Connecting with Babies and Young Children: How to Slow Down without Guilt or Boredom

Kira Solomatova has a Bachelor’s Degree in Child Development. Although both of her parents were engineers, Kira dreamed about working with children from the time she was seven years old. Having taught preschool for many years in Pasadena, Kira discovered RIE® and became a RIE® Associate because not only is it inspirational because it advocates for babies, but because it has helped her to become more authentic. She published her first book, Toby is My Bear, as part of a conflict resolution series for preschoolers, and she has a blog about conflicts with toddlers and preschoolers, ihadaconflicttoday.blogspot.com. She founded Our Parenting Place with a partner, designed to help parents be more effective, find support, acquire information and network (ourparentingplace.com) and has a wide following on social media. Kira teaches RIE® Parent-Infant Guidance™ classes, leads workshops, and offers private consultation in English and Russian.

Ruth Anne Hammond, consultant and author of Respecting Babies: A Guide to Educaring for Parents & Professionals  2nd Edition (Zero to Three 2019), is a RIE® Mentor, and past-President of Resources for Infant Educarers®. She was faculty in the Human Development Department at Pacific Oaks College & Children’s School, as well as head of its Infant/Toddler-Parent Program. She currently leads RIE® courses for parents and professionals in the US and abroad and  studies affective neuroscience with Dr. Allan N. Schore.