CLASSES THAT OFFER THE GIFT OF TIME TOGETHER - RIE® certified parent-infant guidance™ classes offer young children and parents the one thing that is needed in life today – time.  Time to be together; time to separate confidently; time to play and explore; time to learn about ourselves and others; time to move at our own, unhurried pace; time to be interested and act on those interests; and time to simply enjoy.

CLASSES OFFER INDIVIDUALIZED ATTENTION to both parents and infants is a safe, nurturing, cognitively challenging and age-appropriate environment designed to encourage infants to become attentive, active, exploring, and aware of self and others.

WHAT HAPPENS DURING THE CLASSES? - These 90-minute classes encourage babies to be attentive, active, exploring, independent, interdependent, interested, resourceful, respectful, aware of self and others, and to feel secure and competent right from the start of life.  Designed to encourage children to become authentic and responsible from an early age, parent-infant guidance classes also help parents to be confident in their primary role in the great discoveries of early childhood. 

TIME TO RECONNECT FOR PARENTS AND CHILDREN - Each class is comprised of time to reconnect from the previous week and get caught up with other parents in the class, then lots of time for infants and toddlers to explore a lovely, developmentally appropriate environment where learning is organic and fun is paramount.  Parents sit in comfortable back-jack chairs and observe while their children move, play, discover, interact with others, reconnect for those all important emotional refueling moments, and even learn how to learn through conflict– a really important skill!  When children are able to sit on their own, we offer a healthy snack of bananas and water, where children begin to learn and understand reasonable limits, rules, and expectations – otherwise thought of as discipline. Then there is time for shared discussion about any topic that is of interest to parents in that moment, including time to talk about the discoveries that happened that day in class.  We end with a clean-up routine where parents, for maybe only this one time in a week, sit back and watch as their children help the class facilitator clean up the toys and prepare to say farewell until next week.

LOTS OF TIME FOR FUN! - And, guess what else?  We have fun!   Yes, we learn – we all learn.  But we learn while we laugh, while we enjoy, and while we build deeply trusting and respectful, life-long friendships.  Children are free to explore, move at their own pace, interact with other children, learn, and master skills that are so important at this critical period of development, all under the skilled, respectful guidance of certified RIE® professionals.

TIME TO SLOW DOWN AND OBSERVE - Parents get the "so hard to find time" to slow down, sit back, observe, appreciate, and enjoy seeing their children learn and have fun during free play.  Time for discussion is built into the class so parents can share with one another.

SMALL GROUPS OF NO MORE THAN 8 CHILDREN -  This fosters a relaxing, safe, nurturing, and appropriately challenging, child-friendly environment where parents can take pleasure in their child's naturally developing competencies. 

GROUPS REMAIN TOGETHER UNTIL THE AGE OF 3 - Because ongoing relationships matter, classes run in 8 week sessions and groups remain together until the youngest turns three years old.  While many parent-infant classes end at two years of age, my classes are specifically designed to support ongoing attached, secure relationships between parents and children, so I offer the ability for cohort groups to remain together in continuous eight-week sessions until the youngest child turns three years old.  This extra year, when language is exploding and peer relationships become so important, also provides parents much needed support as we all learn together how to set clear, reasonable limits and expectations and still allow children to express and engage in autonomous activity.