The 36^th Annual
RIE^® Conference
for Parents & Professionals
Nature’s Path for Play: Creating Conditions for Authentic Playfulness

Creating Safe, Healthy and Developmentally Appropriate Spaces for infants

This presentation explores ways to optimize materials and environments for infants. Focusing on creating safe, healthy spaces that encourage exploration, this session addresses: What criteria should guide our selection of infant materials? What should they look, feel, and sound like? And what is our goal in introducing these materials to infants? Grounded in respect for infants as active participants in their world, participants will learn how to create environments replete with opportunities for sensory exploration and movement.

Speaker Bio

Born and bred in Southern California, Ani Shabazian attended UCLA for her undergraduate studies receiving her B.A. degrees in History and Psychology. She continued her studies in Human Development and Psychology at Harvard University attaining her first MA degree. Following this program, Ani returned to UCLA to obtain an MA/PhD in Urban Schooling, thus solidifying her scholarly knowledge in practice, theory, and education. From early on, Ani worked at marrying these different parts of academia—she served on faculty at several universities but always maintained her connection to practice by either serving in a volunteer capacity or professionally. This ensured Ani could both teach future educators yet still contribute directly to elevating the quality of care for young children. Additionally, Ani has trained internationally in orphanages in Budapest, Hungary, and early childhood centers in Reggio Emilia, Italy. After serving as a faculty member in the Applied Developmental Psychology Department at UCLA and simultaneously serving as the Executive Director of the UCLA Infant Development Program, Ani accepted a Professor/Director position at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) and has worked there since 2008. Continuing to bridge research and practice, Ani’s dual appointment at LMU includes serving as a tenured Professor at LMU’s School of Education as well as serving as the Director of the LMU Children’s Center, an on-campus laboratory school.

Her peers as well as her students have recognized Ani’s dedication to her work and passion for education. She was the recipient of the UCLA Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award and the LMU Crimson and Blue Distinguished Teaching Award. She has also shared her research and expertise with fellow educators, researchers, and administrators through numerous trainings, national and international conference presentations, and various peer-reviewed journal publications as well as authored three books, two textbooks, and co-authored the development of an international orphanage assessment tool. Further, Ani has traveled extensively through her work with Whole Child International (an international NGO based in the UK), which involves developing high-quality training programs for those working with vulnerable children residing in institutions in limited resource countries and helping to assess and establish country specific regulations for orphanages globally helping to elevate the quality of care for children globally.

How Children Learn Regulation Through Relationship

Participants will explore how infants and toddlers develop self-regulation through safe, responsive relationships and meaningful play. Grounded in Magda Gerber’s Educaring® Approach (RIE®), this session emphasizes respect, observation, and trust in each child’s natural competence and pace of development.

Through guided reflection, hands-on activities, and observation-based discussions, educators and caregivers will examine how attuned relationships create the foundation for emotional security, self-regulation, and lifelong learning. Participants will learn how to transform daily care routines and play experiences into opportunities for connection, communication, and co-regulation.

Speaker Bio

Debbie Bergstrom studied with Magda Gerber starting in 1986. She studied at the Emmi Pikler Institute, Budapest Hungary in 2008. She is a WestEd PITC Graduate. She has worked in Child and Youth programs for over 39 years. Debbie has worked with a variety of infant/toddler programs and has conducted seminars and training in Italy, New Zealand, Australia, and throughout the United States. She is currently an ECE Consultant.

Pallavi Poojari-Mohindra is the Co-Founder & CEO of The Nurturant and Founder of Tinker Lab, a practice-led early years lab school, working with children from infancy through age six. Her work is grounded in reflective pedagogy and the philosophy of being with children rather than doing to children.
Originally trained as a Chartered Accountant and having spent close to two decades in leadership roles at KPMG and EY, Pallavi’s work today sits at the intersection of early learning and the adults who shape childhood — parents, educators, and decision-makers within education systems.
Her practice is most notably influenced by the work of Dr. Emmi Pikler, the RIE® Educaring® Approach, and Dr. Stuart Shanker’s Self-Reg® framework, which helped shape her understanding of the science of human development in the early years — particularly the role of emotional safety as the primary architect of the young child’s mind. This lens informs her advocacy for classrooms where children are treated as thinking participants with a voice in their own learning journeys, rather than passive recipients of instruction.
Through The Nurturant and Tinker Lab, Pallavi bridges reflective pedagogy with real-world practice, supporting parents, empowering educators, and contributing to conversations about how societies raise children in a rapidly changing world. While she does not position herself as a technologist, her work brings a grounded human development perspective to discussions on education, policy, and the future of learning.
She speaks regularly on early childhood development, responsive caregiving, educator practice, and the importance of raising the next generation as reflective thinkers, especially in a rapidly changing world, through emotionally attuned environments.

