My son and I spend several months out of the year at my parents lake house in Northern Michigan. Summer is very busy with dogs, kids, and adults running in and out of the house all day long. With the lake and boat dock just 100 yards out the front door, it can be very challenging with little ones who aren't quite swimmers yet, but want so badly to be out with the bigger kids playing. You just can't predict when they will try and sneak out and play while you aren't paying attention. For this reason, this will be our third year taking lessons with Vicki. I wanted our son to be able to SAVE HIMSELF if god forbid something happened, he got out, and fell off the dock, or whatever. I know firsthand that being a good swimmer has nothing to do with saving yourself, especially when you are panicking. In addition to all of the water rules my parents have had in place for the last 40 years, which everyone, kids and adults included, are required to follow, these lessons are just one more tool in our safety kit. My mother is always super impressed with his water skills at such a young age. Vicki is great, and makes sure the parent knows what is happening. However, it is uncomfortable for some kids, and can be uncomfortable to watch at times. The kids are getting their face and head wet, they are learning to flip over and float on their backs, learning to be calm and breathe while floating on their back. Lessons are work, it is not a bunch of splashing around and fun. They are learning a new skill, which can be frustrating and uncomfortable. From my experience, many of the kids really blossom and start to love lessons towards the end, and some, like my son, tolerate it but don't love it. Which is fine, it isn't about him loving it, it's about him instinctually knowing what to do if he falls in the lake while we aren't around. I'm hoping since he is three this year, he will enjoy lessons more, but even if he doesn't, oh well. For my family, these lessons are the equivalent of wearing helmets and pads while playing sports, or sitting in your car seat in the car. Safety comes first, then the fun. We can't recommend Vicki enough, she has squeezed us in for extra lessons when needed, and worked with us by testing him not only in his clothes when he falls in the water, but also helping us select and test life jackets, so we were able to select the one which allowed our son to utilize his self rescue skills. Since we are on a lake, making sure we had selected the most appropriate life jacket was critical. Sign your kids up, you won't be sorry! read more

See all

We missed last years sign up and lessons but it was amazing what our son retained. He was a little hesitant on Day 1 but by the end he is asking to go swimming EVERY DAY! Miss Vicki is amazing and I can't wait for my daughter to have her first lessons this summer. read more

See all

To other parents who are considering toddler swim/self rescue training: I couldn't recommend ISR and Vicki more highly. Drowning is the leading cause of death for healthy kids aged 1-4, and you owe it to your kids to teach them how to be safe in it. Our 16 month old son started lessons with Vicki last month - gently learning how to hold onto the bar on the side, hold his breath, and float on his back/breathe through his nose. As lessons progressed, we could tell our son was becoming more stubborn, but Vicki stuck through it, and reassured us that he was making progress, despite his fussiness (I warned Vicki that our son is the most stubborn person I have ever met). Even after an especially bad week, where he seemed to have regressed, and had an upset stomach all week, Vicki persisted with patience, new suggestions, and new approaches. When it came to his fifth week, and his tests in full clothes, our son went into the water, and instantly did as Vicki had taught him: find the surface, turn his body, go into his float, and start breathing/crying for help. He did it half a dozen times, with shoes+pants+jacket and my wife and I couldn't have been more proud of him. I would encourage anyone who's considering ISR to watch the 4 minute Vox video on Infant Self Rescue. Our experience was absolutely identical, with him not loving the lessons, but still making great progress and having zero trauma or fear of water/pools. ISR is a science based process - it is definitely not water wings, and sing songs - but the end result is that your child learns how to respect the water and knows what to do to swim/save themselves in a worst case scenario. read more

In 2014, we found ourselves with an overly adventurous, fearless, yet hard headed 3-year old boy. Having a slightly older sister who could already swim the length of a pool did not help matters. We enrolled him in private swim lessons as we had with his sister. However, he was not taking any instruction from them. This was when I looked up local ISR instructors and came across Vicki. Because of his love of the water, Vicki was able to quickly guide his energy and strengths towards floating and the roll-over technique in a few short weeks last summer. This summer we are back for a refresher course and it appears she is just as good about helping him pick back up where he left off. Based on my experience with Vicki, I have recommended ISR to all my friends and family with young children and my sister had a similar experience with her son and another ISR instructor out of town. read more

I've been taking children to ISR lessons for almost 10 years. I am a huge fan of the program, and while we've always had excellent instructors, Vicki is definitely our favorite! Her passion for what she does really shines through in the way she interacts with her students! She is lovingly firm and precise in her instruction. She is truly committed to equipping children with the skills to necessary to be safe, confident swimmers! read more

This class may be perfect for some little ones, but it was not a good fit for our two-year old. We were told that the first class would have a rapport-building aspect. My sister, who took her to her first and only class, explained that this was not only lacking but that the instructor (Vicki Miller) tended to talk/listen more to my sister than to my daughter. Each class is only 10 minutes, so this intensity may, in part, be due simply to having limited time set aside for each student. The instructor believes that it would have worked out with additional classes. We have had a rough start with other classes and stuck with them, but my sister was so upset by the instructor's approach that we were willing to forgo our notable and non-refundable deposit ($200) and remove her from the class. On another note, the instructor did reasonably pro-rate the deposit by three days lost during our review period. read more

We are a couple weeks in to our lessons and we are so impressed at the progress that our children have made in this short time! We have two young children 2 years old and 9 months old. Ms. Vicki has been great with both of kids and they both trust her. Our whole family loves being in the pool so we knew that this is something that we wanted to do and could not be more pleased with how things are going! We definitely recommend ISR and especially Ms Vicki to our friends and family! read more

We have taken ISR lessons with Vicki for 3 summers now. My "strong-willed" son began taking lessons at 17 months old, and learned the "swim, float, swim" method over a 6 week period. My son absolutely loves the water, and taking these lessons have made him a very strong swimmer and taught him to have respect for the water. Last summer, and this summer he has taken refresher lessons from her, and each time he quickly remembered the technique he was taught. My daughter began lessons this year at 13 months old, and in less than a month she began floating on her back by herself. She also loves to swim, and enjoys putting her new skills to use when we take her swimming in our neighborhood pool. Vicki is a patient, and kind teacher, and I'm so thankful that we have her to teach our children such a valuable life-saving skill. read more

Ms. Vicki has been working with my infant daughter for about 4 weeks now and...WOW! It is truly AMAZING how she is able to train these children in the ISR technique. As a first time mom, it made my heart swell and brought tears to my eyes the first time I saw my 12 month old daughter successfully float in a pool by herself. I knew at that moment that this class literally has taught my daughter how to save herself if heaven forbid she fell into a body of water. Ms. Vicki is great with the children (I have seen her work with kids from 11 months to 5 years). She explains what she is doing and why during the lesson so we, as parents, understand everything. She also teaches us how to properly interact in the water with our children to reinforce the skills they are learning in class. My daughter will definitely be taking the next tier class next summer. Having participated in this program, I would highly recommend Ms. Vicki's class to any parent. read more