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  • Where are you located?
    PA I am currently located at The Athletic Club of York offering afternoon lessons. Members and Non-Members are welocme. Member will recieve a $10 a week discount. MD New location coming soon
  • How many days a week are lessons and how long is each session?
    Lessons are attended 5 days a week, Monday through Friday, and ech lesson lasts no longer than 10 min each day for approximately 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 may not register until you are sure you can.
  • Do you have weekend classes?
    Lessons are 5 days a week so they will always take place Monday through Friday. Currently and for the foreseeable future, we will be operating on a Mon-Fri schedule.
  • Is my child too old/young for these classes?
    The ISR program is for infants and children aged 6 months- 5 years, but really there is no upper age limit! Older children are just more likely to learn in a shorter period of time than the typical 6 week session. On the younger end, he or she must be 6 mos AND must be able to sit in an upright position independently.
  • My child hates/is fearful/has no experience in the water.  Will they be able to learn these skills?
    Absolutely! We teach children to have a healthy respect for the water, and we work in very small increments each day. We present children with small achievable tasks and always set them up to succeed. They learn to trust their skills, and in turn, they gain an incredible amount of confidence in the water.
  • How much are lessons?
    Lesson price varies by location. Please see the tab for the state you are looking for lessons. All students will have to pay a one-time registration fee to ISR of $105. This goes directly to ISR (NOT your instructor) to cover a comprehensive medical background check that you complete online when you register for classes. ISR’s staff of nurses reviews all the information in full to ensure your child can safely participate in lessons. One example that might prevent your child from being trained by ISR is a history of seizures. Registration links will be sent out approx 2 weeks prior to the start of lessons at which time you will pay the fee. Sibling Discounts: Sibling discounts are available for 2 or more siblings enrolled in lessons at the same time. Tuition for any sibling is discounted by $10, . The one-time national registration fee mentioned above is $105.00 per child and is not subject to sibling discounts.
  • That's more than I can afford.  Are there other options?
    In some cases we may able to spread you payments out over the coarse of some assitional weeks. For example if you are supposed to start lessons in 4 weeks we can divide your payment over 10 weeks versus 6 weeks. There are also options to see if you qualify for an ISR scholarship via non-profit partners of ours, namely the CAST Water Safety Foundation and Live Like Jake. These organizations were created to raise awareness for drowning prevention and provide swim lesson scholarships to those who cannot afford them. Please inquire with your instructor if you think you may be a candidate for financial assistance and we will send you an application.
  • Will you come to my home and do private lessons?
    For private lesson inquiries, email me and I can let you know if it's something we are able to work into the existing or upcoming schedule. We typically can only fit in one private stop in the summer session. Private lessons start at $250/week/student (no sibling discounts can be applied) and depending on location may incur an additional travel fee. If you want lessons to be at your home for convenience purposes but without the private lesson premium, consider applying to be a summer host pool. Host families allow us to use their pool for a daily ~2.5 hour block of time, M-F in the 6 week summer session. The perks of hosting are preferred choice of timeslot for the host family's children and the host family can enjoy a non-existent commute. One child will recieve free lessons. Hosting is also a great way to "do your part" ensuring not only your own children get skilled, but to help us reach more children in your very own community. Primary requirements are a convenient, centrally located location, a heated pool to 86-88 degrees (by a heater, not just the sun!) a set of shallow end steps or sun shelf, and neighbors who won't mind a bit of "kid" noise. Email us for a full list of requirements for hosting!
  • Why are ISR swim lessons so much more expensive than regular lessons?
    Great question! ISR has been researched and developed for 55+ years. It’s nationally recognized as the safest swim program for infants and children. Your children will learn life saving skills that traditional lessons do not provide. If you are looking for a swim class that focuses on socialization and play rather than safety and survival, you might consider traditional swim lessons. 1. ISR teaches your children to SWIM. There are no other programs in Pennsylvania/Maryland that will teach your child to swim with his face in the water or offer any sort of guarantee about what he will learn. Many parents come to us 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 maintenance and refresher lessons, 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 8 weeks, we 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 extensive hours of academic training in anatomy, physiology, child psychology, behavior and development, sensorimotor learning, and how each relates to the aquatic environment. Every instructor also maintains CPR and First Aid certifications, as well as annual recertification and testing to maintain our ISR certification and skills. Lastly, 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.
  • What happens when the session is over?
    Once your child completes the session, he/she is fully skilled to survive an aquatic emergency and in most cases has a successful rollback-to-float or swim-float-swim sequence. Despite being skilled, there is no substitute for adult supervision and parents should still employ layers of protection- pool fences, pool alarms, door alarms, etc. Maintenance lessons are suggested for most students at a cadence of 1 time per week no less than 2-3 lessons per month. Refresher Lessons are highly recommended every 3-6 months to adjust your child's skills to their growing body. We strive to make Refresher and Maintenance lessons readily available in every session throughout the year to give your little one ongoing opportunities to practice their skills. Once your child is around age 6 we can help make a recommendation for a swim instructor who can take their skills further....learning stroke, swim mechanics etc. should we determine they are ready and their self-rescue skills are not at risk of being lost by doing so!
  • What if my child cries?  Will they develope a fear of the water?
    Some children cry the first few lessons due to anxiety. He is in a new building with a pool he's never been to being handed into the water to a stranger - it's normal for him 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! Remember, fear is a learned behavior. We didn't come out of the womb afraid of spiders or water or large dogs. 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.
  • I don't want my cild to cry under any circumstance.
    ISR might not be the right fit for your family. 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 them at all. And more importantly, remember some of the reasons children cry... - They are in a new environment - They are doing something they don't want to do - They may have to eat something they don't want to eat - They are hurt - They may even be over stimulated
  • How do I register?
    Here is the registration process. Read through all the info on the website, please, including any FAQ's you may have. 1. Select the tab for the closest location to you. Once you have read through pricing you can select the link "Select a time". 2. Once selected you may have a few options to select from. If you are a brand new student or returning after learning a rollback to float, you will select The ISR Self-Rescue button. If you are looking for Maintence (once a week) lessons, click the Maintenance button. If you are needing Refresher (2-3 weeks 5 days a week) Lessons please click on the Refresher button. 3. Once you select a time you will receive and email with addtional instructions for your deposit. There is a deposit required (equal to one weeks payment) in order to hold your spot. This deposit is due with-in 48 hours of scheduling your time via Venmo or Zelle. 4. You will receive an email approximatly 2 weeks before the start of lessons to register with ISR. We cannot begin lessons if you do not register with ISR. I suggest completing the registration with-in a couple of day of receiving my email to allow ISR plenty of time to review the information. The registration had to be approved before we can begin.
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