This workshop introduces the core principles of Magda Gerber’s Educaring® Approach, grounded in the value of respect. Participants will explore how respectful caregiving supports healthy relationships and nurtures a child’s sense of competence, autonomy, and trust in themselves.

We will focus on creating a “safe yes” environment—one that is physically safe, emotionally supportive, and thoughtfully prepared. Topics include the use of passive toys, a less-is-more approach to materials, and trusting children’s natural curiosity and ability to learn through self-directed play.

The session will also address the importance of creating spaces where children can play, problem-solve, work through emotions, and sometimes choose to be alone. Through discussion and practical examples, participants will gain ideas for designing environments that support children’s development and strengthen relationships.

Speaker Bio

Kira Solomatova is a child development expert based in Pasadena, California. Despite both her parents being engineers, Kira always had a passion for working with children. She pursued her passion by majoring in Early Child Development with a focus on bilingual families and earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Child Development. Kira worked as a preschool teacher for several years, where she observed the stresses and challenges that parents and teachers faced throughout the day. She noticed that parents and teachers tried to eliminate the struggles and “put down the fire,” but it seemed like a never-ending cycle. She felt that something was missing and continued her studies until she found RIE, which provided the missing piece. Not only did the Educaring Approach help Kira advocate for children, it also helped Kira become a more authentic person herself. Kira published her first book, “Toby is My Bear” as part of a conflict resolution series for preschoolers. She also runs a blog about conflicts with toddlers and preschoolers at www.ourparentingplace.com, where she shares insights and tips on supporting day-to-day transitions and processing new events. She helps parents and teachers with conflict resolution by creating visual stories for children. Kira is passionate about helping others understand and develop positive relationships with children.

How Play-Centered Programs Align with RIE®

After experiencing RIE® with their children, parents usually seek preschool programs and day care centers that will provide continuity for their families. What should a parent look for in a program for twos, threes, fours, and fives? What does respect for, and support of, children look like in a preschool setting? And how can RIE Associates advise parents about programs in their area that will provide the continuity parents want and toddlers need? In a perfect world, don’t we want preschool to feel like an extension of RIE?

A program that is relationship-founded and play-based is, in many ways, the answer to these questions.  This workshop will explore the ways in which such a program can ease the transition for preschoolers after RIE.  We will also look at how skillful conflict mediation is a key component of any quality play-based program.

This workshop will teach ways that RIE parents and RIE teachers alike can evaluate programs for resonance with the principles of Educaring.  There will be ample time for discussion with our participants.

Speaker Bio

Heather Malley founded Caterpillar Cottage in 2010, a small part-time and play-based program for children 2 1/2 through 5 years old. This program is committed to a philosophy that aligns closely with the principles that Magda Gerber advocated for. They emphasize the importance of trust, respect and of early attachments including both the parent and the teacher-child relationship. Heather believes that by providing a nurturing environment where children are free to explore and learn at their own pace, the teachers can support their development into confident, caring, and independent learners.

Prior to starting Caterpillar Cottage, Heather was involved in teaching young children in preschool settings and has 9 years experience working in the field of research and program evaluation. She was given the gift of observing hundreds of programs serving children 0-5 years old throughout Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area for up to 4 hours at a time.

Heather brings experience in operating her own business (which includes outreach and occasional fundraising), connecting with parents and teachers about supporting children, writing her own blog and co-authoring an important book about preschool conflict-mediation, as well as a background in survey development and data analysis.

