RIE and Attachment Theory: Why Earliest Relationships Matter – The 21st Annual RIE Conference (featuring Sir Richard Bowlby)
As a proud member of the Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE) Board of Directors, I invite you join me at The 21st Annual RIE Infant/Toddler Conference.
We are uniting parents, caregivers, and educators in an all-day event supporting healthy attachment.
The conference entitled, “RIE and Attachment Theory: Why Earliest Relationships Matter,” will take place at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, Sunday, June 6, 2010 from 8:45 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
This event is open to all those involved in early childhood, both parents and professionals, who will gain insight and knowledge about how to foster healthy attachment between baby and caregiver.
RIE is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to infants and their caregivers founded in 1978 by renowned infant specialist Magda Gerber.
The conference will kick off with a keynote address, “Becoming Attached” by Sir Richard Bowlby, son of John Bowlby, the pioneer researcher on the impact of early attachment relationships between parents and their young children.
According to Sir Richard Bowlby, “It is the quality of the earliest attachment relationships formed between parents and their babies that tend to predispose the behavior of the developing child and emerging adult. There is now overwhelming long-term scientific evidence that points to the first two years of a person’s life as the critical period for their personality traits to become established. These patterns of behavior are wired in the infant’s developing brain, and when they later become parents they will frequently find themselves repeating the experiences of their own childhood with their child.”
Bowlby is presently promoting a greater understanding of Attachment Theory and the psychological effect of non-parental daycare on infants and toddlers to healthcare practitioners and interested lay-people.
“In this day, when so many babies are cared for by non-parental caregivers, it is vitally important to understand the benefits of healthy attachment and how simple practices can bolster a child’s confidence,” said Tim Craig, founder of Children’s Circle Nursery School, and a co-sponsor of the event with his wife, Martha Craig. “Attachment Theory dovetails beautifully with the RIE philosophy and Magda Gerber’s legacy. We hope that this event will serve to raise the profile of RIE’s Educaring Approach as well as the crucial role attachment plays in parenting and caregiving.”
The 2010 RIE Conference will also feature a panel of speakers including Polly Elam, Nina Hachigian, Ruth Anne Hammond, Dr. Johanna Herwitz, and Dr. Antonio Rangel.
A RIE Associate and Infant Specialist, Polly Elam has more than 35 years of experience as a Regional Administrator of child care centers and is a contributing writer to Authentic Relationships in Group Care for Infants and Toddlers: Resources for Infant Educarers Principles into Practice.
Nina Hachigian is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and author of a foreign policy blog on the PBS World Focus website. She attended RIE Parent-Infant classes with her two young children.
As a specialist in infant/toddler development and caregiving, Ruth Anne Hammond is the author of Respecting Babies: A New Look at Magda Gerber’s RIE Approach.
Dr. Johanna Herwitz is a clinical psychologist and RIE-trained specialist in parent-infant relationships and infant development as well as the author of Parenting Against the Odds.
Dr. Antonio Rangel is an Associate Professor of Neuroeconomics at the California Institute of Technology, whose research group studies the computational and neurobiological basis of simple and complex forms of decision-making. He completed the RIE Parent-Infant program in 2008.
Advance registration conference fees range from $99 to $149, including a delicious lunch. The conference provides parents, caregivers and educators of all experience levels an ability to “see” and understand infants like never before. For more information about the RIE Conference and to register, please go to www.rie.org/conference
Please join us at this exciting event!
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2 Responses to “RIE and Attachment Theory: Why Earliest Relationships Matter – The 21st Annual RIE Conference (featuring Sir Richard Bowlby)”
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Sorry to miss this, it looks like a great event.
Oh, goodness, Janet….
I didn’t know you had responded to my message about ‘attachment’ parenting and good junk for babies until just now, when I found your response while ‘googling’ myself (to see if my new website and blog–about animal rescue–show up). I am so sorry….I don’t think your response ever got to me, and it was so funny that you asked if you seemed ‘eager’ for a RIE person. Yep, usually RIE folks are pretty ‘unattached’ and mellow….I tend towards bigger responses, too.
Is there a better way to communicate, like email? My address is simplybdonna@aol.com, if you would like to try that for a while.
I was SO SORRY to miss the conference this year, and trying to think of more ways to share what RIE has meant to me on the east coast.
I would tell you one funny story about myself….Way back when I was Training Director of a child care resource and referral agency, I was very proud when I got evaluations after workshops that said ‘You really know your stuff.’ or ‘I learned a lot.’ When I had gone to study with Magda, the responses from workshop participants, and my attitudes about the people and their feedback changed. I knew there had been a major shift in my work when I got the following evaluation after a workshop: ‘You were so kind, especially to us shy ones!’
Yep, it’s a kinder, gentler reality for me! LOL
Donna B.