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The Approach

Based on the Early Childhood Pedagogy of
Dr. Emmi Pikler and Magda Gerber

In my perspective, a child is born as a whole, yet incomplete human being. Our role as parents is to support them as they learn what it is to be human:  in their bodies, in the world, and with other people. As fully grown adults it is difficult for us to comprehend that everything is new for newly born children. And so they need time. They need space. They need quiet.  They need time:  to think, to feel, to sense. They need practice - to experiment and discover things for themselves.

Their bodily needs must of course be taken care of. But how? With respect, empathy and sensitivity. Slow down. Observe before interacting. See more, do less.

 

That last statement was the core and key advice from Magda Gerber who put together the very first parent-child groups anywhere calling the approach RIE. When my daughter was ten months old, I was fortunate to meet one of her proteges, Eileen O’Sullivan, We attended her parent-child classes every week for two and a half years. After a year we began also attending the parent-child classes of another Gerber student, Janet Lansbury.

 

When my daughter "graduated" from RIE classes and went on to preschool, I didn’t. I had found my calling. Eileen became my mentor and I dived deep into Gerber’s approach. For two years I assisted Eileen and Janet in five classes every week.

 

The basis of Gerber’s approach came from Dr. Emmi Pikler who was Gerber’s family pediatrician in Budapest from the 1930s.  Like Eileen, I have studied with the exemplary pedagogues and caregivers of the Pikler Institute in Budapest, Hungary and am working on my thesis, the last stage of becoming a Piker Pedagogue. Dr. Pikler’s perspective on newborns, infants and toddlers matches what unfolded for my wife and I organically. She and her colleagues worked out effective and sustainable care for babies practically and scientifically. Their work and research took place not only with families but within a Hungarian orphanage founded in 1946. I study, interact and collaborate regularly with these incredible professionals and with many other Pikler colleagues around the world.

 

Gerber brought this approach of respectful care and interaction to the United States while Hungary was still behind the Iron Curtain. She was an innovator, holding the very first group classes for infants and their parents. It is this same framework that I use for my parent-child groups.  

Within the range of orphans in Budapest and generations of families in Los Angeles and around the world is an approach that has been practiced and tested across the wide range of family possibilities, one that can accommodate yours as well.

©2024 Steven Rhodes

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