Frequently Asked Questions

Lessons per child are for 6 weeks. They would need to come 5 days a week, M-F and lessons are 10 minutes long.

Repetition and consistency are key. Research shows that short, more frequent lessons result in higher retention. Here is a bit more info:

It's the way young children learn

As babies, we don't practice walking once a week. Standing, balancing, cruising are done in tiny increments each day as part of our experience of learning to walk. And similar to walking, swimming is a sensorimotor skill best learned by experience over time.

Kids thrive on routine

The consistency of the daily lesson schedule creates an optimal learning environment. When kids know where they are going, who they will be with, and what is expected of them they begin to feel confident and secure, building trust with their instructor as they are taught these priceless skills.

It’s WORK!

People often think of swimming as a "for fun" activity, but they forget...it's a workout! Little bodies get tired quickly, and fatigued muscles + water (the most unforgiving environment on the planet) = dangerous. Safety is our top priority, so instructors closely monitor your child's fatigue to ensure they are practicing efficiently for an optimal learning experience.  

Generally speaking, children ages 6 months to 1 year learn the ISR Self-Rescue® skill of rolling onto their backs to float, rest and breathe. They learn to maintain this position until help arrives. After they have learned to perform these skills independently, all children then practice these skills fully clothed. 

Older, more mobile children will learn the full ISR Self-Rescue® sequence of swimming until they need air, rotating onto the back to float, then rolling back over to continue swimming. ISR students are taught to repeat this sequence until they reach the safety of the steps, the side of the pool, or an adult in the water. Because the majority of drowning accidents that occur when a child is fully clothed, your child will practice their new survival skills fully clothed. 

For the first 5 weeks your child will wear a bathing suit and TWO swim diapers; preferably 2 cloth over the top of a disposable swim diaper (if they are not potty trained)

During week 6 your child will do a few lessons fully clothed.

Because most 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.

For most children, crying is developmentally appropriate and their only way of communicating. Typically, once your child gains the confidence in their new skills, the crying diminishes. Instructors are use to this behavior so don't be concerned about tears interfering with lessons!

Learning new skills, with a new person, in a new environment— who wouldn’t be upset at first? The cry we hear oftentimes in the water is the same cry you get when you take away a toy, don’t let them eat dirt, or even put them in their car seat. It’s a protest and their way of saying they aren’t happy to be here. Remember, this is their way of communicating with us since most children are not yet verbal.

We like to tell parents/guardians that if you can make if through the first couple of weeks, it gets easier. Remember, every day at lessons is another day of building in-water confidence and another day closer to your child being fully skilled. You’ve got this!

Every lesson with ISR is one-on-one and individualized for each student. This means we never have more than one student in the water at a time and keep a 1:1 student to Instructor ratio. 

ISR Self-Rescue® claims a retention rate of 94-100% for 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 ISR Self-Rescue® Skills.  Contacting and/or returning to your instructor in a timely manner is imperative to maintaining effective habits.

Refresher lessons are a condensed version of initial lessons. Because children grow rapidly, physically and mentally, during the course of a year and are continually developing new skills, these lessons assist the child to adjust their previously mastered skills to their new bodies. It is not unusual for children to not swim or float at the same skill level that they did during the previous season’s lessons. This does not mean that they have "forgotten" to swim or float, it means that they need to practice their skills in their new larger, stronger body. 

Maintenance lessons are designed to fine tune the student’s skills, or to prevent problems with the child’s technique. As a child’s confidence in the water grows, they may try to experiment with new behaviors or try to emulate siblings or adults. This may negatively affect his or her ability to swim or float. These lessons are conducted periodically, based on the Instructor’s assessment of need and the parent’s scheduling preferences.