Launching kids into life

Daycare operator carries experience into her business

Aug. 12, 2005

DAWN DE BUSK\Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - Upon entering The Children's House, tucked away in a residential section of Palmer, it appears as though a child designed the interior.

Blue tape on the floor marks off a hopscotch game, a toilet sheltered by slats of dark wood stands like a quaint outhouse with two pint-sized sinks just outside, all sizes and shapes and colors of playground balls are stored in a wooden crate and stuffed animals and dolls sit side by side on narrow shelves.

But, wait. It's too neat.

The interior and tidiness are the doing of pre-school operator Verna Euwer. She acted as interior decorator and she instills responsibility in her small students - it was the children who picked up the toys before going on to other activities.

The Children's House, brainchild of Verna Euwer, has been in the Valley almost as long as she has. In addition, the school has evolved with the needs of the community.

Euwer moved here from Nome in 1964, after the big quake, and opened her business the following year. Euwer already had 12 years of teaching, of mostly

fifth-graders, under her belt.

"There wasn't anything in Palmer, any kind of program, including kindergarten, that my son could be in. So, I started my own," Euwer said.

She taught a morning and an afternoon kindergarten class.

"Most of the kids that went to kindergarten in those days passed through my doors," she said.

Sometime in the '70s, many of the kindergartners' mothers were working and asked if Euwer could offer daycare on the premises. Then, when the public schools started kindergarten programs, the age group at The Children's House shifted to mostly pre-school.

From the beginning, Euwer followed some vital concepts, embracing the best of different child-development philosophies.

She uses Montessori's equipment, which teaches a child to manipulate tools in the same way one would use a pen to write. So, with 250 Montessori devices, kids can prepare for later stages of learning,

But Euwer doesn't give her kids pencils and sheets of paper to copy numbers or letters.

The Montessori manipulative equipment also helps children develop the coordination for everyday chores like pouring juice into a cup.

"My school is a somewhat structured environment and each child progresses at his own speed," she said.

If a child accidentally spills some juice or milk, he or she is provided with the tools to clean up the mess. More often than not, it curtails future spills.

"They know cleaning up a mess takes times out of other fun," she said. "True, it takes longer to teach a child to clean up (than it takes for the parent to just do it). But it's our duty to teach them, to teach them to take care of themselves."

Euwer and her staff take the time to explain to the students why it's important to be well-mannered and responsible and to respect and understand each others' weaknesses.

A day at the Children's House includes art, dance and exercise with balance beam and balls. The kids dance and sing and create their own music. Dress-up and theater engage the young students.

And forget using the television as a baby-sitter. Or even as a way to learn at this stage in life.

"We have no TV. I feel they need to interact. Children learn best through interactive play. Television monopolizes their attention. Then, they are not actively involved," she said.

Euwer ran a second Children's House in Wasilla from 1974 through 2000. But it got to be too much overseeing two preschools, so she closed its doors, she said.

Her first school in the mid-1960s had between seven and eight children attending, including her son, who became an architect and resides in Wasilla.

Now, three generations have passed through its doors - three generations of the same family, in some instances. And, age groups aren't segregated.

The older children are allowed to spend time in the toddler rooms, if they ask, and the staff shifts around to cover the state's required provider-child ratio - even if it means paying more employees, Euwer said.

"We're here for the kids, not to make money," she said.

Dawn De Busk can be reached at 352-2252, or dawn.debusk@frontiersman.com.