Adrian & Ruby Abascal

Ruby teaches essential skills daily through a different style of pedagogy, Respectful Infant Education. Ruby strives to make real connections with the children in her care, much like she would a peer. Through mindful modeling and behaviors, the children are developing their minds in social-emotional learning. They are finding that children, even at the early age of three, start to interact with each other on more of a peer-to-peer level and are able to help each other instead of always relying on an adult.

Nutrition builds the foundation for learning. Beginning with the garden in the backyard, Adrian teaches the children about using fresh ingredients and scratch cooking. The children learn to cook pasta and even make cheese. Adrian and Ruby believe the true learning of nutrition is through experiencing the process and enjoying homemade dishes and new foods. The Abascals make a healthy connection at home sharing menus and educational nutritional notes.

Not only has this been a new career adventure, it has also turned into a lifelong vision. The Abascals' goal is to educate other home care providers and help them become an organic, chemical-free child care while teaching through pedagogy Ruby has developed. They feel their dream is so much bigger than just their personal home child care. They want to see a change in children’s nutrition and believe they can be part of the solution. "If you want to change the world, it has to start with you."