Before you take your baby to the local pool for swim lessons, make sure you've given equal consideration to the critical importance of swimming and water safety techniques. ISR is the safest swim instruction method nationwide, providing clinically researched instruction techniques to ensure that your child is learning Self-Rescue™ skills and the competence required to enjoy the water. No other swim class offers a proven system for safely teaching your child to enjoy the fun of swimming, while at the same time teaching life saving skills that are proven to save lives.

Each ISR instructor is carefully screened through extensive interviews before qualifying to earn certification. ISR student instructors study with a Certified Master Instructor, who develops a unique training program that targets each student instructor's learning and teaching styles. While each student instructor may develop a unique teaching style, every certified instructor must meet the same high standards for professionalism, safety, and knowledge. You can be confident that your child will be carefully monitored and lovingly instructed at each lesson. Give your child more than swim lessons; give your child an extra level of protection with survival swimming instruction from a certified ISR instructor.

ISR Experience - What Parents Are Saying from Infant Swimming Resource on Vimeo.

Mommy & Me - Hazards

There are thousands of competing swimming instructors nationwide, and parents can easily find a person or an organization willing to teach swimming to young children. Such programs can be found at any recreation facility, community pool or even national safety organizations or swim school organizations, none of which have or utilize a proven system designed and proven to teach your child how to save his or her own life.

Although many programs for young children focus on a water orientation approach using songs and games, this approach does not teach your child any of the skills necessary for survival. Many lessons such as Mommy and Me teach children that the water is a fun place to play without teaching them any meaningful skills.  Remember the water will not be a fun place for your child if he or she is unskilled and finds himself alone in the water. This approach may actually make a child more vulnerable to drowning as a child is taught to be fearless without any understanding of the skills needed for effective swimming.  ISR lessons encourage water competence first thereby promoting a safe foundation for a lifelong enjoyment of the water.

Flotation devices such as vests, arm bands, flotation swim suits, etc, 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.

ISR - STRENGTH

The intellectual property behind ISR's method of training centers on the self-rescue methodology developed by Dr. Harvey Barnett. ISR's foundation of continuous research and evaluation ensures the safety of the program for your child.

ISR has trained more than 200,000 babies and delivered more than 7 million lessons across the United States.

ISR is the only medically sound program proven to save lives

To date, ISR has 790 documented cases of children using ISR techniques to save themselves from drowning.

Technique

ISR uses both verbal and non-verbal cues to teach children as young as 6 months. Even though your child might not communicate verbally yet, he or she can learn to self-rescue. Remember, your child may not talk, but he or she has learned to crawl, walk and run. That is the only skill they need to find themselves in water danger.

Unlike other swimming lessons your child's self-rescue lessons:

• Are customized and taught privately, one-on-one by a certified ISR instructor
• Last for 10 minutes each day, Monday through Friday, for 4 to 6 weeks
• Emphasize health, ongoing program evaluations and parent education
• Provide your child with the competence and confidence to safely enjoy the water
• Extensive parent education on safety in and around the water

Safety

ISR's safety record and proven instruction techniques are uniquely tailored to your child's needs based on comprehensive assessment and continual monitoring of your child's health and skill attainment, by certified ISR instructors.

For your child's well-being and comfort, prior to each lesson you receive BUDS (bowel, urine, diet, sleep) forms. This sheet tracks the unique physiology of your child, including bowel movements, frequency of urination, diet and meal-times, and the duration of every sleep episode in a 24-hour period. Before each lesson, your ISR instructor will review the BUDS sheet and ask you further questions if necessary, and then individualize the lesson for your child. If your instructor feels any of these key measurements are not as they should be, your child's lesson will not take place. The BUDS sheet ensures your child learns in a healthy and safe environment.

ISR Instructors' Certification

When it comes to your child, you always look for the most qualified, caring instructors. ISR is no different. Beyond sharing a devotion to child safety, each instructor is highly trained and certified in the Infant Swimming Resource program. The ISR instructor training includes a minimum of 60 hours of supervised in-water training plus education and testing in subjects such as child psychology, physiology, and behavioral science. Plus, every ISR instructor must complete re-certification annually to maintain his or her affiliation with the program.