A Reggio-inspired school for ages 2 to 5
Thistle is a Reggio-inspired school in a bright converted warehouse in La Crosse. Children work in groups at the light table, the clay bench and the paint wall, and a teacher writes down what they notice.
A long project
A project is a question the children keep following for as long as it holds them. This one began in the garden. No two projects run the same way.
A child wonders where the ladybugs go at night. A teacher writes the question on a card and asks the group what they think.
Groups of children collect leaves, seeds and stems and carry them back in the wheelbarrow to sort at the table.
At an easel under the tree, children look closely and draw, then hold the drawing up to the real leaf.
The group waters, plants and watches. Teachers write down each guess and what happened next.
The question moves into the atelier, where children shape what they have learned in clay with the atelierista.
Notes, photographs and drawings go up on a panel in the hall, and families come to look and to talk about it.
The building
Thistle moved into a brick warehouse and left the light in. The studios open onto a wide hall, where the panels from each project hang at a child's eye level and families stop to read them at pickup.
The atelier stays set up all week, so a project can wait for the children to come back to it.
An atelier with a clay bench, a paint wall and a light table
Three studios for twos, threes and fours
A yard and a garden bed for projects that start outside
Programs
2-year-olds
A studio of its own, with its own corner of the atelier
3-year-olds
Groups follow a project at the light table and the clay bench
4-year-olds
The longest projects, with time to return to the work
The studios share the atelier, so a child may work at the clay bench beside children from another studio.
Sample programs.
The team
Ten adults work at Thistle: a director, a teacher and an assistant in each studio, and the atelierista. Three of them are here.
Director and teacher of the fours studio
Maichia directs Thistle and teaches the fours studio. She speaks Hmong and English with children and families, and she is the person to ask about a tour.
Atelierista
Selina runs the atelier, setting out clay, paint and paper with the teachers each week. She speaks Spanish and English with children and families.
Teacher of the threes studio
Toua teaches the threes studio and writes the notes that go on the documentation panels. He speaks Hmong and English with children and families.
Safety and license
Licensed by Wisconsin DCF
Group child care center license · WI License # 000000Verify
1 adult to 7 children
2-year-olds
Group size: 14
1 adult to 10 children
3-year-olds
Group size: 20
1 adult to 13 children
4-year-olds
Group size: 24
Group size
Up to 24 children
with 2 adults
Capacity
58
Ages 2 years to 5 years
An adult greets every child at the door and signs them in. At pickup a child goes only with the people on your list, and we ask for ID at the door until we know you.
Tell us about allergies at the tour; we ask privately once you enroll. We ask families not to send nuts, and snack is set out in the studio with the children.
A child with a fever or a contagious illness stays home. If a child becomes ill at school, we call you right away and a teacher stays close until you arrive.
We practice fire and severe-weather drills, and we count heads every time children move between the studios, the atelier and the yard.
A teacher walks the yard and the garden bed before each visit, and children wear what the weather asks for, with spare layers on the hooks by the door.
Clay, paint and tools are put away at the end of each day, and children use the real tools, such as scissors and brushes, with a teacher at the table.
Ask us about child care assistance
Sample details.
Questions
Thistle serves children ages 2 to 5 in three studios: twos, threes and fours. Mornings run 8:30 am to 12:30 pm, and the school day runs 8:30 am to 3:30 pm.
Tours run most months on a weekday morning, while the studios are working. You see the atelier and the studios, meet a teacher and ask anything you like. Children are welcome to come along.
A long project starts with a question the children raise, such as where the ladybugs go at night. A group follows it for weeks, looking, drawing, building and talking, and the teachers write down what they notice so that the next week follows from it.
Your child's age, the schedule and the days a week. We do not print tuition on this site; the figures are on our enrollment page, and we go through them on a tour.
Yes. The school is licensed by Wisconsin DCF, the Department of Children and Families, and you are welcome to ask to see the license on a tour.
Everyone speaks English. Two teachers also speak Hmong, and our atelierista speaks Spanish. They use those languages with children and families who want them.
Tours run most months, on a weekday morning. Book one, or call the school and we will find a time that works.