RewindFive years earlier
Most of them arrived as babies.
We take children from six weeks old through five years, so a lot of our graduates have been here for most of their lives. Six years, in one family's case, from the first boy's first day to the second boy's cap and gown. That kind of time is the point. Kids do not learn to trust a place in a week, and neither do parents.
For a child who has never been in group care, we may suggest starting part-time, a few shorter days, until they are comfortable. Nobody wins a prize for the fastest first week.
What the first weeks look likeLai, you have been an amazing teacher, caregiver, and second mom to our boys. I can't believe it's been six years since Blake's first day, and now Declan is officially off to kindergarten!
Stacie Webb, Little VIP parent
What they were raised onEvery lunch in between
Homemade lunch, and some of it they grew.
Meals here are homemade and healthy, made fresh the way they would be at home, because this is a home. Kids are encouraged, never forced, to try a variety of foods. Well-fed kids grow strong and focus better, and ours tend to ask for seconds.
There is an apple tree the kids pick from and a corn patch they check on, and they eat what they helped raise. It is hard to be picky about corn you watched come up out of the ground.
The lesson planEvery morning in between
Whatever they were curious about.
We run an emergent curriculum. The teachers watch what the kids are into and build the learning around it, hands-on, with real materials. A question about bugs becomes a week of bugs. A globe on the shelf becomes a month of countries and what people eat there.
Underneath the fun, the kids are building language, problem-solving, and the social skills that carry them further than any worksheet.
How learning works hereThe booksEvery afternoon in between
And then the books came out.
Getting Pre-K kids reading before kindergarten is the thing Lai is proudest of, and it is not an accident. Early literacy starts young here and builds every year. Our Early Reader Program gives extra help to the kids who find reading hard and an extra push to the ones already off and running.
By the time they graduate, they read. Not sounding out the word cat. Reading.
The Early Reader ProgramThe familiesEvery holiday in between
The families kept showing up.
Parents are not visitors here. There are family dinners with everyone around the same tables, a Christmas recital the kids rehearse for weeks, holiday gatherings, and an Easter festival with very determined egg hunters. Staff will tell you the relationships are the reason families choose Little VIP, and the reason they stay.
Your phoneThe whole time
Your phone knew before you asked.
Teachers text parents throughout the day: what your child got into, what they ate, how they slept, the hard moments and how they got through them. You know how the day went before pickup, not after.
LaiWho raised them
Teaching values, raising role models.
Lai Stender owns and runs Little VIP. She has been married more than twenty years and shares her home with two Pomeranians who take their supervisory duties very seriously. Her measure of success is the kids: the ones here now, the ones already in elementary school, and the change you see in your own child after a few weeks.
I strive to create an atmosphere in which each child feels encouraged to open up and take chances in their academic career as well as with their personal relationships with the other children.More about Lai
WhereThree houses
Where it happens.
Three family-home locations, two in Eugene and one in Springfield. Openings change as kids move up a class or graduate, so a call gets you today's answer. If your location is full, the waitlist is quick to join and holds your place.
Countryside Lane
3679 Countryside LaneEugene, OR 97404
Openings: call for today's answer
Hours: confirm when you call
Clear Lake Road
29404 Clear Lake RdEugene, OR 97402
Openings: call for today's answer
Hours: confirm when you call
8th Street
1853 8th StSpringfield, OR 97477
Openings: call for today's answer
Hours: confirm when you call
Toddler day care is offered at our Eugene locations. Hours, closures, the waitlist, tuition, and forms are all on the Parent Info page.