Creating a foundation for children to develop a love of learning through self discovery, imagination, and creativity. Within our supportive and safe environment, learning is facilitated by fostering respect for oneself, each other and the environment.
Respect is the basis of the RIE philosophy. We not only respect babies, we demonstrate our respect every time we interact with them. Respecting a child means treating even the youngest infant as a unique human being, not as an object.
We show respect, for example, by not picking up an infant without telling him beforehand, by talking to him directly and not over him, and by waiting for the child's response. Such respectful attitudes help to develop an authentic child.
An "authentic child" is one who feels secure, autonomous, and competent.
When we help a child to feel secure, feel appreciated, feel that "somebody is deeply, truly interested in me," by the way we just look, the way we just listen, we influence that child's whole personality, the way that child sees life.
We have basic trust in the infant to be an initiator, to be a explorer eager to learn what he is ready for. Because of this trust, we provide the infant with only enough help necessary to allow the child to enjoy mastery of her own actions.
Our method, guided by respect for the infant's competence, is observation. We observe carefully to understand the infant's communications of his needs. The more we observe, the more we understand and appreciate the enormous amount and speed of learning that happens during the first two or three years of life. We become more humble, we teach less, and we provide environment for learning instead.
all content, photos, etc (c)2008-2010 Growing Seeds, Inc. web design Fred Henning. icons and side graphics (c) Josh Nusbaum at waterknot