California Water Babies

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	Thank you so very much for all you did to help our three children develop the skills they require to survive in the water. Although our two oldest children have had years of traditional swimming lessons, they had the skills to move through the water but not to survive if they became tired or disoriented. In fact, even after nearly a year of traditional swimming lessons, our three-year old son continued to grow very anxious each time he anticipated his next swimming lesson. He knew he had the skills to swim, but he would panic when his swim instructor would encourage him to swim without her physical support. He would become so upset that he would cry all the way to the lessons and, often, vomit in the pool due to his inability to calm himself in the water. While the ISR method is, at first, tough on the children (and parents), they quickly acquire the skills to catch their breath and relax. Once our son trusted himself to be able to protect himself in the water, he completely relaxed and built on his swimming skills to become quite the little fish. He now looks forward to swimming lessons and spending time in the pool with the big kids. Our sixteen-month old is not quite ready for real swimming lessons, but after training with you, she certainly has the skills necessary to bring herself up to the water’s surface and float on her back. While the cost of your lessons may seem high, we believe it is the best money we’ve ever spent and will continue to bring them back for refresher courses to ensure they remain safe. It is never our intention to allow our children to be in or near the water without adult supervision, if they ever were, we feel you have prepared them to survive until we found them. The very thought of that makes our hearts sink. Thank you, Katie, for your expert training and the care and support you showed to each of our children. Warmly, Michael and Sari Ratican

	I have two little girls, Emmie, age 2 and Natalie, age 5. My in-laws have a pool in their backyard with no fence around it, and every time my girls are at their house, I worry and stress that one of them will fall in. My oldest daughter, Natalie, has always been the type to be very cautious around water. She never liked to put her face in the water, and when we would go to the beach, she was content to sit in the sand and play without every going to the water. My younger daughter, Emmie, however, is the complete opposite. She's the type of child that truly thinks she's invincible. She will run straight for any body of water, believing that she will somehow, magically float. When I first heard about the Infant Swim Resource swim lessons, I knew that I had to sign my girls up for lessons. I wanted them to have the survival skills that ISR teaches. When Katie Reisender emailed me to let me know she was starting lessons, I jumped at the chance to enroll my daughters. Doing the ISR lessons is a big commitment, but more than worth it. The first couple of weeks were a little hard, because my daughters were doing things in the pool that were outside their comfort zone. But I truly believed and trusted in Katie and the program that she's teaching. Both of my daughters have "graduated" from the program and the peace of mind I have with regards to how they relate to water is worth every minute that we invested in lessons. I'm happy to say that both my daughters can swim underwater with their eyes open and do their swim-float-swim sequence with ease. They love being in the water! Katie is more than an amazing teacher. She is so adept at what she does, and she loves on every student she sees. As a kindergarten teacher myself, I know what it's like to be with little kids on a daily basis, and how taxing it can be sometimes. Not everyone is cut out to work with young children, but Katie is definitely one of those people who are. Katie is so patient with every child, and she treats them as if they were her own. She gentle and caring for each of them, yet she's firm with them in her teaching. She's determined that every child who comes to her be water safe, and does it in the best possible way. I sing Katie's praises wherever I go. I feel so blessed that Katie came into our lives. I'm thankful that my daughters are now water safe and comfortable being in the water now. In fact, because Katie has taught them so well, I am now more comfortable being in the water with my girls as well. I highly recommend Katie Reisender and the ISR program to anyone. Jennifer Hewlett

	I’m not sure if my face showed my appreciation during the week as I’m ....I can’t think of a good word to describe what I feel. It’s not stress, or worry because I know she’s in great hands and I know she’s learning an incredibly valuable skill. It’s just hard to watch and I knew it was going to be hard. Nothing new like this comes easy. I am so grateful we found you because you have such a great way of helping Annika find her way in the water. You have a soft strength with the kids and it’s very reassuring. Thank you again and I look forward to the weeks to come. Angela Ferdio

	My 6 year old son came to ISR classes this summer having had three summers of traditional swim lessons. Unfortunately, my son struggled with fear of the water, pool and ocean. He developed phobia as opposed to being more comfortable in the water through his past experience. My husband and I are both surfers and swimmers and having our children be water safe is a priority. I found out about ISR and Katie Reisender through a local listserve for moms and was intrigued by the unique methodology implemented by ISR and their instructors. I was however hesitant because my son was on the older end of the age range that ISR works with. I am so thrilled that I made the decision to enroll him as his transformation was incredible. His instructor Katie Reisender was fabulous. We visited several classes beforehand and both were impressed with the level of ability of the children in classes and Katie's demeanor and techniques. My son went from being barely able to sit comfortably on the pool step and opening his eyes in the water to comfortably swimming and floating on his back just three weeks later! The confidence Katie built was amazing..my son is now a water dog..and I have a hard time getting him out of the pool! He now happily and confidently plays with his older brothers in the pool and his comfort level in the ocean has increased tremendously as well. I highly recommend ISR classes for all parents, but particularly those with older children who have not had great results with traditional lessons and/or whose children have water phobia. It literally has changed his life in the joy that he gains from feeling confident in water and provided us as parents comfort that he is water safe. THANK YOU!!!! Grace Kastenberg