Isaac Learns to Swim

Isaac Learns to Swim

Many of you already know that Isaac has been taking swimming lessons over the past several weeks. I thought it would be nice to share with you a bit about our experience, and also to share a compilation of some of the video I've taken of his lessons over the past month.

We chose to enroll Isaac in a one-on-one style lesson with Infant Swimming Resource (ISR) instructor, Erika Pellegrino, owner of I Swim Austin. First, just let me say that this woman is simply amazing. She patiently works with each child based on their needs, skills, and anxiety levels. Throughout the process Erika was always a rock of stability and encouragement for him, and he started to relax and listen to her and try to do what she asked him to do. She always ended each lesson on a positive note, after he had performed a particular skill correctly, and praised him profusely. And there were the happy faces, of course. At the end of each lesson, she gave him a happy face stamp on the back of each hand. He started looking forward to each lesson just to get his happy face. Isn't it amazing what a little happy face can do for a child?

If you're not familiar with ISR, it is a highly effective childhood drowning prevention program that has achieved National and Worldwide recognition. Through this program, even very young children can learn the skills to be safe and effective in the water. Essentially children are taught survival techniques that could save their life if they should ever fall into any body of water. I know that we've all at least heard stories of a child who walks right up to the edge of the pool and jumps in, whether anyone is there to catch him or not. His confidence is beyond his skills. ISR training uses their confidence to help them build competence and the skills to self-rescue. And because the majority of children who drown are fully clothed when they fall into the water, ISR teaches children to perform their self-rescue skills even with their clothes on.

OK, back to our experience. I will say that my kiddo was definitely one with a fair bit of anxiety when we first started. For the first week, he cried every day, and didn't want to go into the water - especially since I wasn't getting in with him. The second week he didn't cry, but he refused to kick his feet or move his hands. Just about the time I was wondering if I could go through another week watching him struggle and just not get it, his whole attitude changed.

By the start of week three, he had become a kicking machine. It just clicked one day, and then you couldn't stop him - which was unfortunate, of course, when trying to teach him to float because when he kicked in a floating position it sucked him right under the water. But, again, Erika patiently worked him until he understood what to do.

Then, over the last two weeks, he started putting it all together with a swim/float/swim sequence, and every day his skill and confidence increased tremendously. By the time he was ready for his tests with summer and winter clothes on, he made it look easy. I can't believe how much he's learned and how much confidence he now has in the water.

I simply cannot say enough good things about Erika, and ISR. I know there is never a substitute for close supervision around the water, but we all know how fast kids can be. I feel so much better knowing that if he were to fall into the water, he would at least have a fighting chance - those few precious seconds of being able to get a breath before help can get to him could make all the difference. You cannot put a price on the life and well-being of your child. It was so worth the time spent journaling every day about food/sleep/activity patterns and going to the pool five days a week for six weeks.

I'm completely amazed by and super proud of what my little man has accomplished. Enjoy the video of him in action!