Storybook Nook opens in Ponderay
(Photo by ROBIN HERRIN) Storybook Nook owner Tana Vanderholm poses with her granddaughter, Laura, recently after the new early learning center opened in the Bonner Mall.
(Photo by MARY MALONE) The colorful preschool room in the Storybook Nook early learning center.
(Photo by MARY MALONE) The Storybook Nook is now open for enrollment of youngsters into the early learning center.
This story has been edited to correct the age range of youth being accepted for enrollment.
By MARY MALONE
Staff writer
PONDERAY — Storybook Nook opened in Ponderay recently, and the curriculum-based preschool and childcare is now accepting enrollment of youngsters ranging in age from 6 weeks to 12 years.
With more than 20 years experience in owning and operating a childcare facility in West Bonner County, Tana Vanderholm said when she heard there was a need for quality childcare and preschool in the area, she decided to open Storybook Nook in the Bonner Mall.
“We have had a lot of support from the community,” Vanderholm said, adding that she and her staff have felt welcomed since moving into the space over the past month.
As a learning center, Storybook Nook offers curriculum for all the different age groups, focusing on social and emotional development, language and literacy, science and creative development among other areas. Vanderholm said they are receiving a grant from the state to expand the preschool as well.
“We are totally excited about the Preschool the Idaho Way grant,” she said. “That is going to allow us to benefit several families in the community with a quality preschool program ... We feel that it is important to support the families in our community, so that’s our job.”
Vanderholm and her husband David have eight children and six grandchildren. Vanderholm is also the owner of Children’s Learning World, LLC, a preschool in Priest River, and is breaking ground on a third facility — Storybook Cottage, LLC — in Oldtown on Friday.
In her biography, Vanderholm shares that she has a strong devotion to children and the kind of care they receive. She believes children are sensitive to the way they are treated, which in turn affects they kind of adult they become. For that reason, she has high standards for the employees she hires and how they interact with the children in the classrooms.
“It is very important that we have friendly staff,” Vanderholm said. The class sizes are small as well, she said, with low child to adult ratios. The center participates in the state’s Quality Rating Improvement System. The purpose of the program is to improve the quality of childcare centers throughout the state by decreasing class sizes, improving overall health and safety, and increasing the standard of child-adult interaction.
Another program Storybook Nook participates in is the USDA food program, providing free, homemade healthy meals to the children enrolled. The center provides a variety of kid-friendly meals and snacks, serving breakfast and lunch containing a food item from every food group.
Storybook Nook is open 6 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday-Friday in the Bonner Mall, 300 Bonner Mall Way, Ponderay. For information and enrollment details, call 208-265-2655.
Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.