Today we’re going to break down the important distinctions between ISR (Infant Swimming Resource) and traditional swim lessons through Whatley Swim. Before we get started, we wanted to mention that at Whatley Swim, we’re not anti-ISR. We just don’t offer it, and it is important to us that our clients know exactly what they are getting when they register for lessons with us.
Here are some of the differences:
Ages:
Whatley Swim teaches ages 2+ through adults. ISR teaches babies as young as 6 months through six-year-olds.
Class Size:
Whatley Swim and ISR offer one-on-one instruction.
Duration:
Whatley Swim classes are private mobile swim lesson that last 30 minutes; ISR lessons last 10 minutes, five days a week for approximately six weeks.
Method: The ISR method involves submerging the youngest babies under the water and teaching them to roll onto their backs to float and breathe until help arrives. For older babies and kids, ISR teaches kids to swim, rotate on their backs to float, then roll over to continue swimming, repeating the sequence until they reach the edge of the pool, shoreline, etc. Whatley Swim does not dunk or drop kids in water. For beginning swimmers, we teach students to get comfortable voluntarily putting their faces in the water to blow bubbles, rather than holding their breath. Like ISR, we also teach beginner swimmings to flip and float (swim, rotate to back, swim).
Personalization: In planning lessons, Whatley Swim considers the unique learning styles and physical and emotional needs of each student when planning our lessons. We want our students to learn new swimming skills, of course, but we also teach them to trust others and themselves. One way we personalize lessons is by testing which stroke a student is catching onto the easiest (like breaststroke or freestyle), and then we focus on that stroke so the student can learn it as fast as possible. ISR is laser-focused on teaching babies and young kids survival skills in the water, and, as a result, there is less focus on personalization.
Again, we see the benefits of ISR and admire their mission to teach survival swimming lessons to as many babies and kids as possible. We hope that this post highlighted some of the differences between ISR and the more traditional swim lessons that we offer at Whatley Swim. And we hope, of course, that you give us the opportunity to teach your kids (or you!) this summer. We would love to have you!