I am writing this entry because I have safety on my mind.  A local child drowned this past Labor day.  He was a student at the school I taught at.  It is the second child in this calendar year that has been lost to drowning at my former school.  It scares me to think about the number of children and adults who cannot swim or at least rescue themselves in a water environment.  It is very important that parents teach their children to swim or how to rescue themselves in South Florida.  There is water everywhere!  The following is an account of our experience with swim lessons.  We have experience with two drastically different programs.

United States Swim Academy

     When my son was four months old we started taking him to a free class in Coral Springs.  It was held at a local swim school which had an indoor pool.  It was a nice experience.  I got in the pool with him, we sang songs, got them used to the water, and had fun.  We were even featured in their Water Smart Baby Commercial.  At 5 months old, the freebies stopped.  I also went back to work which made it more challenging to get to the classes.  We decided to take a swim break.

     This past January we decided to re-enroll him in the program because he was nearing one year old.  With him running around we were afraid that he could possibly run in to a pool, lake, or canal.  So in late January we started going to the same swim school we had been to in the summer.  The cost was $99 a month, classes were once a week, and he progressed to Level 2 after two months.  So we paid our dues and went week after week.  My son would cry every time I put him on his back. He would cry when he did the monkey crawl on the wall.  The only time he wouldn't cry was when I was holding him.  June came around, I took a leave from my job and I was home with him every day.  I had more time to think and realized that my son wasn't progressing at the pace we had hoped.  $600 later and his only real skill was holding on to the wall of the pool.  He was unable to float, unable to swim, and unable to much of anything for himself in the water.  We stopped going to the classes at the end of June.  I then set out on a search for one on one lessons instead of group/ mommy and me lessons.

Itty Bitty Swimmers
ISR with Liz Goldring

     I had heard about ISR for a while.  I thought that it wasn't for us.  It sounded very regimented, very demanding, and very expensive.  In the middle of this past summer I decided to go watch an ISR lesson at the local YMCA.  I watched three lessons that day.  I never once saw anything objectionable.  ISR seems to have a reputation for being harsh.  We found nothing of the sort happening during the lessons.  So I did some research on it.  It boiled down to most kids would be able to self-rescue themselves after about six weeks of lessons.  Now six weeks of lessons meant every day, for five days a week.  Each lesson is about ten minutes in length, so it isn't overwhelming for the child.  I thought that driving to the pool every day for six weeks would get annoying, I didn't mind it.  After a week and a half my son stopped whining during lessons.  Personally, I think he was whining because he was with someone he didn't know.  Once he became comfortable with Liz he began running to the side of the pool and smiling at her before lessons.  My son graduated from ISR this past Friday.  $730 later, my son swims, floats, and best of all, smiles!
Here is the summary of how it works.  

• BUDS.  Each day you fill out a form tracking your child's bowel movements, urination, diet, and sleep.  No eating before class and certain foods are recommended to be avoided on lesson days.
• Lessons every week day for 10 minutes on average.
• Lessons for approx. 6 weeks.
• During the final week your child will practice their skills wearing summer clothes and winter clothes.
• The opportunity to get in the water with your child so the instructor can show you the best ways to work with your child after lessons have been completed.  As you can see in the video below I was able to work with Connor :)