Ruth Beaglehole


Ruth Beaglehole was a New Zealand-born American educator and child development specialist based in Los Angeles, California. Over a career spanning more than fifty years, she advocated for nonviolent parenting and helped transform how early childhood care and parenting education were understood and practiced in the region.

Early life and immigration

Beaglehole was born at Alexandra Maternity Hospital in Wellington, New Zealand on August 30, 1943. Her parents were New Zealander Ernest Beaglehole and his American wife Pearl. She trained as a preschool teacher before immigrating to the United States in the 1960s at the age of 25. She settled in Los Angeles and became part of a community engaged in progressive activism, including organizing a food cooperative in Echo Park known as the Food Conspiracy.

Community-based childcare

In response to the lack of quality, affordable childcare for working families in her neighborhood, Beaglehole founded a grassroots childcare center in the double garage of her Echo Park apartment complex. The center, called the Silver Lake People’s Playgroup, offered early childhood education for $20 per month and emphasized parental involvement and social justice education. Children in the program sang songs like We Shall Not Be Moved alongside traditional children’s songs. The center later changed its name to the Echo Park-Silver Lake People's Child Care Center, and was featured in the short documentary Power to the Playgroup, which received an Emmy Award.
Due to zoning regulations, the garage-based center faced closure. Beaglehole and other parents organized and addressed the Los Angeles City Council, ultimately helping to change local regulations to permit preschools in residential areas.

Work with teen parents

In the 1980s, Beaglehole founded the Teen Parenting and Childcare Program at the Business Industry School, part of the Los Angeles Unified School District. The program offered parenting classes to pregnant and parenting students alongside their academic curriculum. She incorporated storytelling and role-play to help young parents reflect on their own experiences and develop empathetic parenting practices.

Center for Nonviolent Education and Parenting

In 1999, Beaglehole founded the Center for Nonviolent Education and Parenting, which focused on educating adults to treat children with dignity and respect. Her approach rejected traditional reward-and-punishment methods and promoted a philosophy of mutual understanding and emotional awareness. The center served a broad demographic, including both court-mandated participants and voluntary attendees. It later changed its name to Echo Parenting and Education.

Personal life and death

Beaglehole was married for several years to Art Goldberg, an attorney, and had three children, including Rabbi Susan Goldberg. Her sister-in-law was the politician Jackie Goldberg. Another sister-in-law was the epidemiologist Ruth Bonita. Beaglehole died on April 21, 2025, at the age of 81.

Legacy

Beaglehole was a pioneer in nonviolent parenting education and a community leader whose work influenced generations of families in Los Angeles. She was considered an expert in her field and was interviewed and quoted by many journalists on topics related to early childhood education and healthy parenting behavior. In her later years she traveled to India, Japan, Africa, and New Zealand to lead trainings on nonviolent parenting and domestic violence.

Publications

  • Mama Listen! Raising a Child Without Violence: A Handbook for Teen Parents.
  • A Compassionate Guide to Parenting with Nonviolence.