What an invaluable gift this course was to me. It was life-changing, paradigm shifting, and I feel confident this course will impact my parenting for the rest of my life. I am just so eternally grateful to you.
Brittney Williams
Your class was so powerful for me — first and foremost, you are a fantastic teacher with so much wisdom. Your teaching style emulates much of what you are advocating — awareness of pace, tone of voice, observation and firm but respectful guidance. Thank you for that.”
Natalie Galazka
We feel SO blessed. You have forever impacted our relationship with our children, and we are incredibly grateful to you!
Katherine Kleveland
I took the Peaceful Toddler course because my child was biting, and I didn’t know what to do to make her stop. This course helped me to understand why she was biting, what I could do to prevent it, and what to do when it happened. I now have tools and know how to respond in ways that help me to stay calm and help my child to learn.
Rebecca Lovitz Ortega
There’s a lot of information out there right now. Deborah distills it into a very powerful approach in her Peaceful Toddler™ course. You will have a toolkit of how to respond to the meltdowns — the big stuff to the little stuff — and how to navigate challenges with your child. If you’re even considering it, I’d say absolutely jump in. It’s actually not a lot of time or money for what you’re going to reap and sow in return. Taking Deborah’s course, I can’t think of a better investment. It’s a very reassuring, empowering forum where you don’t feel alone. Honestly, Deborah has transformed our lives.
Fielding Edlow
I will never be the same. Thank you so much, Deborah. This will change the trajectory of my children’s lives and the lives of all the children in my care.
Bebe Williams
After Deborah’s Peaceful Toddler™ course, I thought, “Thank goodness! We now have some answers and approaches” and it was amazing how quickly it worked. Every child benefits when the parent is happier. The parent is happy because they’re able to communicate with the child effectively. Everyone is just in a much better space. We are much more confident now in how we approach our kids. Certainly not perfect still, but we have an idea of how to approach every scenario that we didn’t have before.
Brad Wollack
Inviting Deborah to share RIE® with the Early Head Start Home Visitors was the best decision to start off the program year. The Home Visitors walked away inspired with ideas for how to share what they learned with parents and more importantly, the confidence to implement strategies right away. Hearing the Home Visitors reflect on what they learned and how it would impact their work with parents and families was truly exciting. I know they are prepared and have gained essential skills and knowledge to improve their practice.
Leslie Capello, Senior Director of QUALITYstarsNY
As a professional nanny, I’m well versed in the demanding needs of infants and toddlers alike. The RIE® Foundations™ course afforded me an opportunity to meet with a likeminded but very diverse group to discuss principles as they applied directly to our lives with children. Deborah made the content accessible and facilitated discussions in ways that engaged participation from everyone in the room. I walked away feeling inspired, refreshed, and eager to learn more.
Ruta Miniotas
Everything about Deborah, from her calm tone of voice to her smooth and elegant mannerisms, personifies Magda Gerber’s Educaring® Approach. She imbued our class with an atmosphere of respect, indulged each and every one of our questions and concerns, and encouraged meaningful discussions on all aspects of Educaring. Her patience, grace, and tangible reverence for infants were truly inspirational and helped me internalize Magda’s teachings in a way that just reading could never accomplish.”
Elisa Rigol
Without a doubt, the RIE® Foundations™ course was by far the most inspiring and empowering class I’ve ever had the pleasure of attending and Deborah’s method of teaching and warm character played a major role in the experience I had. I’m incredibly grateful for the experience and the support she has given me during the course as well as months after its end. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.”
Carol-Anne Steinhoff
Here at the Children’s Center, we believe strongly in the principles of RIE® and incorporate them into our practice in the Infant and Toddler classrooms. These principles of respectful caregiving and image of the child as capable and competent tie in strongly with our own tenets of Sense of Security, Sense of Belonging, Socialization and Guidance, and Learning through Play. We truly appreciate how beautifully Deborah conveys the message of self-respect and establishing confidence in the RIE tenets to the parents of our students.”
Ani Shabazian, Ph.D. / Director of the LMU Children’s Center and Associate Professor, LMU Department of Education
After learning as much as I could about RIE® on my own, I knew I wanted to go deeper. Signing up for the RIE® Foundations™ course felt like a leap of faith, but Deborah’s course exceeded my expectations on all counts. Deborah is a thoughtful and conscientious communicator. She easily wove theory, practice and real life scenarios into her discussions in a way that made Magda Gerber’s Educaring® Approach feel practical, enjoyable and even profound. What’s more, Deborah cultivated a warm and engaging discussion group. I appreciated that the course stayed true to Magda Gerber’s original approach, but was balanced by openness to new research and modern realities. I came away from the course with more introspection and purpose, eager to apply what I learned in my family and in my work.
Amber Winick
I am grateful to have had Deborah lead my RIE® Foundations: Theory and Observations™ course. Her gentle and inspired approach to sharing the information opened deep understanding for me. Having studied and reflected more on the work over the years, I grow in appreciation for her thoughtful style as I realize more and more how she modeled Magda Gerber’s Educaring® Approach in a bigger way than I could understand at the time. I continue to find meaning and inspiration from her example and the notes/journal from her course, and she continues to help in that way and in others. I am grateful, indeed.”
Beth Middleton