Directions for Wonder Studio Classes
Welcome to Wonder Studio 2025!!
Our classes are located at Allendale UMC - NEW LOCATION!!
3803 Haines Rd. North St. Petersburg, Florida 33703
Please Park anywhere in the Back Parking Lot by the Green Awning - Main Entrance.
Enter the building here - through the main entrance.
Go straight through the entrance welcome area and out those double doors and immediately turn right. Look for these signs. And Follow the Flowers that are on the Ground Flooring.
Go Down this hallway (past the playground and up to the stairs.
Up the Stairs you go and to your left - you will see Wonder Studio!!
There - you have found us - at the end of the hallway - there is our Mural!!
Welcome!!
We know that it’s difficult to make every class due to sicknesses and travel, etc…
We offer make-ups during your current registered session.
They do not carry over to other sessions.
We are not able to refund $ for missed classes.
If your child misses a class and you would like to make it up, here are the steps.
If you know your child is going to miss a class, email us ASAP - so that other people can use your space as a make-up.
No big deal, if you forget or it’s last minute. :)
Choose a day/time (From the Schedule (Above - also in your weekly reminder email from our scheduling company.)
Click on the Link for Make-Ups (On your left and in your Weekly Reminder Emails.
Sign up by clicking on the calendar link for that day/time listed.
We only have 2 make-ups available per class so as not to over-crowd.
Also, email the Teacher (and cc Shannon) that you signed up for a make-up.
If it says the make-ups are fully scheduled - email us and we can add you on waitlist - if we discover more than 2 kids will be out.
Shannon (Monday, Tuesday Teacher) : tot.wonder.arts@gmail.com
What happens at The Wonder Studio?
Wonder Studio is an Early Childhood Educational Experience for children 18mos. and Up.
We are typically your child’s very first teacher in a “school” like environment. We love that!
The best part of this is that instead of being dropped off - your child comes to Wonder Studio with a loving caregiver.
This allows your child to have their first “School-Like” experience with a trusted adult who models the joy of learning right there along side of them.
Our experienced Teachers - offer a classroom (Studio) environment that invites children to “lead” their own experience.
After 16 years of doing this - we know that Wonder Studio Early Childhood Classes set children up for success in their later school years.
Our Studio Routine that we teach is this:
Entry
Come in, Greet the Teacher, Put your things in a Cubby - Wash Hands.
We believe that a child’s relationship with their teacher is very important and key to a future love of learning attitude.
It takes time and repeated experiences to form trust and a bond. (That’s why we like the 12 week classes)
Play time
Now, the children can freely roam/choose from 5-7 different experiences that the teacher has intentionally prepared for the group.
Our Wonder Studio curriculum has adapted and evolved over the past 15 years. It is a living and active curriculum based on the needs and desires of the children we have enrolled. It begins sequentially and grows and changes based on the observations of the teachers and adults . The curriculum is heavily guided by the interests of the children.
At a Glance - Our Curriculum is based on the schools of Reggio Emilia, Italy - which are rooted in Piaget’s Constructivist Theories - Vygotsky’s Social Constructivist Model, RIE Methods, Bev Bos, and so much more!
Each Class offers both Repetitive experiences (always with a little nuance) as well as new experiences. Children (and their caregivers) frequently “wonder” “What will be offered at Wonder Studio to play with today?
They learn over time that they will always have:
Their Teacher
Their Friends
Paint
Messy Play
Critters
Things To Move
Something to “Change”
Something to sculpt or squeeze
You get the idea, LOL!
Clean Up Time
This is a teaching time where the children and adults are gently and mindfully guided with techniques for transitions and clean ups that can impact your child for their entire lifetime.
We look at clean up as one of our most important times at Wonder Studio.
“We want children (and their caregivers) growing up knowing that : Messes are not a big deal. In life, sometimes we make a mess of things. That’s ok. What do we do if we make a mess?
Clean it up ! You can ask for help - you can work together with your community.
Messes are no big deal.”
Circle Time
After the satisfying work of Clean up Time - Our group gathers to Sing our Wonder Studio songs (which you and your children will never forget ;) and the teacher adds in (when she feels the group is ready) one of the other Arts - Dancing, Storytelling, Puppetry.
The Children Meet Hedgie (their new best friend!) and we always sing:
Ram Sam Sam
Bubble Gum
Choo Choo
Sing your Way Home
Stay on the Sunny Side!
Good bye
Children are invited to say goodbye in whatever way they are comfortable with. A wave, a handshake, a look, a hug. Like the Entry greeting, we believe that Hello’s and Goodbye’s are key in building the relationship between the teacher and the child and is a key piece to our Belonging curricula.
Top 10 Guidelines
-
Making sure your child receives a greeting from the teacher encourages a relationship, we do not expect a greeting in return, our intention is for the child to feel acknowledged and seen.
-
Adults, please silence and store phones/devices in cubbies.
Teach children proper handwashing so we all start with clean hands.
-
Give your child time before immediately intervening. Let the child practice their ability to initiate their own learning and play.
-
Wonder, curiosity, and kindness.
-
Stay open, stay curious.
-
Please sit on floor or in a chair...also Lower your voices so we can hear the children’s voices.
-
Non-Judgement Zone , please don’t judge or label your child, another child, Yourself as a parent/caregiver, or other parents/caregivers. Leave it at the door.
-
So the experiences are ready for new children to visit. Consider tidying up before your child moves on to another station.
-
When possible to prevent or block hitting, biting, pushing, scratching (Putting your body/hand/arm between the children with language like, “I will not let you hit/scratch/bite Sally.”
-
This deepens the experience and models a life-long approach to self-reflection and setting the stage for intentional thinking and planning ahead.
(Consider a few hours post class without screens as this will help permeate the learning experience for the child and helps to strengthen learning outcomes.)
