Frequently Asked Questions

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Tuition Rates: (indoor pool rates)
New Student: $1200 per session (~6-7 weeks)

Refresher Student: $200/week (Typical refresher lessons are between 2-3 weeks) 

Maintenance Lessons: $40/lesson

[The "per-session" cost breakdown is $35/session plus a $5/day indoor pool fee.]

Available Discounts:

Discounts for siblings*:  1st student= full tuition. Additional siblings= 10% off
 
Unfortunately, there are no discounts available on the ISR national registration fee for siblings.

** To ensure that ISR lessons are accessible to our community, I have the opportunity to offer lesson scholarships under our "Pay It Forward" program, taking the financial barrier away for families in need.  Scholarships are available for lessons - please inquire about available options and qualifications!

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 New Jersey that will teach your child to swim with their face in the water or offer any sort of guarantee about what he will learn. 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 in 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 your child(ren) leaves the class with little to no skills – and then multiply that by every summer until they are 6 years old, the ISR program costs significantly less and the value is infinitely greater.

Working out a payment plan is a great option for families who may be a bit overwhelmed at the cost, particularly with siblings enrolled. I am also able to offer a limited number of scholarships with the ISR "Pay it Forward" program. 

Please reach out to talk about options to spread payments out a bit before and during a session or if you'd like info on the scholarship program.   

Yes. At ISR, we believe that part of survival for a child who can walk is swimming. Children learn the swim-float-swim sequence so that they could get themselves to safety. The difference in our program is that they will learn swimming AND survival skills and how to be an aquatic problem solver.

ISR claims a retention rate of 94-100% up to one year following lessons. 

Having said this, children will explore and may pick up bad habits watching other children or with interference like using floaties, floating in a bathtub, or playing on the pool steps. As your child goes through lessons, you will begin to understand through communication with your Instructor, what activities may interfere with his/her learned Self-Rescue skills. Contacting and/or returning to your instructor in a timely manner is imperative to maintaining effective habits.

Because 86% of children who fall in the water, do so fully clothed, we want our students to have experience with such a situation. If a child has experienced the sensations of being in the water in clothing prior to an emergency situation, they are less likely to experience panic and be able to focus on the task at hand. If you have ever jumped in the water with clothes on, then you know that there is a significant difference in weight and feel with clothes as opposed to a bathing suit.

Why are lessons 10 minutes?

• Our number one reason is always safety. Lessons are mentally and physically demanding for little ones. For their little bodies this can be quite the workout, so we make sure to limit that time.
• The second reason is for retention of skills. It is shown that children in this age range attain skills best within the first 10 minutes. Attention spans for little ones can be quite short (as you probably know!). 

Why are lessons 5 days a week?

• ISR Self-Rescue® Skills are developed just like any other sensorimotor skill. When learning to walk, crawl, or even ride a bike -  it’s the practice and repetition that leads to success.
• Practicing ISR Self-Rescue® Skills on a consistent basis allows for muscle memory to form. Muscle memory is what allows your child to Self-Rescue as soon as they hit the water.

And yes, you will need to commit to bringing your child(ren) to lessons 5 days per week (unless there is a medical or safety reason that prevents your child from participating that day). ISR lessons are not effective if they are not provided with a consistent frequency. 

Two washable, non-disposable swim diapers are required if your child has not been potty trained for more than 6 months. Disposable swim diapers are not allowed as they do not hold anything in. 

The two (washable, non-disposable) diapers are worn at the same time, one on top of the other. If a child does happen to poop while in the pool, one diaper often does not keep the poop contained and so the 2nd diaper is required as an additional protective layer. If poop leaks into the pool water, the pool must be closed and sanitized before lessons can resume. Wearing two diapers helps to reduce this risk. As we are partnering with an aquatic facility that hosts public activities, closing the pool for any amount of time would be detrimental to their business and could potentially extend your child's session length. 

Your child will not be allowed to participate in lessons that day unless they are wearing two washable, non-disposable swim diapers. 

My goal is to teach your child Self-Rescue® skills and am doing so through the experiences they have in the water. If your child were to accidentally fall into the water, would they have their goggles on or their hair in a swim cap? Probably not. 