Susan North has been working with children and their families since completing UC Berkeley’s Early Childhood Education program in 1971. Her professional experience includes teaching and administration for Head Start, running parent/toddler programs, and directing full-day preschools. She was a Master Teacher with LA Unified’s Parent Education Division. More recently, she became trained in mediation and facilitation through the L.A. City Attorney’s Office Dispute Resolution Program, Ken Cloke’s Center for Dispute Resolution, and Centinela Youth Services. She opened her mediation practice in 2007. She has taught school-age kids to be peer mediators, and she volunteered with Southern California Family Mediation in the Child Dependency Courts. Now she divides time writing, providing parent education and parent coaching, and blogging. She is the author of The Opposite of Combat: A Parent’s Guide for Teaching Siblings How to Collaborate & Solve Their Own Conflicts.

Susan served on RIE’s board in the late 80s and early 90s. She worked not only with Magda Gerber herself but with so many of her founding colleagues. More recently she was a Trustee for fifteen years at Sequoyah School in Pasadena, CA. While on the Sequoyah board, the school expanded from a K-8 to include a high school. The same core values that drive RIE (respect for the child, allowing children to co-create their learning experience, and so forth) can be expressed all throughout a child’s education.

While a Trustee at Sequoyah, she also chaired the Committee on Trustees. Members of this committee serve as “talent scouts” for the board. As Chair, she learned how to seek, vet and approve a diverse group of passionate people with different skill sets to serve the school’s mission. Being on a highly effective board provided her with a thorough education about these matters.

Although she never became RIE certified herself, she learned so much from Magda during the many classes she sat in on with her. Afterwards, Magda was always so generous with her time. She will forever be grateful to Magda for what she taught her. Seeing babies through a respectful lens changed her. Magda’s way of seeing children has informed all of Susan’s ensuing work with families and children.

This workshop will explore ways the theoretical principles of the RIE Approach have been applied in a practical setting with children from 2 to 5 years old at the Children’s Corner Play Center, established in 1980, in Topanga, CA.

We will further examine how the work of the Play Center has impacted the mountain community of Topanga through interviews with past families, staff members and children who participated in this journey.

While it is essential to remember that this is “one way, not the only way” slides of our children at work, our ever-changing play environment and the ideas we will present on the value of observation will further support this conversation. Although it is understood that adults are instrumental in creating space for the children’s play to unfold, we further believe it is essential to slow ourselves down enough to allow adults time to truly observe, to learn to step back, and allow the process to unfold rather than maintaining the more common practice of “power over “children and an acceptance of the idea of  “entertaining children”  as being fully in the adult domain.

It is the objective of this workshop to share some of the sense of joy and discovery to be found in the practice of RIE day after day and even through decades of work.

Speaker Bio

Linda Hinrichs is a Child Development Specialist and former Chair of the RIE Alliance of Associates. She met and began her work with Magda Gerber in 1978 and served on the RIE Board of Directors from 1985-1990. She is a graduate of Cedars-Sinai Hospital Therapeutic Nursery Training Program and the Director of The Children’s Corner Play Center in Topanga, California, which she founded in 1980. Linda also consults with parents and offers parent education classes at her Center which serves children from 2-5 years of age. Linda began her studies at the Emmi Pikler Institute in Budapest, Hungary, with Anna Tardos and colleagues, in 1986 and has returned numerous times for every available English training over the past 30 years. She was a presenter at the 2007 Pikler International Conference in Hungary. While Children’s Corner closed from March until September, 2020 Linda re-opened with 1/3 the number of children in order to continue to carry the RIE message to families and to serve her community during the pandemic.

Global Insights for Today’s Practitioners

Are you dedicated to providing nurturing care for infants? Join me for an inspiring and practical workshop where we’ll explore how to create a consistent and respectful environment across cultural contexts! Drawing from my experiences in launching infant group care programs in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and soon Melbourne, we’ll uncover actionable strategies that can enhance your practice and elevate the care you provide.

Speaker Bio

Jemina (Jea) Villanueva-Vallée is an Australian early childhood educator with close to 25 years nurturing young children and mentoring professionals around the world. A passionate educator, teacher trainer, educational leader and international consultant, she regularly presents on the topics of early childhood education and parenting. Jemina founded an international nursery in Beijing prior to relocating to Hong Kong. She is presently Vice-President at Cosmic Education Group Hong Kong overseeing Montessori program quality at over 20 schools in Asia Pacific. Jemina organizes RIE certification courses in Asia and Europe.

