Frequently asked questions

Self -Rescue lessons teach children how to survive in the water. Children between the ages of 6-12 months are taught to roll over and maintain a float position in the event of a water accident when they have fallen in the water. Teaching your infant to float takes approximately 6 weeks. 13 months and older children are taught to swim-float-swim, in the same time frame of 6 weeks.

ISR nor any other program can “drown-proof” your child. There is no such thing as drown proof! ISR is not a substitution for supervision, however it does give your child the skills to have the best fighting chance in the event that all other barriers (fence, locks, supervision) fail them to be an aquatic problem solver and self-rescue should they find themselves alone in the water.

 Lessons are attended 10 minutes a day, 5 days a week (Monday-Friday) for approximately 4-6 weeks. The consistency of daily lessons is critical for learning efficiency. These are NOT traditional swim lessons! We are teaching highly specialized skills and it is very important to attend class every day. If you cannot commit to this schedule, you might not want to register until you are sure you can. 

Unfortunately I don’t offer weekend classes except for occasional missed lesson make ups. ISR has found through many years of research and study that the students learn the skills best when broken down into smaller tasks and use their skills on a consistent, repetitive daily basis until fully skilled. Therefore, lessons are only offered Monday – Friday. 

Great question! ISR has been researched and developed for well over 50 years. It’s nationally recognized as the safest swim program for infants and children.

Consider these points regarding the cost of ISR lessons…

1. ISR teaches your child to SWIM. There are no other programs in Arizona (or in the Nation) that will teach your child to swim with their face in the water, roll to their back to rest and breathe, and flip over to continue swimming with the level of training that ISR Instructors have and the safety protocols that ISR Instructors follow. Many parents come to me after spending hundreds of dollars on traditional “swim” programs frustrated because their child doesn’t have any discernible skills after weeks, months, or even years of lessons!

2. You do not need to enroll your children into swim lessons summer after summer, year after year. Once they learn these skills, they have them forever. With refreshers every 6-8 months, they will retain their skills indefinitely. You end up spending more money over time on traditional lessons that are taught by former high school swimmers or college students trying to make some spending money over the summer. Speaking of teaching credentials…

3. Every ISR instructor undergoes 8 weeks of intense training. Hands on, in the pool with an ISR Master Instructor and students, learning the ISR method. For 6-8 weeks, Instructors are in the pool 5x per week for several hours a day, for a minimum of 60 hours with ACTUAL students. In addition, we receive academic training in anatomy, physiology, child psychology, behavior and development, sensorimotor learning, and how each relates to the aquatic environment. Every instructor also must maintain current CPR and First Aid certifications, as well as annual recertification and testing to maintain our ISR certification and skills.

If you add up what you’d spend in a traditional swim program for a few weeks during the summer – where he leaves the class with little to no skills – and then multiply that by every summer until he is 6 years old, this program costs significantly less and the value is infinitely greater. Your children will learn life saving skills that traditional lessons do not provide. If you are concerned solely about initial cost… a swim class that focuses on socialization and play such as a traditional swim program rather than safety and survival such as ISR might be something to consider.

 ISR has a signup fee of $105 per student due at registration (non refundable). The weekly tuition for lessons is $100.00 per student. Lesson tuition is due on the Monday of each swim week (Cash, Check, Im working on a online service at this time). Tuition is only charged until the child is fully skilled. Although lessons normally take approximately 4-6 weeks. There is no contract or obligation to complete the full 6 weeks if the child becomes skilled before then.  

Refresher lessons (lessons that are offered to students who have completed the ISR skills and come back to me to refresh their ISR skills the following season) are $90 per week (ISR charges $35 per student for reregistration, per year, non refundable). Student tuition discounts available for 3 or more siblings enrolled at the same time. Please contact me for further details. 

Please contact me to register. (623)308-4438 or cherish.parker@infantswim.com

Once your child is registered you will receive a registration packet via email from the ISR national office that contains:

• A DIGITAL Parent Resource Guide (a comprehensive guide to safety measures involved with having your children in and around water which contains a great amount of information about ISR and a lot of helpful information to ensure your child’s ISR experience is the best it can be).
• Additional ISR resource information
• A gift code in which you are able to redeem at ISR’s Seal store for a cloth ISR swim diaper or an ISR t-shirt of your desired size.  

Some children cry the first few lessons due to anxiety. They are at a new pool they’ve probably never been to before, being handed into the water to a stranger – it’s normal for them to be wary of the situation! It’s important for us to teach your child to trust his/her instructor and eventually to trust the water. Many kids can’t wait to come to lessons by the end of the first week!

Fear is a learned behavior. We didn’t come out of the womb afraid of spiders, large dogs or water! When someone has a negative experience that involves the fearful object or experience, fear is developed. Your child will only truly be fearful of the water if he or she has witnessed or experienced a traumatic aquatic event or someone close to them has and has tied that emotion to the experience for the child.

What if I don’t want my child to cry – ever?

ISR might not be the right fit for your family. However, parents who have lost a child to drowning will tell you they’d give everything to hear their child cry again. Accidents happen to everyone. If it makes you uncomfortable to hear your child cry, think about what it would feel like to never have the opportunity to hear him at all. And more importantly, remember some of the reasons children cry…

 The short answer is yes! On rare occasions, there are some student’s with certain disabilities that may not be a good match for ISR lessons. However, each student’s online registration is reviewed by a member of our Registration Evaluation Team (RET) of medical professionals. Students may only begin lessons when (or if) their registration is cleared to begin by our RET team. We believe in offering the SAFEST lesson possible for each and every student so that may require some additional safety protocols, a note from a pediatrician or an extended wait period before approval. 

Yes, I have experience with coaching older Children just entering into competitive swimming. (swim team age) 4-18 years old.  I have experience with all strokes, starts and turns.  It is preferred that you go through the ISR website registration process for medical clearance.