Honeysuckle Bridge Program
A Gentle Start
The Honeysuckle Bridge Program is for families with children aged 3 years, desiring to deepen their understanding and involvement in Waldorf education, and slowly introduce their child to Waldorf school life. This program serves as a “bridge” between our Parent + Child classes, and our mixed-age Kindergarten.
A nurturing environment with peers and a warm teacher will be offered to young 3-year-olds, as they begin their journey practicing and navigating social skills, learning how to be in a group during snack time, and playing with toys that have been carefully chosen to encourage healthy movement and imagination. Each child’s caregiver will “book-end” this twice a week, 9am - 12pm program. The day will begin outside with the caregivers, children and teachers for 20 minutes, and parents will rejoin for Closing Circle around 11:45am.
Nestled between those times, children will be gently held with indoor and outdoor play, snack time, and developmentally-appropriate crafts. These classes provide a safe place, week after week for the child to enrich their world beyond their family circle and prepare for kindergarten. We will celebrate the ever-changing seasons and festivals through stories and circle time.
The Honeysuckle Bridge Program is a potent way for parents to start building community as they navigate parenthood, and Parent Evenings will be offered by the Honeysuckle teacher to strengthen the parents' understanding of Waldorf education, and to spend time discussing what healthy development looks like for 3-4 year-olds. Families accepted to the program will be fully enrolled in The Waldorf School of Tampa Bay, and are welcome to participate in our rich community and school festival life. Children who complete the program will progress to our PreSchool Program in the fall of 2025, with faculty approval.
Program Details
We expect this program to resume in September and run all school year long, through May 2025.
This program meets three mornings per week from 9am - 12pm.
For children who are age 3 by October 1, and have not yet had their 4th birthday, and are using the toilet.
All applying parents interview with the teacher by phone and then have an informal play date with their child and other applying families mid-December.
While this is a part-time program, your family is fully enrolled at our school, your will participate in our rich community life, and your child will be on track to progress to our PreSchool Program in the 25/26 school year.
Program includes two Parent Education evenings and a Parent/Teacher Conference mid-year.
This is an application-based program. We expect applications to open late spring/summer.
