This has been a busy summer for Resources for Infant Educarers. I want you to know how much I appreciated your work and efforts on the success of our June conferences with Dr. Emmi Pikler in northern and southern California. Congratulations to first-time workshop leaders. I hope it was a gratifying experience for you, too.
Dr. Pikler asked me to tell R.I.E members that she was impressed by the sincerity and enthusiasm of those of you she had the opportunity to talk to. She found it quite remarkable that our ideas, which are in opposition to general trends in parenting in America, have found such acceptance by a growing group of people.
Many conference participants told me that just meeting Dr. Pikler in person reinforced their confidence in the R.I.E. approach.
In Claremont, we were fortunate to have as guest speaker Dr. J. Ronald Lally who reflected on the R.I.E. philosophy and the keynote speeches, ending with the suggestion that we who care for infants should look more at the similarities than the differences in our approaches. Ron is a fine, articulate speaker and a gentle, understanding human being. I do respect his view, but I prefer to highlight the differences so parents and professionals can see alternatives and make real choices.
Shortly after the second R.I.E conference, we conducted a training for six R.I.E. interns in Los Angeles. Our group included Jill Anderson from northern California, Alba Dunn, who is the mother of a nine-month-old and an educator for parents of high-risk infants, Linda Hinrichs, who works with small groups of young children, Cindy Kludt, who is a nurse and childbirth educator, and Elizabeth Rossbacker, who is an artist and new mother.
Though we tried to make it summer-like, spending two full days on the beach, all of us felt overwhelmed as we had to cover the same amount of material as in the regular three month R.I.E. training classes.
The exciting news is the opening of the R.I.E. Center in Los Angeles. As some of you have already heard, the two-bedroom apartment below mine is undergoing renovation to create an active demonstration-learning R.I.E. Center.
Similar to the previous infant programs I have originated, this model program will be of interest to small groups of pregnant women, parents with their babies, professionals working with infants, professionals counseling parents, college students and everyone interested in learning what educaring is all about.
In order to launch this program we are relying heavily on voluntary support from those of you who are familiar with the philosophy and who have some expertise in administration, organization, coordination, composition and office skills. If you cannot offer help in any of these ways, please spread the news about our Center, help recruit participants and trainees, and attend our open house on October 12.
