Infants
6 weeks – 12 months
$389/week
1 teacher : 4 babies · group of 8
Own-schedule naps in own cribs, safe-sleep certified staff, daily photo reports that will derail your meetings.
Madison, WI · licensed group center #DCF-2031184 · since 2012
Where the tuition is posted and the ratios are on the door.
Little Pines is a licensed center for sixty kids, six weeks to five years, run by people who believe parents deserve real numbers before a sales pitch. Tours twice a week — bring the kid; we have goldfish crackers and low expectations about quiet.
Rooms & tuition
Weekly, full-time, everything included except diapers. Part-time (3 days) runs 70% of full-time where space allows.
Toddlers
1 – 2.5 years
$345/week
1 : 6 · group of 12
Climbing, smearing, first words, second words we apologize for. Outside twice a day, every day above 0°F — this is Wisconsin.
Preschool
2.5 – 4 years
$312/week
1 : 10 · group of 17
Play-based curriculum with letters, numbers, and a worm bin of considerable local fame.
Pre-K
4 – 5 years
$298/week
1 : 13 · group of 20
Kindergarten readiness without worksheets-all-day: name writing, taking turns, zipping your own coat. The big three.
A day at Little Pines
- Doors open, slow landings, breakfast for early birds
- Morning circle — songs, the weather report, who has new shoes
- Choice time: blocks, paint, the worm bin, dramatic kitchen commerce
- Outside, rain or shine (snow pants economy in full swing by November)
- Hot lunch, family style — kids pour, kids spill, kids learn
- Rest. Sleepers sleep; plotters get books and quiet bins
- Snack, then projects and the second outside block
- Wind-down, stories, pickup hugs with paint still wet somewhere
Parent questions
Is there a waitlist?
Usually for the infant room (3–6 months ahead is typical in Madison); toddler and preschool spots open most semesters. The $75 waitlist fee applies to your first tuition bill. Tour first — the list moves faster than people expect.
What does tuition include?
Everything except diapers: morning and afternoon snacks, a hot catered lunch, daily reports in the parent app, and all activities. No supply fees, no surprise 'enrichment' add-ons. Tuition is posted on this page on purpose.
What are your ratios and group sizes?
Infants 1:4 (max group 8), toddlers 1:6 (max 12), preschool 1:10 (max 17), pre-K 1:13. That's at or better than Wisconsin licensing in every room, and posted on each room's door — license #DCF-2031184.
What's the sick policy?
Fever over 100.4°F, vomiting, or anything contagious means 24 hours at home symptom-free before returning. We call early and honestly, and we credit tuition for closures we cause — not for sick days, same as every licensed center.
How do naps work?
Infants nap on their own schedule, always on their backs in their own crib (safe-sleep certified staff). Toddlers and up rest after lunch, 12:30–2:30; non-sleepers get books and quiet bins after 30 minutes — nobody is forced to lie still for two hours.
How do I tour and enroll?
Tours run Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9:30am — book by phone at (608) 555-0146, and bring your child. Enrolling is: tour, application ($75, credited), a settling-in week of short visits, then full days. Start dates are the 1st and 15th.
Come see it with your own kid
Tours are Tuesdays & Thursdays at 9:30am — mid-morning chaos included on purpose, because that's what you're actually choosing. Call (608) 555-0146 or email hello@littlepines.example.
Little Pines Early Learning · 1108 Spruce Hollow Rd, Madison, WI 53711 · open weekdays 7:00am–5:30pm