YES! ISR is dedicated to safety and maintaining numerous safety protocols to promote safe lessons. Your child's health and well-­being are my highest priority and I closely monitor this on a daily basis. In addition, your child's medical and developmental history is a mandatory part of the ISR national registration process, all of which is held strictly confidential. My ISR instructor training was intensive and rigorous and far exceeds any other training program of this kind. I also attend a yearly re-certification symposium that includes quality control as well as continuing education. Your education in the area of aquatic safety for your entire family is an integral part of your child's lessons. You will receive access to the "Parent Resource Guide", written by Dr. Harvey Barnett and JoAnn Barnett, which will inform you of every aspect of swimming for infants and children. With research, you will find that ISR is the safest survival swimming program and also the most effective for teaching infants and young children.

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 students will also be losing body heat. I check students regularly for temperature fatigue since this is an indicator of physical fatigue.

The ­6 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, I want to provide your child with the time and best opportunity to become proficient in his/her survival skills. I will always honor your child’s needs.

Yes. Consider that children learn to sit, crawl and walk before they learn to speak. Because ISR is taught through sensori-­motor learning, verbal skills are not required for a child to acquire Self-Rescue™ skills. I can communicate with your child through touch and positive reinforcement while striving to set them up for success every step of the way.

We do not want the baby to initially associate the water with the love, attention and affection of the parent while in the water. Also, it takes incredible concentration and objectivity to teach the baby how to respond to an aquatic emergency and ISR research shows that parents often find it too difficult to be objective to be effective teachers with their own children in the water.

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

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.

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.

ISR is the product of over 45 years of ongoing development in the area of aquatic survival instruction for infants and children. ISR's primary focus is to teach your child to become a productive swimmer, or floater in any depth of water. The goal of ISR is that your child becomes an "aquatic problem solver." Providing ISR instruction requires extensive training on the part of the instructor. Lessons are offered exclusively one-on-one so that the focus is 100% on your young child. ISR lessons are an investment in the safety and future of your child.