Our mission
Preserving & Sharing
Magda's Legacy
As a world-renowned child therapist and infant specialist, Magda was a leader in the field of early childhood education. Magda was a dynamic personality and unforgettable to all who knew her – charming, bold, eloquent, authentic. The mission of Magda Gerber Legacy is to preserve and share the unique spirit of Magda’s teachings so that her guidance may continue to enlighten and inspire parents and early childhood professionals for generations to come.
Please consider donating to help us keep Magda’s teachings alive and available to everyone.
Get to know Magda
Magda Gerber was a passionate advocate for both children and parents. She inspired us to recognize babies as whole people from birth who deserve our respect and should be welcomed into the world as “honored guests.” The transformative lens she offered and the respect for babies she taught and modeled for us have made caring for our children easier, more intriguing, and profoundly more rewarding.
This site was created to share and honor her work.
Founding of RIE
Resources for Infant Educarers® (RIE®), a non-profit educational organization, was founded in 1978 by Magda Gerber and Dr. Tom Forrest. RIE offered the unique approach to infant care inspired by pediatrician Emmi Pikler which Magda titled Educaring. “We teach while we care.” Magda created a groundbreaking model for parent education through her RIE parent-infant classes, where participants are encouraged to sit, relax and learn from their baby’s natural self-directed activities and observe demonstrations of respectful adult-child interactions by a RIE facilitator.
Magda’s goal for RIE was to improve the quality of infant care, whether given in the home, in family daycare, or in a center-based setting.
Read the Original RIE Manual Articles
"Having Respect for the world is when you allow people to be what they are."
- Magda Gerber
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Get started with these articles
After Birth
My Occupation “Just Mother”
Something’s gone blooey in the liberation department. In this mass exit out the “Free To Be” door, something’s – somebodies are being left behind. In
Original RIE Manual
Quality Time
“Wants Nothing” Quality Time: just floor-sitting, being available, being there with all the senses awakened to the child; watching, listening, thinking of only that child.
“Wants Something” Quality Time: when you do have a goal to accomplish something together, such as dressing, bathing, feeding, etc. You can make sure the child knows that this time is different from your “Wants Nothing” time by actually saying, “Now I want to diaper you,” or “Now it’s time to get dressed,
Magda’s Writings
Magda Gerber’s Basic RIE Principles
Respect is the Guideline of RIE’s Philosophy. The Educarer shows respect, for example, by not picking up an infant without telling him beforehand, by talking directly to him, and not over him, and by waiting for the child’s response.
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