Meet your ISR Instructor

Ilona Matulaitis

I am so excited to be part of the ISR community of instructors in Southeast Michigan to serve and teach the children in our area!

I worked as a nanny for over a decade and have loved getting to teach and care for incredible children over the years. I have marveled at the ways in which kids learn about the world around them, through exploration and with such joy.

I first heard about ISR in 2018 when Morgan Miller and Nicole Hughes shared so openly and vulnerably about the deaths of their children from drowning. I had no idea that drowning was the number one cause of death for children ages 1 to 4 and that common pool toys and "safety" devices were often the cause of so many of these deaths.

I look forward to teaching your children to become aquatic problem-solvers and gain the skills needed to be safer in and around the water!

FAQs

What is ISR and how is it different from other swimming programs?

ISR is the product over 45 years of ongoing development in the area of aquatic survival instruction for infants and children. ISR's primary focus is to teach your child to become a productive swimmer, or floater in any depth of water. The goal of ISR is that your child becomes an "aquatic problem solver." ISR will greatly increase your child's chance of surviving an aquatic accident, even when fully clothed!

How can you teach babies and young children to swim?

ISR instructors teach infants to swim by honoring each child's individual strengths and experiences. They understand the fundamentals of the behavioral sciences, child development and of sensori-motor learning as it relates to the acquisition of aquatic survival skills; they use this education to guide each child through the sequence of learning to swim and float.

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.

How do kids react during the first few lessons?

Children often fuss during the first few lessons because they are in a new environment and around new people. As your child becomes more confident in his/her ability in the water, the fussing will decrease. It is not unlike the first time you tried a new exercise class, or were asked to perform a task at work that you'd never done before: the first time you try a new task it is always challenging, until you get the hang of it. It is the same for your young child. Your child is learning to perform a skill that he/she's never done before.

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