WHAT IS ISR AND HOW IS IT DIFFERENT
FROM OTHER SWIMMING PROGRAMS?
Formerly known as Infant Swimming Research, ISR is
the product over 40 years of ongoing development in the area of aquatic
survival instruction for infants and children. ISR's primary focus is to teach
you child to become a productive swimmer, or floater in any depth of water.
The goal of ISR is that your child become an "aquatic problem solver". ISR
will greatly increase your child's chance of surviving an aquatic accident,
even when fully clothed! Developed in 1966 by behavioral psychologist Dr.
Harvey Barnett, ISR instructors have taught over 177,000 students nationwide
and abroad.
IF MY CHILD IS UNDER ONE YEAR OLD, WHAT
WILL HE/SHE BE ABLE TO LEARN?
Children between the ages of 6-12 months old are
taught to roll over and maintain a backfloat position in the event of an
accidental fall into the water. Teaching your infant to float takes
approximately 4-5 weeks. Private 10 minutes lessons per day are held 5 days a
week, Monday through Friday. Skilled infants can maintain a backfloat in a
bathing suit or in clothing. If you own a hot tub, pool, boat, or just enjoy
the water, ISR highly recommends survival training once you infant begins to
crawl.
IF MY CHILD IS OVER A YEAR OLD, WHAT WILL HE/SHE
BE ABLE TO LEARN?
Children over the age of one year are taught to
swim with their face in the water, and when they sense the need for air, to
rollback onto their back to float. After resting and breathing, they will roll
over and continue to swim to the nearest point of safety. A child can perform
this swim-float-swim sequence to reach safety in a survival situation.
Children can also perform this sequence in their clothes. If a child does not
see a way out of his predicament, he will roll over onto his back and maintain
a backfloat position. This buys the parent time in the event of an accident.
This same sequence is most often used for fun at the pool! The confidence and
self-esteem of these young swimmers is truly amazing! Teaching your 12 month
to 6 year old will take approximately 4-6 weeks. The lesson format is the same
as for the infants.
ARE SWIMMING LESSONS FOR INFANTS AND SMALL
CHILDREN SAFE?
YES! ISR is dedicated to safety and maintaining
numerous safety protocols to promote safe lessons. Your child's health and
well-being are closely monitored 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. All ISR
instructors undergo an intensive and rigorous training that far exceeds any
other training program of this kind. Each ISR instructor is also required to
attend a yearly recertification symposium that includes quality control as
well as upgrading. 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 Book", written by Dr. Harvey Barnett and JoAnn
Barnett, which will inform you of every aspect of swimming for infants and
children.
Consider these additional points:
HOW DO YOU TEACH A BABY TO
SWIM?
ISR instructors teach infants to swim by honoring
each child's individual strengths and experiences. They understand the
fundamentals of the behavioral sciences, child development and of sensorimotor
learning as it relates to the acquisition of aquatic survival skills; they use
this education to guide each child through the sequence of learning to swim
and float.
WHY SHOULD PARENTS ENROLL THEIR CHILD IN
ISR LESSONS?
ISR parents enroll their children because they
understand their children's abilities and want to give them every opportunity
to learn. They also feel it is important to teach their children how to
surface and breathe should they find themselves alone in the water. Research
shows that there are better times to learn certain things and swimming is best
learned early in life. (Newsweek and Drowning Statistics)
WHY DOES ISR NOT USE PARENTS IN THE WATER DURING
THE LESSONS?
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 our research shows that parents often
find it too difficult to be objective to be effective teachers with their own
children in the water.
WILL MY CHILD LEARN TO FEAR THE WATER?
There is an important difference between being
fearful and being apprehensive because you are not yet skilled in a dangerous
environment. ISR is not like traditional swim lessons; it is a drowning
prevention program that teaches survival swimming. Your child may not happily
skip to his or her ISR lesson each day at first, but that's okay. Sometimes as
a parent, you make sure your child does things for his or her safety, like
receiving vaccinations and wearing a seat belt, 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.
When you learn about ISR, you know this is the most important level of protection you can give your child to prevent
drowning. If fences, supervision, and alarms fail, your child's skill is an
additional measure of protection.
HAS THERE EVER BEEN ANY OUTSIDE RESEARCH ON THE
ISR PROGRAM?
Dr. David Carr, a pediatrician in Orlando, Florida,
conducted an extensive study on ISR. You can read his results on the Internet
at the ISR web page http://infantswim.com/drcarr.htm After completing
this study, Dr. Carr and his wife enrolled their daughter in ISR lessons.
HOW ARE ISR INSTRUCTORS
TRAINED?
Each of the 245 ISR instructors trained have spent
a minimum of five weeks in the water working beside a Master Instructor and/or
Senior Master Instructor gradually taking more and more responsibility for
each child's lesson. In addition to the in-water time, academic sessions are
conducted in the areas of child development and learning theory, the
behavioral sciences; anatomy, physiology and physics as they relate to infants
and young children in the aquatic environment. Each instructor is also
required to obtain and maintain both First Aid and CPR certifications. In
addition, each instructor is required to attend the ISR National
Recertification each year for continuing education about every facet of ISR as
well as quality assurance.
