finish more quickly while others will need more practice.

The final week of your child’s session will be checkout week. Nearly 70% of kids drown during non-swim time. Checkout week is where we will put your child’s skills to the test. It is important that we test your child’s self-rescue skills while wearing clothes and that they are prepared for any season.

If a child has experienced the sensations of being in the water in clothing before an emergency, 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.

Swimming in clothes is part of ISR’s check out procedures, which a student completes near the end of his/her session when his/her skills are fully shaped.