Enrolling Now for Classes beginning September 10!!
Email: tot.wonder.arts@gmail.com
The Wonder Studio, an Arts and Science based Toddler Program,
is a place where the children are NOT getting ready for school! The
teachers and parents who participate are NOT teaching their children colors,
shapes, and ABC’s. There are no themes…
Dinosaurs this week… Sea life next week.
You will not see the children sitting in chairs making recognizable Monkeys
with google eyes. Even Sharing is
discouraged here!?!?
So what are the children doing? What are they learning?
Shannon Lipan, owner and teacher at The Wonder Studio believes
that young children and their caregivers need a place where the children
are the Protagonists in their learning experiences.
A place where squeezing an entire bottle of Elmer’s Glue onto
paper is not only OK with the teacher it is strongly encouraged!
A place where playing in a baby pool with 50lbs of flour is
just one of many choices.
Shannon, an experienced Early Childhood teacher with a Master’s
in Education from the University of Florida, sets up experiences for children
that provide opportunities for Creative play.
She explains that, “A studio environment instead of a
classroom, indicates to the child (and caregivers) that this is a place that
can get Messy…there are no recipes to follow, no goals to be met. Being creative means inventing NEW ideas, not
simply repeating what others have done in the past.”
The studio offers many different collections of “loose parts.”
Art materials like a 25lb block of Clay
that children can actually climb, take apart, stick beer caps and popsicle
sticks into. A block of clay that will
never see the fire in a Kiln! As a
matter of fact, the parents are strongly dissuaded against showing children the
idea of sculpture…Instead the children are invited to come up with their own
way of manipulating this Art medium.
“We are not teaching children Facts or doing flashcards…Actually,
we are taking children and parents away from the idea of simply Knowing information
but instead the value is placed on the Journey to Understanding.”
Shannon spends hours preparing the environment making sure the
experiences offered are truly creative and allow for many different
possibilities. “As I get to know the
children, I am able to change or tweak the experiences, always making sure I am
not only meeting the needs of the Group but the individual as well.”
The Wonder Studio, named from Rachel Carson’s book, The Sense
of Wonder, strives to be a place where children and their caregivers Senses can
be “aroused”. A place where a child can
have questions without answers, A place where caregivers can learn about children,
and above all a Place where children’s ideas are respected and listened to.
Come and See!
Fall Classes begin September 10th.
Mondays: Wonder Arts 9am - 10am or 10:30am - 11:30am
Tuesdays: Wonder Science 9am - 10am or 10:30am - 11:30am
email: tot.wonder.arts@gmail.com