WHY CAN'T ISR TEACH INFANTS UNDER 6 MONTHS
OLD?
Children under the age of 6 months are not
neurologically mature enough to benefit from ISR instruction.
WHAT ABOUT THE USE OF FLOTATION DEVICES AND LIFE
JACKETS?
Flotation devices give children a false sense of
security and engrain vertical body postures into their muscular system that
are not compatible with swimming or floating skills. 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.
HOW IS IT THAT BABIES CAN LEARN TO RESPOND TO THE
DANGER THAT WATER PRESENTS WHEN THEY FALL IN?
A baby does not need to perceive danger or be
afraid to respond appropriately to being underwater. If a baby has learned to
roll over and float when he needs air, he doesn't need to perceive danger in
order to respond in this manner. He needs skill, practice and confidence to
calmly deal with the situation.
HOW LONG DO YOUR STUDENTS RETAIN THEIR SKILLS ONCE
YOUR INSTRUCTORS HAVE TAUGHT THEM?
“We’ve found that if a sensorimotor skill is
properly presented the first time the student is exposed to the curriculum the
retention is very high. For ISR students, the retention for boys is 94 to 100
% and for girls between 96 and 100% assessed after one year since the last
lesson. Advancing from learning to mastery is also a factor in skill retention
and ISR students learn 90% of their skills with time left to practice in front
of their Instructor during lessons. Also important, ISR students practice
their skills encumbered in clothing, which is vital as most children are
clothed when in a dangerous water situation.”
- JoAnn Barnett, President of
ISR
WHAT FURTHER LESSONS WILL MY CHILD NEED?
ISR recommends that you bring your child back for
refresher lessons. Frequency depends on the child's age, growth rate, skill
level and confidence level. The goal of refreshers is to help your child
adjust his/her new body size and weight to his existing skill level. Your
instructor will work with your child to help fine-tune his or her aquatic
experience to assist with building efficiency, which will result in
self-confidence. This is especially important if you child has not been able
to practice any appropriate aquatic skill between seasons. While NO program
can "drown proof" your child, ISR lessons typically have a 94-100% retention
rate up to one year later. Refresher lessons are important because children
change so much both cognitively and physically during the first 4-5 years of
life. It is important that their aquatic skill and abilities grow with their
bodies
FROM OTHER SWIMMING PROGRAMS?
Formerly known as Infant Swimming Research, ISR is
the product over 40 years of ongoing development in the area of aquatic
survival instruction for infants and children. ISR's primary focus is to teach
you child to become a productive swimmer, or floater in any depth of water.
The goal of ISR is that your child become an "aquatic problem solver". ISR
will greatly increase your child's chance of surviving an aquatic accident,
even when fully clothed! Developed in 1966 by behavioral psychologist Dr.
Harvey Barnett, ISR instructors have taught over 177,000 students nationwide
and abroad.
IF MY CHILD IS UNDER ONE YEAR OLD, WHAT
WILL HE/SHE BE ABLE TO LEARN?
Children between the ages of 6-12 months old are
taught to roll over and maintain a backfloat position in the event of an
accidental fall into the water. Teaching your infant to float takes
approximately 4-5 weeks. Private 10 minutes lessons per day are held 5 days a
week, Monday through Friday. Skilled infants can maintain a backfloat in a
bathing suit or in clothing. If you own a hot tub, pool, boat, or just enjoy
the water, ISR highly recommends survival training once you infant begins to
crawl.
IF MY CHILD IS OVER A YEAR OLD, WHAT WILL HE/SHE
BE ABLE TO LEARN?
Children over the age of one year are taught to
swim with their face in the water, and when they sense the need for air, to
rollback onto their back to float. After resting and breathing, they will roll
over and continue to swim to the nearest point of safety. A child can perform
this swim-float-swim sequence to reach safety in a survival situation.
Children can also perform this sequence in their clothes. If a child does not
see a way out of his predicament, he will roll over onto his back and maintain
a backfloat position. This buys the parent time in the event of an accident.
This same sequence is most often used for fun at the pool! The confidence and
self-esteem of these young swimmers is truly amazing! Teaching your 12 month
to 6 year old will take approximately 4-6 weeks. The lesson format is the same
as for the infants.
ARE SWIMMING LESSONS FOR INFANTS AND SMALL
CHILDREN SAFE?
YES! ISR is dedicated to safety and maintaining
numerous safety protocols to promote safe lessons. Your child's health and
well-being are closely monitored 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. All ISR
instructors undergo an intensive and rigorous training that far exceeds any
other training program of this kind. Each ISR instructor is also required to
attend a yearly recertification symposium that includes quality control as
well as upgrading. 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 Book", written by Dr. Harvey Barnett and JoAnn
Barnett, which will inform you of every aspect of swimming for infants and
children.
Consider these additional points:
- No child is ever thrown into the pool.
- A child is never submerged for more than 7 seven seconds.