I want them to be comfortable in the water without these accessories so that if they ever have to perform self-rescue skills, they have the confidence and experience to do so. (This is also why we will practice skills in various layers of clothing towards the end of the lesson series).  

ISR instructors teach infants to swim by honoring each child's individual strengths and experiences. I understand the fundamentals of the behavioral sciences, child development, and of sensori-motor learning as it relates to the acquisition of aquatic survival skills; I use this education to guide each child through the sequence of learning to swim and float.

Yes! Consider that children learn to sit, crawl and walk before they learn to speak. Because I teach through sensori-motor learning, verbal skills are not required for a child to acquire Self-Rescue skills. I am able to communicate with my students through touch and positive reinforcement while striving to set my students up for success every step of the way.

Breath holding skills are taught in the first lesson. We shape breath control using highly effective positive reinforcement techniques. We continue to reinforce these breath-holding techniques throughout every lesson.

Children often fuss/cry during the first few lessons because they are in a new environment and around new people. As your child becomes more confident in their ability in the water, the fussing will decrease. 

It is not unlike the first time you tried a new exercise class, or were asked to perform a task at work that you’d never done before: the first time you try a new task it is always challenging, until you get the hang of it. It is the same for your young child. Your child is learning to perform a skill that they have never done before and does not have the verbal skills or coping mechanisms that we have as adults, to express their feelings. 

No. Every child can learn. It is my job to find the best way to communicate the information so that it makes sense to your child. 

A baby does not need to perceive danger, or be afraid, to respond appropriately to being under water. If a baby has learned to roll over and float when they need air, they don't need to perceive danger in order to respond in this manner. They need skill, practice and confidence to calmly deal with the situation.

Actually, the primary factor in a baby’s ability to float is the ability to take air into the lungs. To maintain this access to air, the child must adjust his/her posture. The difference in positioning for an adult can be inches. For a baby, this adjustment is reduced to centimeters. If a child’s body posture is just a few centimeters off, it can make the difference between the face being submerged or the child having access to air

YES! ISR is dedicated to safety and maintaining numerous safety protocols to promote safe lessons. Your child's health and well-being is my highest priority and is 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 re-certification symposium that includes quality control as well as continuing education. 

Consider these additional points:

• No child is ever thrown into the pool.
• A child is never submerged for more than seven (7) 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 me as your instructor. It is critical that you communicate any changes in routine and be transparent with what you are observing outside of lessons so that I can make sure that our lessons continue to be safe and effective for your child. 

I do not want your child 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. After your child gains some skills, I will get you in the water to practice 

There is an important difference between being fearful and being apprehensive because you are not yet skilled in a new environment. ISR is not like traditional swim lessons; it is a drowning prevention program that teaches survival swimming. Sometimes as a parent, you make choices for your child’s safety, like sitting in a car seat, 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!

Certified ISR instructors have gone through multiple interviews with the ISR team before being accepted into training. Each ISR Instructor has spent a minimum of 6-8 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.

Each instructor is also required to maintain certifications in First Aid and CPR for Healthcare Providers.  We receive academic training in anatomy, physiology, child psychology, behavior and development, sensorimotor learning, and how each relates to the aquatic environment. We go through annual recertification and testing to maintain our ISR certification and skills as well as regular quality control and quality assurance.

There are many instructors who say they teach ISR techniques, however, unless they are listed on the ISR Instructor locator on the official ISR website and meet the criteria below, they are NOT Certified ISR Instructors.

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All Certified ISR Instructors:

• Have an email address ending in @infantswim.com
• Can provide parents with a copy of their current ISR Certificate for review
• Offer lessons five consecutive days per week, for a maximum of 10 minutes each day
• Will require your child to be registered through ISR’s Online Registration Process and approved to begin lessons by our Registration Evaluation Team (approval email will come from an email address ending in @infantswim.com)
• Complete the Daily BUDS Discussion form with you prior to each lesson
• Can be found on the instructor locator on https://locator.infantswim.com/

The team at ISR Headquarters is happy to assist should you wish to confirm the Certified ISR status of any swim instructor. Please click here to submit your inquiry and the team will reach out to you directly: https://www.infantswim.com/about-isr/contact-us.html.