About Lessons

The program provides the safest and most effective survival swimming lessons available. ISR lessons are always one-on-one and customized to the developmental level of each child.  To learn these survival skills, students attend classes 5 days a week, 10 minutes per day, for an average of 6-7 consecutive weeks.

Students in this age group will learn to hold their breath underwater, roll onto their backs to float, rest and breathe.

Students will learn the above-mentioned skills and be introduced to a swim with their head down and eyes open. They will be taught to access a nearby pool side or stairs via a swim, but if in the middle of the pool they will learn to roll onto their backs to float until safety arrives.

Students will learn to hold their breath underwater, swim with their head down and eyes open, roll onto their backs to float, rest and breathe, and roll back over to resume swimming until they reach the side of the pool and can crawl out. In short, they learn the entire swim-float-swim sequence to safety.

Once a child is ISR skilled but before completion of the course, they will complete a summer clothes lesson wearing light clothing, shoes and a regular diaper (if applicable) and a winter clothes lesson wearing full snow gear and boots. The majority of drownings occur when a child is fully clothed, so ISR believes it is important to practice their newfound skills in these different scenarios under the supervision of their instructor. 

During the last week of lessons, parents are welcome to join their child and instructor in the water for a lesson on how to continue practicing these skills safely at home. 

Maintenance Lessons - After completing their ISR Self-Rescue skillset, maintenance lessons help students to maintain their skills and confidence throughout the year. Similar to regular ISR lessons, maintenance lessons are 10 minutes in length. Discuss with your instructor an appropriate maintenance schedule for your child, but generally speaking it's recommended to attend 1 maintenance lesson per month. 

Refresher Lessons - Refresher lessons are suggested every six months. As children grow, their skills will need to be adjusted to their new height and weight. This is especially important in our region since children spend significantly less time in the water during New England's cold seasons. Refreshers are highly recommended to refine their skills as they’ve most likely hit developmental milestones since the last time they’ve seen us. Since these skills are not new, refresher lessons are scheduled for 1-2 weeks depending on what your child needs.