- ISR instructors monitor your child for temperature and muscular
fatigue, as well as physical and psychological well-being. - Your child's daily routines outside of ISR lessons hold
valuable data for your instructor. You will receive instructions on how to
communicate this information to your instructor.
HOW DO YOU TEACH A BABY TO
SWIM?
ISR instructors teach infants to swim by honoring
each child's individual strengths and experiences. They understand the
fundamentals of the behavioral sciences, child development and of sensorimotor
learning as it relates to the acquisition of aquatic survival skills; they use
this education to guide each child through the sequence of learning to swim
and float.
WHY SHOULD PARENTS ENROLL THEIR CHILD IN
ISR LESSONS?
ISR parents enroll their children because they
understand their children's abilities and want to give them every opportunity
to learn. They also feel it is important to teach their children how to
surface and breathe should they find themselves alone in the water. Research
shows that there are better times to learn certain things and swimming is best
learned early in life. (Newsweek and Drowning Statistics)
WHY DOES ISR NOT USE PARENTS IN THE WATER DURING
THE LESSONS?
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 our research shows that parents often
find it too difficult to be objective to be effective teachers with their own
children in the water.
WILL MY CHILD LEARN TO FEAR THE WATER?
There is an important difference between being
fearful and being apprehensive because you are not yet skilled in a dangerous
environment. ISR is not like traditional swim lessons; it is a drowning
prevention program that teaches survival swimming. Your child may not happily
skip to his or her ISR lesson each day at first, but that's okay. Sometimes as
a parent, you make sure your child does things for his or her safety, like
receiving vaccinations and wearing a seat belt, 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.
When you learn about ISR, you know this is the most important level of protection you can give your child to prevent
drowning. If fences, supervision, and alarms fail, your child's skill is an
additional measure of protection.
HAS THERE EVER BEEN ANY OUTSIDE RESEARCH ON THE
ISR PROGRAM?
Dr. David Carr, a pediatrician in Orlando, Florida,
conducted an extensive study on ISR. You can read his results on the Internet
at the ISR web page http://infantswim.com/drcarr.htm After completing
this study, Dr. Carr and his wife enrolled their daughter in ISR lessons.
HOW ARE ISR INSTRUCTORS
TRAINED?
Each of the 245 ISR instructors trained have spent
a minimum of five weeks in the water working beside a Master Instructor and/or
Senior Master Instructor gradually taking more and more responsibility for
each child's lesson. In addition to the in-water time, academic sessions are
conducted in the areas of child development and learning theory, the
behavioral sciences; anatomy, physiology and physics as they relate to infants
and young children in the aquatic environment. Each instructor is also
required to obtain and maintain both First Aid and CPR certifications. In
addition, each instructor is required to attend the ISR National
Recertification each year for continuing education about every facet of ISR as
well as quality assurance.
WHY CAN'T ISR TEACH INFANTS UNDER 6 MONTHS
OLD?
Children under the age of 6 months are not
neurologically mature enough to benefit from ISR instruction.
WHAT ABOUT THE USE OF FLOTATION DEVICES AND LIFE
JACKETS?
Flotation devices give children a false sense of
security and engrain vertical body postures into their muscular system that
are not compatible with swimming or floating skills. 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.
HOW IS IT THAT BABIES CAN LEARN TO RESPOND TO THE
DANGER THAT WATER PRESENTS WHEN THEY FALL IN?
A baby does not need to perceive danger or be
afraid to respond appropriately to being underwater. If a baby has learned to
roll over and float when he needs air, he doesn't need to perceive danger in
order to respond in this manner. He needs skill, practice and confidence to
calmly deal with the situation.
HOW LONG DO YOUR STUDENTS RETAIN THEIR SKILLS ONCE
YOUR INSTRUCTORS HAVE TAUGHT THEM?
“We’ve found that if a sensorimotor skill is
properly presented the first time the student is exposed to the curriculum the
retention is very high. For ISR students, the retention for boys is 94 to 100
% and for girls between 96 and 100% assessed after one year since the last
lesson. Advancing from learning to mastery is also a factor in skill retention
and ISR students learn 90% of their skills with time left to practice in front
of their Instructor during lessons. Also important, ISR students practice
their skills encumbered in clothing, which is vital as most children are
clothed when in a dangerous water situation.”
- JoAnn Barnett, President of
ISR
WHAT FURTHER LESSONS WILL MY CHILD NEED?
ISR recommends that you bring your child back for
refresher lessons. Frequency depends on the child's age, growth rate, skill
level and confidence level. The goal of refreshers is to help your child
adjust his/her new body size and weight to his existing skill level. Your
instructor will work with your child to help fine-tune his or her aquatic
experience to assist with building efficiency, which will result in
self-confidence. This is especially important if you child has not been able
to practice any appropriate aquatic skill between seasons. While NO program
can "drown proof" your child, ISR lessons typically have a 94-100% retention
rate up to one year later. Refresher lessons are important because children
change so much both cognitively and physically during the first 4-5 years of
life. It is important that their aquatic skill and abilities grow with their
bodies
