ISR is the safest and most effective provider of survival swimming lessons for infants and young children worldwide. ISR’s Self-Rescue program teaches children six months to six years of age how to survive if they were to reach the water alone.

ISR lessons are customized for each child to ensure their lessons honor their physical and emotional development as well as their previous aquatic experiences.

ISR is the product of over 50+ years of ongoing research. Rather than blow bubbles and sing songs, our primary focus is to make sure each student can SURVIVE in the water and be an aquatic problem solver. We give them real life situations, like using their skills in full clothing, to make sure they are prepared for a real life drowning scenario. Our goal is to always do what is safest for each child and what is best for their survival.

6-12 Month-Olds: Learn the foundational skill of rolling onto the back to float, rest, and breathe, maintaining this life-saving position until help arrives.

1-6-year-olds: Master the swim-float-swim survival sequence, encompassing swimming with the head down, rolling onto the back, resuming swimming until reaching the poolside, allowing for self-extraction or rescue.

Once fully skilled, children practice ISR's survival techniques fully clothed during lessons, ensuring adaptability in various scenarios.

To maintain their skills with maintenance lessons, it is recommended that children undergo refresher lessons, fostering continual growth in their water safety and aquatic problem solving skills.

Crying is developmentally appropriate and their only way of communicating. Once your child gains the confidence in their new skills, the crying slows. 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, 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 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!

Our number one reason is always safety. Lessons are mentally and physically demanding for little ones and we never want to fatigue or exhaust them. For their little bodies, this can be quite the workout, so we make sure to limit the time they’re in the water because we want to be sure to see them the next day.

The second reason is for retention of skills. It’s proven that children in this age range attain skills best within the first 10 minutes!

We know 5 days a week might seem daunting, but we promise it’s worth it! Like we said before, ISR Self-Rescue® Skills are developed just like any other sensorimotor skill. When learning to walk, crawl, or even ride a bike, it’s the practice and repetition that makes for success. Imagine if you only had worked on those skills once a week?

Practicing ISR Self-Rescue® Skills on a consistent basis allows for muscle memory to form. Muscle memory is what allows your child to Self-Rescue as soon as they hit the water.