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By STEVE KOLOWICH
Staff Writer Friday, June 08, 2007

For the last quarter-century, it also has served as a home away from home for more than 600 Winthrop-area children.

In 1981, Toothaker, 52, converted a third of the house her father built into Rhymes and Reasons Nursery School. Since then, 3- and 4-year-olds from local families learned and played in the colorful haven that long ago served as the Toothakers back porch.

Today, Rhymes and Reasons will close its doors.

Toothaker said there was no specific rhyme or reason behind her "bittersweet" decision, only that it "feels like the right time."

She said she still plans to work with children in some capacity, but her immediate plans for the future are up in the air.

Known to her pupils as "Ms. Karen," Toothaker founded Rhymes and Reasons with the goal of creating a "developmentally appropriate" program for pre-kindergarten children, and to provide a service to local families that she said was unavailable in Winthrop 26 years ago.

She also aimed to help advise parents on how to nurture their children's social and intellectual growth during their formative years.

Toothaker, who holds an associate's degree in child education and a bachelor's degree in parent child education, said her program emphasized the importance of allowing children to learn by playing.

"Three- and 4-year-old children learn through doing," she said. "So it's their doing, their exploring and their playing that results in learning."

She said she is worried the value of playing has been lost in recent decades.

Many children today "really haven't been given the time to play -- to simply come up with their own ideas, to use their imagination, to turn a toy banana into a telephone," she said. "It does concern me because play is the work of children, and that's how they learn about their world. It's what lays their foundation for academic success."

Toothaker's credentials are not merely academic; she raised three children of her own, all of whom went through the Rhymes and Reasons program. Her youngest daughter is set to graduate from Winthrop High School on Sunday.

From the outside, Rhymes and Reasons looks like a normal house, save for a small sign next to the driveway.

But as one emerges through a mud room to the nursery school, it is like stepping into a Dr. Seuss book: Reds, greens, blues, and yellows dominate the landscape. Student-made watercolor paintings hang from the walls and the ceiling, depicting rainbows and other prismatic designs. Stuffed wildlife rest atop one of the two low, carpeted lofts that rise from the nursery's floor; stacks of red and blue cardboard bricks populate the other.

The nursery is small, but proportionate. The chairs and tables rise no more than 2 feet off the ground, creating enough space in the 12-foot-by-80-foot room for "a writing center, a reading center, an art area, a science center (and) a discovery table."

A large, fenced-in chunk of Toothaker's yard serves as the school's playground. There are a swing set, a sandbox, slides and small climbing structures, including a tire pyramid.

Her garden even features several student projects, including "the zoo" -- featuring snapdragons and other animal-themed flora -- and a circular "pizza garden" where the children have helped plant tomatoes and spices in slice-shaped plots.

Some parents said they will be sorry to see the venerable nursery school close down.

"It was sort of like the backbone of this community," said Sandy Steele, who sent her three children to Rhymes and Reasons.

"It was more than a nursery school; it was more like a family to us."

Kathy Perless said she sent her three boys to Rhymes and Reasons because of the nurturing philosophy of Toothaker and Marie Hatfield, Toothaker's co-teacher for 21 years.

Perless said the nursery school "perfected having balance and boundaries together in an educational setting."

Parent Margy Knight said that last Sunday, 79 Rhymes and Reasons alumni gathered with their families at the school to celebrate the work of Toothaker and Hatfield.

Even though Rhymes and Reasons has run its course, some parents have taken steps to ensure it will have a legacy.

At Sunday's party, Knight and several others announced their intention to establish a scholarship in the school's name.

The scholarship would be awarded to a Winthrop High School senior who intends to study early child development in college.

"I was so overwhelmed when they announced it that I barely heard anything that was said," Toothaker said.

"Operating a school like this was a dream, always," she said, "and I was very fortunate to be able to do it."

Steve Kolowich -- 623-3811, Ext. 472

skolowich@centralmaine.com

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