As high school sweethearts Tyler and Madison Wiggins have been working as a team for a long time.
But this year, they’re working as a team in a new way — as owners of their own business. It’s a new chapter, but one that they said they’ve been excited to take on.
The husband-and-wife duo — who are also parents themselves — recently became franchisees of the Children’s Lighthouse of Olathe child care center, officially reopening it as theirs in May.
Children’s Lighthouse is at 14200 W. 135th St.
- The daycare center occupies a space just off 135th and Greenwood streets in Olathe.
- There, the center operates near the Nottingham Health & Rehabilitation facility.
- Children’s Lighthouse is open for classes from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Children’s Lighthouse of Olathe offers hands-on learning
Children’s Lighthouse of Olathe specializes in early education, offering programming for kids 6 weeks to 12 years old.
The curriculum at Children’s Lighthouse is rooted in hands-on, child-led learning.
“They’re not doing anything for more than 15 or 30 minutes at a time, and everything that they’re doing is very intentional,” Tyler Wiggins said. “We really focus on that social development and making sure that kids are ready to learn what they’re going to learn when they get to kindergarten.”
Typically, the day-to-day at Children’s Lighthouse offers both structured learning and open time for exploration at learning “stations” with different educational toys and equipment.
The goal, the couple said, is ultimately to help the kids build both academic and social skills.
“It gives them the opportunity to kind of feel out different things,” Madison Wiggins said. “It’s encouraging kiddos to maybe get out of their comfort zone.”
This marks the Wiggins’ first franchise of their own
Prior to reopening Children’s Lighthouse of Olathe as theirs, Madison Wiggins worked in accounting for Overland Park-based Black & Veatch, and Tyler Wiggins worked in engineering for Olathe-based Garmin.
The couple said the new venture helped combine two crucial parts of their backgrounds: parenthood and business.
“Between the two of us, we have a uniquely well-rounded set of skills and experience when it comes to how to run a business,” Tyler Wiggins said. “We know that high-quality child care is directly correlated with outcomes later in life. So to be able to be so hands-on in giving kids what, ultimately, they’re all entitled to, it’s just a really neat opportunity.”
The two of them are Olathe residents themselves, and also own the Children’s Lighthouse franchise in Gardner.
There may be potential for further expansion in Johnson County later on. But for now, they said they’re looking forward to connecting with the children and parents who come through their doors in Olathe.
After all, as parents of two of their own little ones, it wasn’t too long ago that they were dropping their own son, Ronan, off at daycare for the first time. So knowing that feeling and being able to help other parents through it, they said, has been especially rewarding.
“I’m going to give (other) children the same education and the same care that I would give my children,” Madison Wiggins said. “I just want everybody to feel comfortable bringing their kiddos here with the reassurance that I trust my kids with all the teachers in this building.”
Other recent child care news: New Lenexa daycare lets parents drop off kids by the hour. That’s needed in JoCo, advocates say
