Behind the Skills
About Your Instructor
Hi! I'm Nikki Scarnati a Certified ISR Swim Instructor! My daughter started ISR lessons at 9 months, and I KNEW this was my calling! My passion is teaching your little ones, watching them build the confidence in the water, while growing trust with my parents and students along the way!
About Our Company
What is ISR?
Infant Swimming Resource (ISR) is an internationally recognized system of aquatic survival instruction for infants and young children.The program focuses on educating parents and children about aquatic survival and safety issues.
ISR is the product of 50 years of research and development by Dr. Harvey Barnett. More than 260,000 infants and young children have gone through our program with more than 8,000,000 safe and effective lessons and saved more than 800 lives.
ISR Instructors are the most highly trained and qualified instructors in any swimming program in the country and must undergo strict re-certification testing annually. Each instructor is academically trained and tested in areas such as child psychology, physiology, anatomy and behavioral science to provide the safest lesson possible for your child. In addition, each instructor spends a minimum of 60 hours hands on, supervised in-water training working with actual students.
*What your child will learn:
Children from 6 months to 12 months will learn how to hold their breath underwater, roll onto their back and float unassisted until someone rescues them.
A child over the age of 1 year will learn how to hold their breath underwater, swim head down, roll onto their back to float, rest and breathe; then roll back over to resume swimming until they reach the side of the pool and crawl out. This is called the ISR swim-float- swim sequence. All children will learn how to perform the skills in different types of clothes. Upon completion of the ISR program, your child will have the survival skills necessary to save himself along with the enjoyment of recreational swimming.
Class Structure: Your child's classes are 5 days a week, Monday through Friday. Each class will be approximately 10 minutes long with just one child and their instructor in the water. Much is accomplished in a short but very intense private lesson. Your child will have the same 10 - minute time slot each day. You can expect your child to be skilled in an average of 6 weeks.
Our Parents Say
- Nikki has been very accommodating with our learning curve getting used to ISR. She is very invested in our daughters swim and learning. We are very happy with this whole experience.
- Nicole Scarnati is simply the best. She truly cares and goes above and beyond for these kids
- I currently have three children in lessons with Nikki. She has been more than amazing. My chilren were so scared to start and she has spoken such kind worlds to them and given them so much confidence in themselves. I could not be happier with their progress so far.
- Nikki Scarnati is absolutely wonderful! Working with her has been nothing short of perfection. She has such positive, kind, and caring disposition that I felt very comfortable with letting her handle my baby girl in what can be a high anxiety situation as a parent watching. I’m very happy with the whole experience and I feel that I could not have asked for a better instructor than Nikki. I’m so grateful to her for our scholarship, and that my baby now has this very important life saving skill!
- There was amazing bond building between her and my daughter, she went from a complete stranger to someone Emmarie has a special bond with. The communication between her and Emmarie, to comfort her, was very successful. The communication for explanations, comfort and ease to the parents, was amazing as well. Emmarie has come such a long way and it is all a special thanks to Mrs. Nikki for being so patient and very kind.
Nikki Scarnati was and is an amazing ISR swim instructor I couldn’t imagine any one else with my child. Very sweet and kind. Any questions or concerns she always answered them.
Credentials
Is your swim instructor a Certified ISR Instructor?
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.
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 at locator.infantswim.com
Instructor Training
Your child will learn survival swimming skills from a well-trained and highly qualified Instructor using principles that have been researched, proven, and tested for more than 50 years. Each certified ISR instructor, completes a rigorous, in-water and academic training course that includes anatomy, physiology, child psychology, operant conditioning, among other topics to successfully teach your child the ISR skills. Instructors also participate in a highly specialized annual recertification to maintain the highest level of safety and caliber of instruction.
Safety
Prior to beginning lessons, your child’s unique medical history is reviewed by a team of medical professionals to identify any potential health issues that may affect your child’s lessons and safety.
During lessons: ISR’s protocols have allowed for more than 8 million lessons to be safely delivered by Certified ISR Instructors.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why ISR?
Every Certified Infant Swimming Resource (ISR) Instructor worldwide completes an 8-week intensive academic and in-water training and certification program with a minimum of 80 hours of in-water time with a Certified Master Instructor. All instructors must have current CPR and First Aid certification. Once certified, ISR Instructors must undergo annual recertification and are recognized as highly skilled, precise aquatic behavior specialists who understand the unique cognitive, intellectual and physical development dynamics of young children. Understanding the behaviors of children in the water allows each Instructor to respond with ISR’s proprietary technique.
What is ISR and how is it different from other swimming programs?
ISR is the product of more than 55 years of ongoing development in aquatic survival instruction for infants and children. ISR's goal is for your child to become an "aquatic problem solver" with the ability to self-rescue in any depth of water. ISR skills will greatly increase your child's chance of surviving an aquatic accident, even when fully clothed!
Will my child learn to actually swim with ISR?
YES! Children who are developmentally ready learn to swim as part of the survival process to get to safety. The difference with ISR is that children learn swimming PLUS survival skills to become aquatic problem solvers.
Are swimming lessons for infants and young children safe?
YES! ISR is dedicated to safety and maintaining numerous safety protocols to promote safe lessons. Your child's health and well-being are our highest priority and are closely monitored daily. Also, your child's medical and developmental history is a mandatory part of the ISR national registration process, all of which are held strictly confidential. All ISR instructors undergo 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. Your education in the area of aquatic safety for your entire family is an integral part of your child's lessons. You will receive access to the "Parent Resource Guide", written by Dr. Harvey Barnett and JoAnn Barnett, which will inform you of every aspect of swimming for infants and children. With research, you will find that ISR is the safest survival swimming program but also the most effective for teaching infants and young children.
Will my child fear the water because of lessons?
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.
What is the retention rate with ISR lessons?
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 floating in a bathtub or playing on the 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.
Barriers of Water Safety
1. Effective Supervision
The most critical line of defense is adult supervision. This includes during both swim and non-swim times. A majority of water accidents and drownings happen when children are not supposed to be near the water. If your child is ever missing, look in ALL places with water FIRST.
2. Pool Fences
Install a permanent 4- sided fence with self locking gates. Ensure that the pool fence is at least 3-5 feet from the pool edge. a 4-sided pool fence can decrease the chances of a water accident by more than 80%, compared to a 3-sided fence.
3. Locks & Alarms
Make sure all doors and windows, especially the ones leading to the pool area, are locked and alarmed. You can turn your home security's chime feature on, install stand-alone alarms, and use child safety locks.
4. Survival Swimming Lessons
A moment's inattention does not have to cost a child his/her life. ISR Self-Rescue training is an added layer of protection, teaching your child water survival skills in a completely safe enviornment.
5. CPR
If an emergency happens, it is essential parents and families are prepared. Learn to perform CPR on children and adults and remember to update those skills regularly.
