RIE Parenting – Good News (CBS Video)

Brimming with new conviction and enthusiasm after attending yesterday’s 22nd Annual RIE Infant/Toddler Conference, I’m looking forward to sharing highlights in the coming weeks. And while I’m digesting the brilliance of psychologist Alicia Lieberman and the insights and inspirational reports from the other talented presenters — educators, parents and child care professionals — I have more good RIE...

Baby Gets Bumped – Dad’s Remarkable Response (On Video)

When a baby falls down or gets hurt, even if it is obviously a minor injury, our instincts might tell us to rush over, pick her up immediately and shower her with sympathy or distraction in an attempt to calm her as quickly as possible. Infant expert Magda Gerber advised something a little different and counterintuitive (especially for those who find a baby’s cries difficult to hear…namely, all of us!). She...

Respect, Trust, Acceptance – Magda Gerber’s Therapeutic Approach To Child Care

I was a newbie mom just beginning my studies with infant expert Magda Gerber when I first read Gloria Ohland’s story about Magda in her “Local Heroes” column at LA Weekly, and it resonated deeply. It still does. “Our Babies, Ourselves” (June, 1991) captures the spirit of Magda’s work with parents and infants as few articles have since… OUR BABIES, OURSELVES by Gloria Ohland Magda Gerber’s...

Parenting Decisions – Different Strokes (Guest Post by Lisa Sunbury)

Yale professor Amy Chua’s controversial Wall Street Journal essay “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior” spurred Oshrat, an Israeli mom and frequent commenter on my blog to begin a discussion in the community section about parenting philosophies.  Regarding Chua’s strict directive approach to parenting, Oshrat commented, “It looks a bit extreme and I am finding many of the RIE tips to be more of a middle...

Babies And Parenting – 10 Things I Learned In 2010

1) Babies are not only as present and aware as adults, they are more so. Recent brain studies show that babies can’t help but take in everything around them. They are big picture thinkers, unable to focus in on only one or a few aspects of their environment and exclude the rest. This “lantern-type” attention is what allows them to learn and develop more rapidly in infancy than they ever will again. 2) Babies...

RIE Parenting – Dispelling The Rumors

Over the years I’ve heard a lot of words used to describe RIE parenting: mindful, thoughtful, respectful, intelligent, illuminating, eye-opening, natural, common sense (or uncommon sense, as I sometimes call it), life-changing, life-saving and (surprising, to me) a friend who didn’t even practice it with her children referred to it as “the high watermark for child care.” But before last month I never dreamed...

RIE Parenting – A Culture Of Creativity

There was a buzz about RIE last week. The Daily Beast, Parenting and ivillage posted articles referring to RIE (Resources for Infant Educarers) classes as a trendy “celebrity craze”,  and even insinuated that participants constituted a cult. For members and advocates of infant expert Magda Gerber’s non-profit organization, one that’s inspired a diverse community of parents, early childhood educators and...

Magda Gerber – Memories Of A Mentor

Magda Gerber dazzled me. Growing up in Los Angeles acting and modeling, I’d met plenty of celebrities in film, music and politics, but none gave me the thrill Magda Gerber did.  A petite “pixy”, as Laura Huxley describes her in the video “Seeing Infants With New Eyes”, Magda radiated big, bold and bright.  She was in her eighties when I met her and still sat cross-legged on a pillow on the floor during...