Join the Friends of RIE® Community Engagement (FORCE)!!

What is our purpose?

FORCE is a space for networking, providing resources and opportunities to learn about Magda Gerber’s Educaring™ Approach. This approach affirms that caring educates children about themselves. In the first years, caregiving is the curriculum and the parent or caregiver is the Educarer™. How we provide care to our children has an impact and Magda wanted it to be a positive one based on respect, trust, and allowing the child to become their authentic selves. Magda formed an organization called Resources for Infant Educarers® (aka RIE®) to share this work with others.

Here at FORCE we want to make sure everyone has an opportunity to learn, grow and collaborate.

Right now a group from across the U.S. is working to rebirth the Friends of RIE® group. We want this group to be welcoming to all, supportive, and a place that feels good to come back to.
Below you can meet our planning team. If you would like to be part of this group, have ideas, etc. Register below.

Donate to FORCE Here

“Learn to

enjoy the

struggle

itself.”

Magda Gerber

Join our next FORCE Meet-Ups

April 20th 10-11:30 a.m. Central Time
”Going beneath the Surface of the Behavior” By Ksenia Belous Enabi, RIE® Associate

Become a FORCE Member!!

Name

First Name

Last Name

Your Location (ie: Cincinnati, OH; Sydney, Australia, etc.)

What do you hope to gain from these meetings?

What can you offer at these meetings (personally or professionally)?

What do you want us do know about you?

What questions to you have?

Would you like to be added to be FORCE member directory?

Your name and email would be listed.

Yes

How did you hear about us?

Are you interested providing a donation. Any amount helps.

Yes, please send me more information. I would love to support this group.

No, not at this time.

FORCE Planning Team

Maija Reed

is an artist and educator who has worked extensively with young people in small communities in the Hudson River valley. From 2001 to 2009, she was the Youth Director at Time & Space Limited (TSL) in Hudson, NY and is currently serving as Hudson's Commissioner of Youth.

Shifting her focus to early childhood education over a decade ago, her primary work is with infants, toddlers and their families. Her educational practice focuses on the individual learner even in group settings and the development of trusting and caring relationships as key components to life-long learning, knowledge-seeking, and community building.

She maintains her practice through active participation in multiple early-education groups and certification programs including the Loris Malaguzzi International Centre in Reggio Emilia, Italy and RIE® Foundations™ in St. Louis, MO.

Arrica T. Gilmore

is the founder of JUZ Kidz Nursery Services. She possesses more than three decades of experience, education and expertise , in the arena of Early Childhood Education and what she describes as “Humanity Development.” After solidifying her connection to RIE® , Arrica experienced a developed ease in her role as facilitator with the young scholars that she learns with. She will continue her journey with the Educaring Approach, through her strong commitment to advocacy, activism and volunteerism. Arrica is the adoring mother of two adult daughters. When time is free, she enjoys gardening, reading, and doting on her precious grandchildren.

Arrica holds a Bachelors of Science Degree in Corrections /Criminal Justice in her formal education and engages in ongoing professional development to enhance her skillset. Arrica firmly believes,

”Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Nelson Mandela

Elizabeth Pabello

Elizabeth A. Pabello is a Montessori Toddler Program Mentor at a Dual Language Immersion school in the heart of Chicago. She also mentors and teaches the next generation of Montessori Educators through classes, lectures, and evaluation visits for their Montessori Credentials. Working with children of various ages for over three decades, it wasn’t until completing her Infant-Toddler Credential in the Montessori Method that she determined that the earliest childhood years were the most important. Completing the RIE Foundations Course led to a more profound passion for sharing respectful caregiving with adults who interact with children, including parents. The desire to communicate this passion more effectively led Elizabeth to obtain a Master of Arts in Transformational Leadership and Coaching and currently working towards a State of Illinois Director Credential. My lifelong passion is creating a community of adults who value and respect the youngest members of our society.

shannon carr

became a RIE® Associate in 2020, but has been in awe of the Educaring® Approach since 2002 after reading Your Self-Confident Baby and seeing such positive outcomes in infant classrooms and with her own children. She began her RIE® training in 2013 and became a RIE® Associate in 2020. She has worked with families and early childhood professionals in some capacity since 1994 as a teacher, director, parent educator, advocate for children in foster care, and trainer. She holds a Master of Arts in Teaching and Bachelor of Science in Child and Family Development. Inspired by Magda Gerber’s Educaring® Approach and the desire to share her work with others, she created Friends of RIE® Midwest and in 2017 founded RISE, where she provides workshops to parents and early childhood providers, facilitates parent-infant guidance classes, and consults privately with families and professionals.

pan leung

is the founder of World Builders Academy, a private school supporting K-12 learning including early childhood education in Kansas City, Missouri. She discovered RIE® when she became a parent 10 years ago and is still using this amazing approach in your journey to be a better parent. She is now practicing RIE® and advocating it's benefits to new parents through her infant toddler program at World Builders Academy. She has worked as a RIE® inspired educator and career for over 7 years. We are so excited to join a community of carers and teachers who believes in respectful care and making it available to everyone.

Tiffany Mays

is a native Texan with twenty plus years in ECE. She holds two degrees, English and Sociology from University of Houston and currently working towards: a MS from University of St. Thomas and an Infant Mental Health Endorsement as an Infant Family Specialist from First Three Years. She received awards and scholarships throughout her career some in which include: UH Children’s Learning Centers Excellence in Early Childhood; Houston Area Association for the Education of Young Children Teacher and Educator of the Year; and Resources for Infant Educare Foundations Course Scholarship recipient. Tiffany serves at The Seed Tree School where her top priority is creating a respectful care-environment where infants, toddlers, and early preschoolers thrive as their brains and bodies develop.

Cynthia Boswell

I live in Ohio with my husband and 3 boys. When our second son was born, I felt compelled to stay home. What I wasn’t prepared for was how the day to day would feel. It didn’t feel magical or even rewarding. It was the dead of winter, and I was suffering from severe postpartum depression. Each day rolled into the next and I felt very little self-worth. Feedings, diapering, and sitting on the floor just felt empty. One snowy morning I decided to bundle up the boys for a walk. I went in the morning, after lunch, and then after dinner. The fresh cold air was invigorating and began lifting my spirits. The next day we did it again. I began to leave earlier and packed food as we moved into spring. This became our new normal. Over time I began caring for additional children outdoors. I had so many questions about caring for mixed aged groups. This is when I found RIE®. Everything that RIE® represented made sense to me. It allowed me to find joy in the little things. The beauty of meals, cleanup, and caretaking. RIE was the comfort and confidence I needed to care for the children and still take care of myself. I also looked to the leaders in outdoor play like Angela J. Hanscom, Linda Akeson McGurk, and Richard Louv. What I have found is that being outdoors awakens in children a resilience and confidence that grows as they grow. When I am asked, “Why outdoor childcare?” I answer, “Life is just better outdoors.” The taste of warm food on a cold day, the wet grass on your bare feet, and the aroma of wildflowers being heated in the summer sun. It’s never too early to begin a child’s connection to nature and the great outdoors.