Grandma’s House recognizes the importance of teaching children compassion for one another, their surrounding communities, those less fortunate, and our earth. We believe that it’s never too early to start teaching your children the value of community service, and that getting involved in volunteering at a young age can set a life-long pattern of advancing the common good.
ABOUT US
Our Philosophy and Mission
Welcome to Grandma’s House! We believe that children learn best through hands-on play. This philosophy has been fundamental to our programs since we began back in 1983 with my grandmother “Grandma” Weinkauf and my mother, Mrs. Ryan—who is still actively involved today! We are a NAEYC accredited early learning program, and our teachers place an emphasis on caring for each child’s individual needs while pursuing the interests of the class through creative lesson plans and activities. If you have any questions, please reach out—we’re always happy to talk about Grandma’s House!
- Colleen Pomeroy, Owner
TIMELINE
Grandma’s House Day Care Center, Inc. is founded by Donna Ryan and Grandma Lorraine Weinkauf. The Wauwatosa Avenue Methodist Church, called the Tosa Center, is the site for the first Grandma’s House.
A program for transporting children to and from local public and private schools is begun at our Tosa Center, fostering a large before and after school program. Grandma’s House opens an Infant and Toddler Center at 6119 W. Vliet Street.
Grandma’s House Downtown Center is opened in the Courthouse Annex on North 10th Street.
The Infant and Toddler Center is remodeled to also care for children over the age of two and is renamed the Highland Center.
August brings the opening of Grandma’s House in Pewaukee.
Early 1997 brought the move of the corporate offices to the future Brookfield Center. The Brookfield Center opens in March 1997.
In August, Grandma’s House makes the decision to close the Pewaukee Center since infant care could not be offered at this location. In September, the Tosa Center moves to a new location where it is able to offer infant care and expand its transportation service to area schools.
The Lake Country Center is opened in June.
Grandma's House expands its education program by sponsoring teacher apprentices and assisting with scholarships for teachers who wish to enroll in formal education programs.
Due to the changing economy and lack of enrollment, the decision is made to close our Downtown Center after 13 years of operation.
In May, Governor Jim Doyle visits our Lake Country Center to promote his “Kids First Initiative.” Grandma's House is recommended to the Governor’s office by the Department of Workforce Development as a quality center. The three-year-olds present the Governor with a book they made during Literacy Week and the four-year-old class performs “Circle of Life,” a show they prepared for the Center’s Multicultural Fest.
Donna Ryan decides to “retire” and her daughter Colleen Pomeroy takes over as owner of Grandma's House. Colleen has served as the Director of Operations for 12 years.
All Grandma's House teachers are now required to have a minimum of an Associate Degree in Early Childhood Education. Grandma's House supports teachers who return to college through the TEACH Scholarship Program.
Grandma's House celebrates 25 years in quality child care! Grandma Lorraine Weinkauf still opened three mornings each week at the Tosa Center.
Grandma’s House opens a new Hartland Center in August. Staff and families from the Lake Country Center enjoy their new classrooms and play space in the Village of Hartland.
In honor of Black History Month, Secretary Eloise Anderson of the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families visits our Highland Center to read the story “When Grandmama Sings,” by Margaree King Mitchell, to our group of three-year-olds.
Grandma’s House introduces a weekly Creative Expressions program with Ms. Michele at all four centers. Children explore art, music, drama, and dance in ways that reflect cultural diversity.
Community involvement becomes more of a focus. Lists of community events for families are posted at each Center at the beginning of the month. Grandma’s House sponsors a March of Dimes walk, lunches and dinners at Ronald McDonald House, food drives, and giving trees, just to name a few.
Lorraine Weinkauf, the original “Grandma” of Grandma’s House, passes away peacefully in early 2018. She will be remembered by all of the families whose lives she touched and without whom Grandma’s House would not be what it is today! In her memory, Grandma’s Scholarship has been created for the children of Grandma’s House Staff.
March brings about many changes at Grandma’s House and around the world. Although we drop to about 20% enrollment during Safer At Home, we remain open throughout. We provide care for many essential workers in both health care and other industries. All of our staff are called back as of June 1st as our enrollment creeps back up from 80% in June to almost 100% in September. Our teachers remain diligent throughout the pandemic adjusting to new guidance, even more cleaning, and the usual excessive amount of handwashing!
Grandma’s House celebrates 40 Years!
The focus for 2024 is to get our families more involved in our child care centers. Parent Groups are established at each center whereby families share ideas for improving our menu, planning special activities for Week of the Young Child, and other family activities at each center.
Accreditations
Early childhood programs accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) have voluntarily undergone a comprehensive process of internal self-study, invited external professional review to verify compliance with the criteria for high-quality early childhood programs, and been found to be in substantial compliance with the criteria.
YoungStar is a program of the Department of Children and Families created to improve the quality of child care for Wisconsin children. Grandma’s House is a 5 STAR provider, meaning we meet the highest level of quality standards.
Each of the four Grandma’s House Centers has received the Eco-Healthy Child Care endorsement from the Children’s Environmental Health Network. This means our facilities follow environmentally healthy best practices for eliminating health hazards.
FROM OUR PARENTS
“We have had our son with Grandma’s House since he was 11 weeks old. We LOVE everyone there. My husband recently retired from firefighting, and the team at Grandma’s House was always willing to work around his erratic schedule. The caregivers are so amazing, really.”
FROM OUR PARENTS
“Coming to Grandma’s House was the best decision we have ever made. Our little girl has grown and developed academically, socially, and behaviorally due to your warm hearts and devotion to caring for children.”
FROM OUR PARENTS
“My family has been at Grandma’s House for 8 years now . . . I can honestly say that every teacher my boys worked with was caring, kind, and really took the time to get to know them.”
FROM OUR PARENTS
“The security of knowing that our children were safe and tended to in a caring manner at all times was comforting. Our children have thrived in the Grandma’s House environment due to the devoted staff.”
FROM OUR PARENTS
“I wanted to take a moment to thank you and your staff for everything they have done for our daughter. She has grown and developed into a wonderful little person and it is in part from the care she has received at Grandma's House.”
JOIN OUR TEAM
Are you interested in working at Grandma’s House? We’d love to hear from you. Simply fill out an application to get things started.
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