Bay Area Infant Toddler Network | San Francisco Bay Area

We are...

Experts in respectful infant and toddler care

RIE® Associates, Interns™, and Practicum™ students of

Magda Gerber's Educaring® Approach

Joined by our dedication to improving the quality of infant and toddler care throughout the San Francisco Bay Area

SUPPORT FOR
FAMILIES

Services

RIE® Parent Infant Guidance Classes ™

A parent infant class is a beautiful way to learn about your baby's natural development in a peaceful setting with an experienced facilitator. Parent infant classes meet weekly to support families over time.

The RIE® Associates in our network offer certified RIE® Parent Infant Guidance™ Classes. Some Practicum™ Students and Interns™ offer non-certified classes under the guidance of their RIE® Mentors.

RIE® Foundations™

The Foundations™ course is a comprehensive introduction to Magda Gerber's Educaring® Approach and covers a wide variety of topics that increase the quality of care for infants and toddlers.

This course is perfect for caregivers, parents, infant mental health workers, pediatricians, social workers, early interventionists, and those who have taken RIE® Before Baby™ or RIE® Nurturing Nanny™ and want to learn more.

Support Groups

Support groups are designed to help parents to replenish their batteries and feel connected to their community, all with the guidance of a nurturing support group facilitator.

RIE® Before Baby™

RIE® Before Baby is an introductory RIE® course for families expecting, waiting to adopt or thinking about becoming parents. Before Baby™ is designed to start parents on their family building journey with confidence as parents and trust in the baby's unique ability to guide the way.

Parent Coaching

Parent coaching is an excellent support strategy for your parenting journey, whether in the form of regular visits or as-needed consulting. We offer coaching in person or over the phone and can help you with all aspects of infant and toddler development including adding a baby to the family, setting up the nursery, choosing a caregiver, and dealing with challenging toddler behavior like hitting and biting.

Workshops

Periodically, we offer workshops on specific topics in infant and toddler development, such as learning to sleep, coping with crying, setting limits, and cooperative diapering.

RIE® Nurturing Nanny™

Caring for a baby is an extremely important job. All babies deserve to be cared for with respect. The RIE® Nurturing Nanny™ course for in-home caregivers offers knowledge and practical suggestions that can help make this work easier and more enjoyable, resulting in advantages for the infants and young children who receive professional care.

Sleep Consulting

Getting enough sleep is vitally important for everyone in the family. Nothing impacts a child's development more than being cared for by a well-rested parent.

Our strategies for helping infants learn to sleep are tailored to the needs of your family and are always respectful of the baby's feelings and developmental abilities.

In-Service Training

Experienced members of our network offer in-service training for child care centers. In-service training is tailored to the needs of the center and might include presentations on specific topics or day-long workshops.

EDUCARING®

Why Educaring®?

AN EXCERPT FROM DEAR PARENT BY MAGDA GERBER

THE BASIS OF THE EDUCARING® APPROACH: RESPECT

Respect is the basis of the Educaring® Approach. 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.

OUR GOAL: AN AUTHENTIC CHILD

An authentic child is one who feels secure, autonomous, competent, and connected. 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.

TRUST IN THE INFANT’S COMPETENCE

We have basic trust in the infant to be an initiator, to be an 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.

SENSITIVE OBSERVATION

Our method, guided by respect for the infant’s competence, is observation. We observe carefully to understand the infant’s communications and 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 an environment for learning instead.

CAREGIVING TIMES: INVOLVING THE CHILD

During care activities (diapering, feeding, bathing, dressing, etc.), we encourage even the tiniest infant to become an active participant rather than a passive recipient of the activities. Parents create opportunities for interaction, cooperation, intimacy and mutual enjoyment by being wholeheartedly with the infant during the time they spend together anyway. “Refueled” by such unhurried, pleasurable caring experiences, infants are ready to explore their environment with only minimal intervention by adults.

A SAFE, CHALLENGING, PREDICTABLE ENVIRONMENT

Our role is to create an environment in which the child can best do all the things that the child would do naturally. The more predictable an environment is, the easier it is for babies to learn. As infants become more mobile, they need safe, appropriate space in which to move. Their natural, inborn desire to move should not be handicapped by the environment.

TIME FOR UNINTERRUPTED PLAY AND FREEDOM TO EXPLORE

We give the infant plenty of time for uninterrupted play. Instead of trying to teach babies new skills, we appreciate and admire what babies are actually doing.

CONSISTENCY

We establish clearly defined limits and communicate our expectations to develop discipline.