Full Description coming soon – stay tuned!

Speaker Bio

Ruth Anne Hammond is the author of Respecting Babies: A Guide to Educaring for Parents and Professionals 2nd Edition (Zero to Three, 2009, 2019). Having been mentored by Magda Gerber, she works with parents and professionals in the US and abroad. A past President of RIE, Ruth Anne served on the board of directors for 22 years and continues to support the organization through committee work. As Sr. Adjunct Faculty and Master Teacher in the Infant/Toddler-Parent Program she taught at Pacific Oaks College and Children’s School from 1996 to 2014. Ruth Anne currently serves on the board of Families Forward Learning Center as Chair of the Programs Advisory Committee. She is a longtime member of researcher and psychologist Allan Schore’s Right Brain Study Group and spends so much time with her nose in a book that when her 4-year-old grandson calls, he doesn’t say, ”Hi.” He says, “Nai Nai, are you reading?” Ruth offers parent-infant classes, online parent classes and staff trainings.

Many years ago, at a staff training meeting, Karla created the original “The House that RIE Built” on a tattered piece of easel paper. She felt it was a fun, visual illustration to describe the foundational aspects of the Educaring^® Approach to relay the merits and benefits of this philosophy. Participants of this presentation will gain a basic understanding of the RIE philosophy and the Educaring Approach, including history of RIE, how this philosophy interfaces with current brain research (including information from Marks-Tarlow, Porges, Jackson & Trevarthan), how the philosophy supports appropriate co-regulation and attunement, video clips with sensitive observation of gross motor skills and insight from Jill’s many ongoing RIE Parent-Infant Guidance Classes. Jill will share insights from her studies with Dr. Allan Schore regarding how Right Brain Neuroscience supports and helps explain the Educaring Approach on a deeper level. Karla will discuss how she uses the fundamental qualities of the RIE Educaring philosophy in her daily work with Behavioral and Early Intervention.

Speaker Bio

Jill Getto Lee , M.A., ATIF-MHP is President of Resources for Infant Educarers^® (RIE) and Chair of the Professional Development Committee. She teaches all RIE Certified Courses and maintains a private practice at the Silver Lake Center for Creativity (SLCC) in Los Angeles. Jill is endorsed by the State of California as an Advanced Transdisciplinary Infant–Family Mental Health Practitioner and works as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant Specialist with WestEd, providing infant and early childhood mental health consultation to early learning and care, center-based programs throughout California. Her work is based in a deep respect for infants and families and integrates developmental, relational, and neurobiological perspectives. She holds a Master’s degree in Human Development with a specialization in Early Childhood Development from Pacific Oaks College and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Central Michigan University. Jill also holds dual certification in the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT) and the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics in Early Childhood (NMT-EC). She previously served as Chair of the RIE Board of Directors and currently participates as a community member on the Los Angeles Unified School District’s IPM team. Jill continues her professional learning through ongoing study with Dr. Allan N. Schore in his Right Brain Psychotherapy study group. Jill is also the proud mother of twin sons, who began their college journeys in the Pacific Northwest in Fall 2023.

Karla Lee Kuester has been a RIE Associate since 1989. She holds degrees in Early Childhood Education, Developmental Psychology, and Fine Art. Karla has been working with young children and families since 1977, as a Certified Montessori Preschool Teacher, Infant Specialist, an Early Interventionist (birth-3, atypical development), Behavior Interventionist and Child Development Consultant. She has been a Behavior/ Early Interventionist for the Step By Step EDUTheraPlay Child Development Program in Santa Monica from 2000-2024. She currently has a private practice of Parent Coaching and Intervention utilizing in-person, video, and phone consultation. She teaches “Infants, Toddlers & Caregivers” at UC Irvine each year, and does consultation with the University Montessori School on the UCI campus. She was the in-house CD Specialist at UCLA Krieger Center from 2009-2015 and taught at the UCLA Graduate School IMPACT Urban Teacher Residency Program in 2012. Karla is a published author, CD/ECE consultant and has served as a Private Tutor (enrichment/remediation) from 1988 to the present. She was invited to sit on the Exec. Committee of the Association of Child Development Specialists of L.A. (ACDS-LA) from 2017-present and currently holds the office of Secretary for this group.

