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.
In order to foster quality care RIE encourages:
- Basic trust in the child to be an initiator, an explorer, and a self-learner
- An environment for the child that is physically safe, cognitively challenging, and emotionally nurturing.
- Time for uninterrupted play.
- Infant – Infant Interaction – freedom to explore and interact with other infants.
- Involvement of the child in all care activities to allow the child to become an active participant rather than a passive recipient.
- Sensitive observation of the child in order to understand his or her needs.
- Consistency, clearly defined limits and expectations to develop discipline.
Respecting a child means treating even the youngest infant as a unique human being, not as an object.
(Excerpted from THE FIRST RIE BROCHURE)