What families ask us

Lichen is for children ages 3 to 5, in one room of mixed ages. Mornings run 8:30 am to 12:00 pm, three or five days a week, and the school day runs 8:30 am to 2:30 pm.

Tours are on Tuesday and Thursday mornings while the children are at work, so you see a real morning. You see the studio, the room and the yard, and you meet both teachers. Children are welcome to come with you.

Your child's age and the schedule you choose: three mornings, five mornings or the school day. Our figures are on the enrollment page, and we go through them at the tour.

The enrollment form and a deposit hold a place. When the room is full, families join a waitlist, and we offer places in the order families joined.

Lichen is licensed by Washington DCYF as a child care center. The license entry, the number of adults to children for each age and the size of the room are on the safety page.

We are inspired by the preschools of Reggio Emilia in Italy, and we borrow their habits: long projects, a studio of real materials, and teachers who listen and write down what children say. We describe how we work; we are not a Reggio Emilia school.

A project starts from something the children keep returning to, such as shadows, a snail in the yard or how a bridge stands up. It can last a few days or a few weeks, and it goes where the children's questions take it.

Panels on the wall with photographs and the things children said, gathered by the teachers each week. They let children and families revisit a project. We never put a child's name on a panel.

Yes, with a teacher close by. If your child is still learning, tell us at the tour and we will talk it through with you.

Every child has them. A teacher sits with the child, says what is happening in plain words and stays until the child is ready to carry on. We tell you at pickup if the day is worth talking about.