About the RIE Method

When Hannah was born, Alan started talking to her as if she were an adult. I have already explained this in another blog. However, what I want to focus on today is the fact that since that time, Alan has been verbalizing his thought patterns with Hannah. So for example, when he goes to change her diapers, he will explain to her what he will do as he does it. In the field, this is the think-aloud method. I thought that it was a little to early for Hannah to be exposed to explanations of what was happening. However, now, I can see the value of it since it may well be the case that Hannah will be able to recognize what we are doing "with her" and "to her."

Alan told me that what he was doing was part of a method that he had heard about: The Rie Method. To which I responded: This is a simple think-aloud technique. A couple of days ago, when we met with our social worker she told us about the Rie Method. And Alan said: I told you about it. So I decided to do a small search on the method.

According to an LA TImes article, RIE stands for the Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE) and is opposed to touchy-feely methodologies of child rearing. The LA Times explains the following:"RIE teaches parents to "do less" because, as the idea goes, autonomy must start in infancy if a child is to grow into a self-assured adult. Parents who "do" RIE (pronounced "rye") give their babies steady feedback — a play-by-play account of diaper changes is key, for example — and there's a whole litany of "don'ts." No rattles (overstimulating), no shushing (baby needs to express his feelings), no mirrors or rocking chairs (distorted reality), no praise (they might get hooked on it). Baby needs indoor-outdoor play areas and private time and lots of focused attention — but not too much" (Piccalo, 2006).

Of course, we do several of the things that RIE says that you should not do: We praise, we shush, we overstimulate.... But at the same time, we are using the "think-aloud technique" which deconstructs the steps that we are taking. So for example, when we are going to change Hannah's diapers we explain to her exactly what we are doing and why we are doing it. The think-aloud methods works well with the teaching of reading and writing. We are not sure whether or not Hannah can understand what we are telling her, but it certainly has given us the idea that by explaining things to her, they don't come as a surprise to her....

Source: Gina Piccalo, Times Staff WriterJune 18, 2006 It takes a guru, a pricey pram and a village.

Hannah is growing and growing...

It's wonderful to see Hannah grow every day, healthy, happy, and strong! She is a joy and we are lucky to be her parents... She has been very active so we are already using the gym she got at the baby shower. She kicks her feet and smiles and laughs when she plays with it.

Today, she discovered her reflection on the mirror. WHen I put her in front of the mirror, she looked at herself very seriously, then she looked at me, and looked at herself one more time. So I called Alan and when he came she looked at his reflection in the mirror! It was wonderful!