Friday, May 24, 2013


A Mindful Garden Where Active Minds Blossom...We nurture your child's beautiful inner nature through engaging, nature-based, hands-on play.

Riviera PlaySchool offers a humanistic, constructivist, and mindful program for the "whole child," inspired by the best of Attachment Parenting, Reggio Emilia, and Non Violent (Compassionate) Communication. We are also inspired by other forward-thinking philosophies, including the fun and freedom to explore of Bev Bos, the beautiful and abundant nature of Waldorf, and Maria Montessori's easily digestible, experiential approach to learning. PlaySchool has the distinction of having been chosen as the very first ever practicum site for UCLA Extension’s Early Childhood Education Certificate Program. We will also continue our partnership with El Camino College Childhood Education Department that currently brings student teachers to Riviera PlaySchool to learn from our wonderful staff.

Drawing on principles from leaders in child advocacy such as Bev Bos, Ruth Beaglehole, Alfie Kohn, Daniel Siegel, Joseph Chilton Pearce, Naomi Aldort, and Marshall Rosenberg, our PlaySchool facilitators are compassionate and loving, inspiring a cooperative and joyful environment. Leaders of mindfulness and peace, Thick Nhat Hanh and Mahatma Ghandi, and Jiddu Krishnamurti, who encourages us to ‘question everything,’ also inspire our school significantly.

Our Guiding Principals:
  • Promote positive conflict-resolution with compassionate and gentle guidance
  • Facilitate hands-on activities that encourage your child’s imagination, creativity and independence
  • Encourage self-sufficiency through self-discovery
  • Nurture self-confidence and self-reliance in a fully ‘kid-centric’ environment
  • Encourage lifelong relationships with nature featuring an “Edible Classroom” with Organic fruit trees, and children’s own vegetable garden
  • Inspire a joyful and compassionate community
  • Welcome Attachment Parents without the co-op parameters
  • Facilitate small groups with low student ratios balanced with community diversity

Riviera PlaySchool is a place where social, emotional, intellectual, and creative growth thrives. Our school is outdoors, play-based, natural, developmental, engaging and fun! We are conveniently located to Redondo Beach, Torrance, Hermosa Beach and the Greater South Bay Communities.  Come and experience our wonderful school for yourself!


To hear more about our community or to schedule a visit, please contact us by email or at (310)408-5616
  We hope you enjoy our website!

Parenting From Balance©

If We Don’t Let Our Children Play, Who Will Be the Next Steve Jobs?

Posted: 10/20/11 04:16 PM ET, www.huffingtonpost.com By Darell Hammond Will the next generation have a Steve Jobs?   The forecast doesn’t look good. In an era of parental paranoia, lawsuit mania and testing frenzy, we are failing to inspire our children’s curiosity, creativity, and imagination.  We are denying them opportunities to... [Read more of this review]


Compassionate Listening = Listening to Ourselves with Compassion

(First published in July of 2011) The reason why I created a compassionate preschool for my son, and the reason why I am on the hunt for a humanitarian school (or at the very least a compassionate teacher) for his elementary school experience, is completely selfish:  I was a troubled child.  I was the hard one.  I had BIG emotions, and they were... [Read more of this review]


Doggone Safe HOLISTIC Dog Training Workshop!! This Tuesday @ Riviera PlaySchool

Doggone Safe Dog Safety Workshop An innovative and interactive workshop to help children and parents learn how to act safely around dogs. According to the doggone safe foundation, more than half of all children are bitten by a dog by the time they are 12 years old.  This workshop is fun, interactive, and valuable for children and adults alike. Facilitator: Sharon... [Read more of this review]


Empathy vs Sympathy: Do you care more about your child’s feelings or your own?

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Bonnie Harris, Connective Parenting There is a fine line between sympathy and empathy. Learning the difference can make huge changes in your relationship with your child. My mother was a professional worrier. Whenever I expressed having a problem with anything, she sympathized, “Oh my poor dear. That’s so awful.... [Read more of this review]


a note about consistency

Hello Parents, I have been thinking about this lately, and wanted to share with you my thoughts. Society tells us that parents need to be CONSISTENT in order to be effective and responsible. If we aren’t ‘consistent,’ then we will send a message to our child that they can “get away with it,” and then all hell will break... [Read more of this review]


How to Make Your Child Listen.

I have been putting my attention on listening lately. I was thinking about a conflict the other day that involved my son and myself. I realized that ‘conflict resolution,’ per se, doesn’t truly exist when the conflict is between the two of us. And that is because I have an agenda. You see, I think I know the better way, the better... [Read more of this review]


OooooomMy God! Compassion is a Two Way Street!

You Can Reach Enlightenment in 1 Easy Science-backed Step! I have been waiting for this one!! Science now has documented evidence that anyone CAN reach enlightenment, (or at least find peace, joy, or satisfaction) in one easy step! I am tossing out my meditation beads!! They have found the holy grail! Recent studies have shown that a very specific region... [Read more of this review]


Men Should Not Cry (What are You Living Toward?)

It is not important to wonder whether or not we have biases…we all have them.  It’s a given.  What IS important is to acknowledge and understand which biases we do have, so we can start to break them down, to “deconstruct” and pull their tangled webbing from every section of our life, so we can eliminate them from our speech,... [Read more of this review]


Read More Posts From Parenting From Balance©