About Us
Our History
The history of Mother's Den is quite simple. Like starts of most child care home professionals, the owner and administrator of Mother's Den, Donna Kelliegh, was a mother concerned about the care of her own children. If you ask other professionals doing child care in their homes, their stories may be similar to Donna's. She wanted to ensure that her own children were cared for the way she would care for them. Unfortunately, she couldn't find the care for the non-traditional hours that she needed to continue her job as a hotel/restaurant manager at a large downtown hotel here in Anchorage. After taking a few months struggling with getting her child care needs met, Donna made a decision to pursue a career as a licensed child care professional. She then began to research the licensing process. She wrote program policies, created enrollment forms, and took the licensing orientation training to become a licensed child care provider in the Municipality of Anchorage. The rest is history.
It was April 1999, Donna attended that licensing orientation class to start her child care program. She was issued a provisional license that first year. It was one year to get her ducks in a row to earn the status as a licensed child care program. In May 2000, it was official, Mother's Den was a licensed child care and educational program in Anchorage. Knowing her own struggles working non-traditional hours, Donna pursued a program that was available to operate 24/7. Knowing that not everyone gets to work a 9 to 5 job. She wanted to make it easier for parents to go to work or school in the evenings, work weekends, and working hours beyond their child's bedtime. Since that date, Donna has maintained a licensed and operated 24/7 program to help families working non-traditional hours.
Donna has taken great pride in her child care program. She treats every family as kin and every child as her own. Child care is a business of relationship, trust, and partnership. Parents will always be their child's first and most important teacher. Donna believes in supporting families where they are and helping to raise the children of our future. Knowing that one day, these children will be taking care of us. Mother's Den is taking time to care and making a difference in our future.
Our Mission
Mother’s Den’s mission is to provide a safe, creative environment for children, where they can learn and grow physically, emotionally, socially, and intellectually at their own pace. Where children can learn through play and benefit from a structured yet flexible schedule. Provide children with the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of activities, which promote all aspects of development. The family child care environment provides children the comforts of home while they explore, feel confident and loved while they try new things and make new friends
Our Philosophy
Children need quality, reliable child care in order to thrive and grow while parents are at work or school. This is most cricial in the earliest years, when children are developing at a phenomenal rate. Young children also require consistency of care in order to feel secure. I believe that this type of care can only be provided in a home type environment in which the child interacts with the same trusting and loving caregiver all day on each day. Self-esteem is also a critical component to optimal growth for young children. It is my belief that children can develop a high self-esteem when we first welcome the child and their family as part of our program. As an extension of our family, children become more more involved in the daily routine seeing and feeling connections between home and our child care facility in a friendly and supportive way. Our flexible daily program will respond to the needs and interests of the children, individually as well as in a group setting enabling Mother’s Den to focus on developing the socialization and self-help skills needed to succeed in other areas of development. By encouraging children to learn and develop at their own pace, I feel children will gain the confidence of self-importance. Mother’s Den will give them guidance and understanding allowing children to have the opportunity to explore, experiment, and create in a safe nurturing and controlled child care environment that is setup for children to learn through their natural instincts to play.
Our Vision
Our goal is to support and nurture children’s natural desire to be life-long learners and to provide them with a solid foundation of skills so they can grow into happy, healthy individuals.
Our Values
Safety - Keeping children safe is our most important priority. Fun - Children should have fun! We laugh and seek joy on a regular basis. While working hard, we have fun in everything we do and don’t take ourselves too seriously. Respect – Everyone is treated equally. We foster an environment where everyone (children, families, and colleagues) are listened to and valued. Quality Care – We deliver the best possible outcome for the children in our care and take pride in our work. Family Partnership – We work in partnership with the families that we serve by providing support and encouragement. They say it takes a village to raise a child; this is our village. Positive Play-Based Learning Environment – We strive to create an environment that is an extension of your home; a place that is welcoming and full of happy, loving people who take their role in your child’s life seriously.