Our experience with ISR (Infant Swimming Resource)
As a former competitive swimmer, and teenage lifeguard, and my husband having grown up with a pool in his backyard- we have always known that we wanted to be sure that our children learned to swim…successfully…and quickly. I had heard of ISR through a friend and fellow Main Line mommy who was looking into the program at the Upper main Line YMCA for her daughter and knew it was something that was right up our alley. However, the fact that the 2 closest locations that offered the training program were each a minimum 45 minute drive away put the program on our mental back burner. We had a lot going on (baby #2, selling a house, buying a house a dog recovering from surgery and 3 other pets needing medical attention, yada yada yada) and it just seemed like I would probably jump off a bridge if I tried to add this effort to my already chaotic madness. Plus, while my in-laws have a pool, we did not at the time so the pressure to pull the trigger wasn’t there- it was a luxury decision and not one of necessity.
So we joined our local YMCA and took our eldest son there
for 3 sessions in a row during the winter. I would love to say wonderful things
about programs like the one we went to at our Y – truth be told the teacher was
great but the classes were lame. We sang songs, and the kids moved through the
water only in our arms and we had little training for us or them on how to get
a child to WAIT for you until they get in the water, let alone what would
happen when they DIDN’T wait and promptly sank to the bottom because all they
knew were the words to itsy bitsy spider. It wasn’t a waste of time or money
but in hindsight I wish I had pulled the trigger on ISR way sooner.
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| Miss Devon ROCKS! |
When we moved to Western West Chester to a house with a pool
we suddenly had to make the decision to get our children acclimated to the
water before the swimming season hit. Since we knew we were going to open our
pool very early to make sure all of the kinks were out this rang even more true
from a safety perspective. Fenced in pools are great but our boys are NUTS and
they are Houdinis so a fence may serve a purpose but if the dog can find spots
to sneak in under the fence then no doubt so can our creative boys. Being a
whole heck of a lot closer to an ISR training program helped a LOT too – we
were no longer 45+ minutes from a class pool we now were 20 minutes making it a
far easier decision.
I am not going to lie- ISR training is a major financial and
time commitment. The classes are a maximum of 10 minutes per class which means
that from the time you are getting ready to go , get there, get dressed and get
the kid in the pool 10 minutes seems like a blink of an eye. Add to that the
fact that you have to reverse the whole process on the return effort and you
are looking at practically half of your day gone… and I mean EVERY DAY… you are
there 5 days a week for 6+ weeks… yep, 10 minutes a day, 5 days a week, 20-40
minutes away probably and for 6 weeks. Yikes, right? Did I mention yet that you
have to write down EVERYTHING your child eats, poops, drinks and when they
sleep for the duration too? Yep- EVERYTHING.
Any pre-training doubts I had we compounded by the fact that
my eldest son screamed bloody murder for the first 2-3 weeks…every.single.class.
Our youngest (just shy of a year when we started) was a dream, sort of was too
relaxed to actual learn anything to the point of having to be tucked off so he
would react to the instruction… I had my doubts about the whole thing up until
2-3 weeks but we didn’t give up.
There were other ISR moms there also doing classes. A few
started when we started, a few ahead of us by a few weeks. I commiserated with
the moms on the same track as us – “would this really work” , “are we doing the
right thing?” , “when are they going to actually show progress?”. It was a
tough road and we were sticking it out together. We all had the same questions,
concerns and doubts I think.
It was watching the kids that were just that much further
ahead of us that gave us hope.. we suddenly saw real floating, real skills, and
while it seemed like our kids would never get there themselves it was the
glimmer of light we needed to get through it all and keep coming
back.every.single.day.
Then…around 2-3 weeks it “clicked”… for both of my boys. And
it was an amazing sight. It still gives me Goosebumps thinking about it. To see
the small movements and tasks that were reinforced and taught every day for the
first 3 weeks suddenly start to come together to resemble the skills we had
hoped for was truly amazing. And then the ball rolls down the hill and it
starts to get really awesome and really amazing.
Our primary instructor “Miss Devon” at Hockessin Athletic
Club is maybe on my top 3 list of “new best Friends” because of not just the
relationship you form with that person over the course of the training, but
because she basically single handedly will at some point potentially be the
reason one or both of our children will survive an epic swimming accident. If
they fall in the pool they know what to do. That’s it. Its super simple and so
effective that it literally means that she will potentially be the reason why
we will avert a tragic disaster should it arise.
I know nothing is foolproof. But in the weeks since
graduating the growth rate of our sons skills is sublime and makes me so
thankful for the program that I had to write about it.
The gist is this (this is probably the info you were
expecting sooner- sorry had to gush) : ISR teaches survival training. Your kids
are not learning to blow bubbles and do perfectly formed strokes. They aren’t
learning songs or using a kickboard or floaties. THEY ARE LEARNING TO SURVIVE
and they are being taught the skills to save them in the most kind, caring and
effective environment I have ever seen. I half expected them to be thrown into
the pool… how else would they learn? NOPE… far from it. They are gently and
almost quietly coaxed into repetitive actions that form the muscle memory
necessary for their bodies to react on their own should the need arise. The
ONE-ON-ONE classes are only 10 minutes because of two reasons – the foremost
being body temperature. That first 10 minutes the body’s muscles are the most
responsive to learning. Secondly (and this is not “said” but as parents we know
the truth here) attention span. What child do you know that can do something
that (possibly) they don’t WANT to do for more than 10 minutes? Yeah, exactly -
me either.
Our youngest son (now 16 months as I write this) is a
rockstar floater. He would probably float on his back for 20 minutes straight
if we would let him. Our eldest who initially screamed bloody murder , learned
to swim-float-swim in order to get himself to either a safe place to wait to be
helped or to the stairs where he can get out himself. He now is jumping off the
side of the pool and swimming to the steps…all by himself.
I know that there is no 100% guarantee of safety around
water. That this all goes out the window if a blow to the head or other
significant injury is in play. But the fact that drowning is the leading cause
of accidental death for children under the age of 4 years old* I feel far more
confident in the skills our children have to handle the potential of this than
well, sorry but, than any one I know.
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| our now swimmer thanks to ISR! |
I can’t recommend the ISR team at Hockessin Athletic Club
enough and can’t urge any parent strongly enough to get thee to ISR – Its worth
it.
THANK YOU MISS DEVON & MISS NADYA AND ISR!
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