How You See Them Can Change Infants’ Emerging World and Yours

When caring for babies, can adults find ways to differentiate between what is real and what is thought, their mind’s eye view that wants to assume (or control) and deny? Because letting go – trusting the individual from birth in caring relationships – brings understanding and deeper awareness, this conference workshop will address what may powerfully happen for human development – adults and infants – when babies are seen as conscious beings, , cared for intentionally, families developing habits of peaceful, nonintrusive observation and conscious interactions, creating conditions for authentic playfulness for adult and child? As RIE’s Founding Director put it, “Who knows best how to be a baby?”

Speaker Bios

Elizabeth Memel , M.A., is a RIE Mentor Teacher who instructs online as staff of the RIE Center programs. For close to forty years, Liz has dedicated herself to facilitating Magda Gerber’s model signature program, Parent-Infant Guidance Classes. In her home studio, she is thrilled to again provide weekly in-person groups for families with children from birth to two. Liz’s innovative outdoor educational family support program, RIE Wanderland, offers freedom to explore together, one family at a time, for parents and their children birth to age 8. Having served as a RIE board member for 33 years in many roles from President to Secretary, she currently participates in several board committees. Retired from 13 years as adjunct faculty at L A City College Child Development Department, Liz has her Masters Degree from Pacific Oaks College, specialization in infants and toddlers. Additionally she studied at the Pikler Institute in 1993, returning as a co-presenter at the 2003 Pikler Symposium. Included in the very comprehensive textbook “Authentic Relationships for Infants and Toddlers in Group Care” (2005, JKP) is a chapter on Parent-Infant Guidance Classes co-authored by Liz.

Aletheia Lee , DPhil. is a neuroscientist and early childhood practitioner focused on developmental sciences and infant-toddler care and education. She supports families and professionals with the Educaring Approach, working with an integrative philosophy that combines brain, body, mind, spirit, and concepts of self. She started her journey with RIE in 2015 and has worked with RIE communities in London, California, China, Australia, and South East Asia. She holds a DPhil in Physiology, Anatomy, and Genetics from the University of Oxford, and a Masters in Psychology from the National University of Singapore. She is passionate about the human design, our adaptive capacity, and our wonderful ability to learn. In Singapore, she offers Parent-Infant Guidance classes and teaches infant-toddler development and responsive curriculum in the Early Childhood Education programme at Singapore University of Social Sciences.

How Children’s Natural Curiosity, Playfulness, and Sociability Serve Their Education

Children come into the world exquisitely designed by natural selection to learn about the physical, social, and cultural world around them. From earliest infancy on, their inborn curiosity, playfulness, and sociability lead them to acquire the information, skills, and connections essential to healthy, fulfilled human existence. In this talk I will describe these self-educative instincts and a trustful, relationship-building approach to parenting, which is responsive to these instincts and avoids overriding them.

Speaker Bio

Peter Gray is a research professor of psychology and neuroscience at Boston College who has conducted and published research in behavioral biology, developmental psychology, anthropology, and education. He is author of an internationally acclaimed introductory psychology textbook (Psychology, Worth Publishers, editions 1-6), which views all of psychology from an evolutionary perspective. Much of his research focuses on the role of play in human evolution and how children educate themselves through play and exploration, when they are free to do so. He has expanded on these ideas in his book, Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life (Basic Books), which has been translated into 18 languages. He also author of a Substack series entitled Play Makes Us Human. He is one of the founders of the nonprofit Let Grow (letgrow.org), the mission of which is to renew children’s freedom to play and explore independently of adult control. You can follow him on Facebook (facebook.com/peter.gray.3572) and find many of his published articles on his website (petergray.org).

Come get lost in the flow with us. This is an invitation to play!

In this workshop, we turn our attention to ourselves. Drawing from RIE and Pikler principles, participants will be invited to engage in experiential play and self-reflection.

We will explore how adult play can deepen our ability to observe, trust, and remain fully present with infants and young children. By experiencing play without agenda or outcome, it can give us a glimpse into the inner world of the infant and the essential role of adult presence in supporting authentic play.

