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When the private Lutheran schools she worked for closed, she spent the next few years on the substitute teaching rolls in the Tacoma area, competing with other teachers looking for work.
Dissatisfied with substitute teaching – and really wanting to return to teaching kindergarten-age children – Meadows and her husband, Steven Greenfield, moved from Tacoma to Lacey and created Love of Learning Kindergarten in a portion of their 1,800-square-foot home.
“This is what I love to do,” Meadows said.
The home-based school opened in January and is a colorful learning space, the walls covered with the letters of the alphabet, numbers, shapes and the months of the year. There’s also a reading area, a science table, a music area and plenty of supplies.
“I want it to be a memorable experience, and I want to instill an interest in learning,” she said.
Meadows is targeting students from 4 to 6 years of age who are eager to learn. She would like to enroll between six and eight children.
She calls her approach to learning an “eclectic, integrated” one where students learn a little bit of everything, from math to science to reading to music.
Love of Learning Kindergarten is one of 4,689 home-based schools in the state, said Amy Blondin, spokeswoman for the state Department of Early Learning, the agency that licenses a school such as Meadows’ kindergarten.
Blondin said home-based schools have a whole list of rules they have to follow.
“It’s very comprehensive, and that’s intentional,” she said.
It takes about 90 days to secure a license, a process that includes safety upgrades to the home, background checks for everyone who lives in the home, and on-site inspections. A final inspection takes place before the license is awarded and then once every 18 months there is an unannounced inspection, she said.
Key to the whole process is making sure the children are receiving an education, learning and interacting with other students, and that they’re not just there to watch TV, Blondin said.
Classes at Love of Learning Kindergarten are 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday through Thursday, with one Friday a month reserved for a field trip, Meadows said.
The kindergarten school year begins Sept. 4 and follows a typical school year with summers off. It costs $4,000 per student. There’s also a $200 registration fee that includes all supplies. Students bring their own lunches, and Meadows provides snacks, she said. She also asks that parents call to schedule a time to see the school.
Meadows’ favorite part about teaching is watching “those wonderful light bulbs” go on when her students have learned something new.
“It’s a joyous age,” she said. “They want to learn if you show them new things.”
