RIE Conference Unites Parents, Early Childhood Professionals For Education And Inspiration

Magda Gerber’s Resources For Infant Educarers (RIE) philosophy will be celebrated in an all-day event supporting healthy attachment.  All are welcome. Please join us!

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.

The event will kick off with a keynote address, “Becoming Attached” by special guest 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

RIE is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to infants and their caregivers founded in 1978 by renowned infant specialist Magda Gerber.

Don’t miss this exciting event!

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2 Responses to “RIE Conference Unites Parents, Early Childhood Professionals For Education And Inspiration”

1. Donna Bloomer says:

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   Hi, Janet–
   I am a ‘lapsed’ RIE Associate from the early ’90′s. (I was at Magda’s for the Northridge Quake, when the house was shifted off its foundation, but was so childproofed inside that there was almost no damage there! I have been working in employer-supported child care, doing training and technical assistance in a Child Care Resource and Referral, and with the folks at Teaching Strategies, Inc. Now, I feel an ‘urge’ to come back to the source of so much good in my life….RIE! Hoping to get to the June conference, and glad I found the Facebook page. THANKS! Donna B., Wilmington, NC
   PS–My sort of ‘specialty’ is good junk/simple toys for infants and toddlers, and I do have a LOT to say about the difference between RIE and Attachment Parenting, from some work I did with families using the latter approach. Will try to get to that ….

   Reply
   • janet says:

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     Hi Donna!

     No such thing as a ‘lapsed’ RIE Associate in my book! Wonderful to hear from you! I would love you to weigh-in here on RIE, Attachment Parenting, and share any other thoughts and experiences you have! I definitely want to hear more about your good junk/ simple toys since I’m not very innovative that way.

     Do I seem a little eager for a RIE comrade?

     Reply