Speaker Bio

Hari Grebler has been supporting families with young children for over 35 years. She founded Hari’s RIE Studio in Santa Monica in 1990 and offers Parent-Child classes, private consulting and professional mentoring. Her practice is based on the work of Magda Gerber, founder of RIE and Dr. Emmi Pikler, with insights from Waldorf education. Hari Grebler is a RIE Associate, Early Childhood Waldorf Educator and a Pikler Pedagogue candidate. Hari lives in Venice, CA with her husband and her two children.

Elsa Chahin is a gifted writer, teacher, and infant-toddler care specialist with decades of experience working around the globe. An in-demand keynote speaker who has been featured at over 300 national and international conferences and seminars, Elsa is also president of Pikler/Loczy USA, and, as one of only two certified and accredited Pikler trainers in North America, she brings her expertise to – and love for – the vital field of raising healthy, happy children.

Designing Infant–Toddler Curriculum with the Educaring® Approach

Step into a hands-on, play-rich session where nature, curiosity, and the Educaring® Approach come together. Through thoughtfully designed play-based set-ups aligned with NAEYC Accreditation learning standards, participants will experience firsthand how infants and toddlers learn through self-initiated exploration. Together, we’ll examine how to transform standards into meaningful, child-led learning opportunities rather than adult-directed activities. Grounded in the principles of respect, authentic relationship, and trust in the child, this workshop offers practical guidance for designing nature-rich environments, planning intentional play invitations, and embedding caregiving routines that build connection, competence, and a deep sense of belonging. Whether you are a teacher, administrator, caregiver, or parent, you’ll leave inspired with fresh ideas and a renewed vision for curriculum that truly honors the youngest learners.

Speaker Bio

Talisa (“tuh-lee-suh”) recently became a RIE Associate in 2024 after a 9-year journey through the RIE Pathway. She has been an Early Childhood Education professional since 2010, when she first heard about RIE at UCLA’s Infant Development Program. While at UCLA, she studied Sociology and Applied Developmental Psychology, and later completed her Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education at Loyola Marymount University. After working at the LMU Children’s Center for ten years, first as an Infant/Toddler Teacher and then as its Site Supervisor and Infant/Toddler Curriculum Coordinator for many years, Talisa started her own parent coaching and professional consulting business, ParentingResources.com.

Talisa published her first book, Parenting Compass for Navigating the Early Childhood Years, while starting her Parenting Resources business. Both of these accomplishments were the silver lining of the pandemic for her, as it gave her time to bring her passion projects to life.

After growing up all over the world – from Alaska to China to coastal California – Talisa now lives in Los Angeles where she is expanding her online Parenting Resources business to include in-person services such as RIE Parent-Infant Guidance classes. She also has a goal of bringing the RIE Approach back to her birthplace and ancestral homeland in Southeast Alaska, in particular to accompany the efforts among Alaskan Natives toward intergenerational healing.

How Adult Joy Enriches Children’s Play. Exploring the distinct roles of parents and caregivers

What is play, if not a child-like enthusiasm for the world around us? Seeking, finding, demonstrating, sharing, and cultivating the reciprocal, relational nature of play with the young children we care for every day is a source of genuine joy and engaged presence.  Using the core meaning of ‘enthusiasm’ (being divinely inspired), explore the meaningful play experience created when observation deepens into participation – or when the two dance together. This “dance” involves the child in play activities, and allows the child to become an active participant rather than a passive recipient in play as well as care, as suggested by Magda Gerber’s Educaring Approach.

Speaker Bio

Alex Curtis has presented nationally and internationally on a variety of “birth to two” topics. Author of Simple Toys Make Active Babies, a book about play spaces for infants and toddlers, Alexandra earned her Associate Degree in Early Childhood Education and Bachelor’s Degree in General Studies with a Public Health focus at the University of South Florida. Mother to three lovely children, Alex was a founding Board Member of the Pikler/Loczy USA Fund and the Hillsborough County Breastfeeding Taskforce. She is an IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant) and works at Lane Community College’s Quality Care Connections program, providing training to Early Childhood Educators.

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