ISR

Last summer Zane completed the roll-back-to-float portion of the ISR program in 16 days. He hated it and cried every day, but he could do it.

Over the winter we didn't take him to the pool regularly like we should have and when we did, he refused to float for us.

We knew we wanted him to finish the ISR program and learn the swim-float-swim portion. There are a lot of options out there to teach young children. Most teach them to rely on flotation devices and give them a false sense of security in the water. They associate water with fun, games and splashing but do not develop a respect for the potential hazards of water. Only ISR implements a proven system that is designed to teach children how to save their own life.

Our beloved Fi (instructor last year) was not teaching this year because her full time job's schedule changed. The next closest instructor was in Seabrook.


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Yeah. It took exactly an hour to get there. One way. And we had to be there at 10 am, which is very early for Zane and I. He started classes on July 19th with Miss Tammy. And he's not finished yet. Over 2 months. The weather this summer has been very stormy and we've had countless rain-outs. Add to that the days Zane has been sick over the 2 months. And the fact that he was doing the swim-float part wrong and Miss Tammy couldn't fix it. Luckily we had the opportunity to change instructors when 2 master instructors in the ISR program came to the Houston area from FL and GA to train a new instructor. (instructor instructor instructor)
He's been doing better, they worked the weirdness out of his swim-float, and he actually had a day or 2 that he didn't cry. But this week Zane was very runny with lots of coughing & sneezing. Sounded horrible coughing all night long. It's been cooler outside, mid 80's, and I was really concerned about him getting too cold so I kept him out of lessons Monday through Thursday. I considered just giving up on the whole thing for this year because it's been so frustrating. But he was feeling better Thursday evening so Charlie and I took him to his lesson on Friday. And he did amazing! He's doing it all really well. He needs a little more oomph in his swim, but other than that...Just amazing!!

Here's a little comparison from last year. This is from his 3rd day at lessons in 2009. Fi was trying to determine if he was old enough to do the swim. The test was to get him to grab the bar and pull himself up. But as you can see, he failed miserably. Poor baby even got his head caught in the stairs the one time.



And this is Zane on Saturday with Miss Tanya.


What a difference a year makes, right? Tanya goes back to GA Thursday night so pray that the weather holds out the next 4 days and we get to swim every day.