I’m grateful for your curiosity to learn more about me. My name is Marwa Abdelfattah, and I am the founder of New Eyes. I am a mother, early childhood educator, and researcher. Since my pregnancy, I have been learning from brilliant RIE® and Pikler educators specializing in infants and toddlers. Through their guidance, I’ve learned to see my now 2.5-year-old with fresh, curious, and wondrous eyes. Now, I want to share this life-changing experience with YOU. I’ve written extensively about this journey here.
Before embarking on my 0-3 learning journey à la RIE®, I worked as a university lecturer in child development, a certified parent coach, and a Reggio Emilia-inspired teacher for 3-6-year-olds. I’ve also observed child-teacher interactions in classrooms in both Cairo, Egypt, and Silicon Valley as an anthropologist. These observations led to two master’s degrees: one in Anthropology of Education from the American University in Cairo, and another in Comparative Education, published through Stanford University. I also hold a bachelor’s degree in Applied Languages from the Sorbonne in Paris, which deepens my connection to Magda Gerber, the founder of RIE®, who was also a linguist.
I’m currently working towards becoming a RIE® Associate. One of the requirements for this hard-earned title is to lead my own class, where I host parents and babies in a safe space. In this environment, infants are free to move according to their developmental level, while parents offer a calm, warm, and supportive presence as observers. All classes are remotely observed by my practicum mentor teacher and RIE® Associate Liz Memel, based in California, who was a long term student of Magda Gerber. I wish I’d had this opportunity when my child was younger, but no such classes were available here in DC. So now, I’m offering this golden opportunity to you.
Arabic is my mother tongue, but I am fluent in English and French, with some knowledge of Spanish and Catalan. I aim to offer my parent-infant guidance classes in both English for English speakers and Arabic for Arabic speakers.
