Waldorf early childhood, RIE, and Lifeways???what are the differences?

[doulawoman]

Hello all,

I've begun my foundation year for the Waldorf Early childhood training and have come across some other similar ideas and i'm having trouble understanding the differences...what are the main differences between Waldorf early childhood philosophies, RIE, and Lifeways? Some waldorf teachers use RIE, am I right? and Lifeways apparently incorporates some of both.

I have looked at websites and find both the lifeways and RIE a bit vague, they all sound good but having trouble narrowing down differences, I'm also still unsure and not 100% committed to the waldorf ece, and considering the lifeways training but not sure whether I know enough to decide.

[WednesdayO]

Hi there. I tried to PM you a chapter from one of my college courses about RIE, but the attachment tool isn't working. PM for the info if you're interested.

[rbrnae]

RIE is more of a philosophy for infants and toddlers - based on respect for the child, letting them make choices, work things out on their own, talking to them with real voices and words.

Lifeways is a childcare program, that can be adopted by any childcare giver. It is based on Waldorf pedegogy, so it follows the same concept as a Waldorf preschool and or kindergarden. The idea is to have mixed age groups in a home like setting, doing domestic arts, playing outside, telling stories, etc.

I do think many Waldorf teachers use the concept of RIE, but some hardcore Waldorf people don't like it. I think the difference is where you come down on giving kids choices. Not too sure though. I know Donna Simmons doesn't like RIE, but our parent/toddler Waldorf teacher uses it all the time.

Hope that helps.

[WednesdayO]

Another resource is Sophia's Hearth. Sophia's Hearth is an American program that uses the work of Rudolf Steiner and Emmi Pikler. Magda Gerber used Emmi Pikler's work to create the RIE philosophy.

Lifeways actually states that it bases some infant/toddler work on Emmi Pikler as well. Lifeways also lists Dr. T. Berry Brazelton and Dr. Stanley Greenspan's work as resources.

doulawoman, I hope you received the attachment I emailed back to you.