"ISR-trained children learn to respect the water and to enjoy swimming, and have confidence in their abilities in the water." - ISR Parent Resource Book
Babies from 6-12 Months Old: The Rollback-to-Float Sequence Babies who are between 6 and at least 12 months old will learn how to orient themselves in the water and roll to a back float position to rest and breathe. Even though babies at this age have the ability to accidentally get into the water either by walking or crawling, most don’t yet have the ability to get out of the water on their own—they simply don’t have the upper body strength to pull themselves up and out of the water. However, children as young as 6 months old can be taught how to rollover onto their back, and maintain a stable, life-saving floating position until help arrives. This skill is at the foundation of the entire ISR Self-Rescue® skill-set as it can be the difference between life and death in the event of accidental immersion.
Young Children from 1-6 Years: The Swim-Float-Swim Sequence Young children, who are older than 12 months and walking well, are generally developmentally ready and physically strong enough to get themselves out of the water should they fall into a pool. We teach this age group to swim for a short distance, roll into a back float position to rest and breathe, and then turn back over to swim again in search of an exit. If your child cannot find a way out, ISR teaches him to resume a back float until he is rescued. Children are taught to repeat this swim-float-swim sequence as many times as necessary to be able to find a wall, steps or the shore where they might be able to pull themselves out of the water. Given that most drowning and near-drowning incidents occur when a child is fully clothed, every student, once fully skilled, practices in summer and winter clothing.
Individualized Instruction for Your Child Any parent knows that no two children are exactly alike. Every child has his own level of physical skill, unique temperament, and way of learning. That’s why each ISR lesson is individually designed and customized for your child. In the course of each lesson, your Instructor will assess how your child has retained the skills taught in the previous lesson. The goal is to encourage your child to do more and more with each lesson, but always within the boundaries of their physical abilities and their cognitive and emotional learning capacities.
Why We Are Different If you’ve had any experience with other programs that claim to teach babies how to swim, you’ve probably already discovered what sets ISR apart. Our focus is on drowning prevention, not simply learning to swim. Your child’s ability to survive an aquatic accident depends on her ability to orient herself in the water, get a breath, and keep breathing until she can be rescued or can get out of the water on her own. A child who just learns to blow bubbles in the water, or who learns to paddle a few feet to Mom in the water, or worse yet, learns that “floaties” or rafts will keep her in an upright position, will not have the skills necessary to survive if she falls into the water. No one, regardless of age or skill level, is ever “drown-proof.” Our goal is to equip your child with independent aquatic skills that will become the foundation for a lifetime of safe enjoyment of the water. We also consider parent education an equally important component of the program in an effort to prevent aquatic accidents. And, while we know that ISR skills can and have made the difference between life and death for many of our students, we hope the only times your child will need to use their skills are while safely playing the in water with you.