Join the Friends of RIE® Community Engagement (FORCE)!!
What is our purpose?
FORCE is a space for networking, providing resources and opportunities to learn about Magda Gerber’s Educaring™ Approach. This approach affirms that caring educates children about themselves. In the first years, caregiving is the curriculum and the parent or caregiver is the Educarer™. How we provide care to our children has an impact and Magda wanted it to be a positive one based on respect, trust, and allowing the child to become their authentic selves. Magda formed an organization called Resources for Infant Educarers® (aka RIE®) to share this work with others.
Here at FORCE we want to make sure everyone has an opportunity to learn, grow and collaborate.
Right now a group from across the U.S. is working to rebirth the Friends of RIE® group. We want this group to be welcoming to all, supportive, and a place that feels good to come back to.
Below you can meet our planning team. If you would like to be part of this group, have ideas, etc. Register below.
Our MISSION
TO PROVIDE resources, networking, and opportunities for continual growth towards caring for infants with respect.
“Learn to
enjoy the
struggle
itself.”
Magda Gerber
Join our next FORCE Meet-Ups
january 22nd 6:00-7:30 PM Central Time
Investigating those stinky feelings that come up during interactions
See Videos, Enjoy Discussion, Leave with Tools
Register below and a zoom link we will be sent to you. Haven’t gotten your zoom link? Email rieforchildrenteam.com
FORCE Planning Team
Melisa Eddy
Melisa has over thirty years of experience working in Montessori Infant and Toddler classrooms. Some have called her the “baby whisperer.” Melisa has her infant toddler Montessori training and is AMS certified for ages 0-3 years old.
Outside of the classroom, she has presented at various Montessori Conferences, been an instructor at Montessori Teacher Education Programs, and is a contributor to Infant and Toddler Journal.
– AMS 0-3 certified
– 30+ years working in Montessori Infant and Toddler
– Former instructor at Montessori Teacher Education Programs
– Presenter at Montessori Conferences
– Published contributor to Infants and Toddler Journalz
Here favorite thing about her practice is the respect and trust given to each individual child. When she is not in the classroom, she enjoys spending time with her three children and our numerous animals. She also enjoys building things and doing wood working.
tiffany mays
is a native Texan with twenty plus years in ECE.
She holds two degrees, English and Sociology from University of Houston and currently working towards: a MS from University of St. Thomas and an Infant Mental Health Endorsement as an Infant Family Specialist from First Three Years. S
he received awards and scholarships throughout her career some in which include: UH Children’s Learning Centers Excellence in Early Childhood; Houston Area Association for the Education of Young Children Teacher and Educator of the Year; and Resources for Infant Educare Foundations Course Scholarship recipient.
Tiffany serves at The Seed Tree School where her top priority is creating a respectful care-environment where infants, toddlers, and early preschoolers thrive as their brains and bodies develop.
Elizabeth Pabello
Elizabeth A. Pabello is a Montessori Toddler Program Mentor at a Dual Language Immersion school in the heart of Chicago. She also mentors and teaches the next generation of Montessori Educators through classes, lectures, and evaluation visits for their Montessori Credentials. Working with children of various ages for over three decades, it wasn’t until completing her Infant-Toddler Credential in the Montessori Method that she determined that the earliest childhood years were the most important. Completing the RIE Foundations Course led to a more profound passion for sharing respectful caregiving with adults who interact with children, including parents. The desire to communicate this passion more effectively led Elizabeth to obtain a Master of Arts in Transformational Leadership and Coaching and currently working towards a State of Illinois Director Credential. My lifelong passion is creating a community of adults who value and respect the youngest members of our society.
shannon carr
became a RIE® Associate in 2020, but has been in awe of the Educaring® Approach since 2002 after reading Your Self-Confident Baby and seeing such positive outcomes in infant classrooms and with her own children. She began her RIE® training in 2013 and became a RIE® Associate in 2020. She has worked with families and early childhood professionals in some capacity since 1994 as a teacher, director, parent educator, advocate for children in foster care, and trainer. She holds a Master of Arts in Teaching and Bachelor of Science in Child and Family Development. Inspired by Magda Gerber’s Educaring® Approach and the desire to share her work with others, she created Friends of RIE® Midwest and in 2017 founded RISE, where she provides workshops to parents and early childhood providers, facilitates parent-infant guidance classes, and consults privately with families and professionals.
pan leung
is the founder of World Builders Academy, a private school supporting K-12 learning including early childhood education in Kansas City, Missouri. She discovered RIE® when she became a parent 10 years ago and is still using this amazing approach in your journey to be a better parent. She is now practicing RIE® and advocating it's benefits to new parents through her infant toddler program at World Builders Academy. She has worked as a RIE® inspired educator and career for over 7 years. We are so excited to join a community of carers and teachers who believes in respectful care and making it available to everyone.
“What we teach is ourselves.”
Magda Gerber
RESOURCES for YOU
We are always adding to and updating this list so come back and see us!
Recommended Reads:
RIE Inspired
Your Self Confident Baby: How to Encourage your Child’s Natural Abilities, by Allison Johnson and Magda Gerber
Authentic Relationships in Group Care, edited by Stephanie Petrie and Sue Owen
Baby Knows Best: Raising a Confident and Resourceful Child, by Deborah Carlisle Solomon
Dear Parent: Caring for Infants with Respect, by Magda Gerber
The RIE® Manual for Parents and Professionals, edited by Magda Gerber and Deborah Greenwald
Pikler Inspired
Origins of Free Play, by Eva Kallo and Gyorgyi Balog
Unfolding of Infants’ Natural Gross Motor Development, by Dr. Emmi Pikler and the Pikler Institute
Movement
Understanding Physical Development in the Early Years: Linking Bodies and Minds, by Anne O’Connor and Anna Daly
Smart Moves: Why Learning is Not All in your Head, by Carla Hannaford
Behavior Support
The Whole Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind, Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne-Bryson
Reggio Inspired
HOT Topics:
Toileting
Toilet Learning Resources with Janet Lansbury (we train pets, not children)
Toileting Agreement between Parents and Caregivers by Polly Elam, Debbie Bergstrom, Kathy Smith
Going to the Potty by Mister Rogers Neighborhood
Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi
Diapers are not Forever by Elizabeth Verdick
How Do You Know You Need To Go? by Wendy Hayden
Outdoors
Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
Grow Wild by Katy Bowman
Sleep
Compassionate Sleep Solutions by Eileen Henry
Mealtime
Breastfeeding
I AM (providing prenatal, postpartum, health and wellness resources to empower families of color)
Upcoming workshops:
Are you sharing respectful care with others? We can add your workshop here. Send the information to rieforchildrenteam@gmail.com.