We’re excited to announce that Sponge is a 2016 Parent Map Golden Teddy Finalist in multiple categories! Many thanks to all of you for nominating us and voting for us to make this possible!

Sponge is the only language provider finalist in the Infant-Toddler class and the After-School – Learning Enrichment Programs categories. We are honored to be recognized as a Golden Teddy finalist/winner six years in a row!

2016 – Finalist (infant & Toddler classes, After school enrichment)
2015 – Finalist (After school enrichment)
2014 – Winner (After school), Finalist (Infant & Toddler classes)
2013 – Finalist (Infant & Toddler classes)
2012 – Winner (Infant & Toddler classes)
2011 – Finalist (Infant & Toddler classes)

Thank YOU again and a BIG teddy hug from us for your trust and support!

We’re offering nine weeks of language immersion camp this summer, from June 20 through the end of August. Help your student keep up their Spanish, Chinese, Japanese and Hindi skills over the summer months through games, cooking, science and art! Explore the schedule to find the right week and location for your summer plans.

Camp Schedule & Registration

Summer Camps

Each camp has an engaging theme for the week. Spanish campers can dive into the art of bargaining, as they explore the traditional bazaars of Latin America in Flea Market Fun: Exploring El Mercado Latino. Or maybe your student loves to learn about food around the world. We’re taking a linguistic and culinary tour of the Spanish-speaking world in Cooking with Sabor: A Tasty Tour of Latin America. Looking for a week of exploration and wildlife? Discovery in the Amazon campers will learn all about animals and geography throughout the Amazon region, all immersed in language!

Interested in China? Learn about it in Mandarin. Take a tour of one of China’s most culturally important cities with our travel-themed 5 Days in Beijing: Exploring the Majestic Chinese Capital. Summer is a time for festivities all around the world, and China is no exception. Join us at the starting line in Dragon Boat Festival: Celebrating Summer in China, and let the races begin! Curious about China’s favorite superhero? Get immersed in the Tales of the Monkey King. There’s culture to be found in every corner!

Art Camps

In partnership with Young Rembrandts, Sponge is pleased to offer language-specific art camps for K-5 and Preschool kids alike, taught by native-speaking Art teachers for additional immersive experience.

Explore the world of Anime and create your own original Anime characters, draw a variety of wide-eyed facial expressions, and illustrate dynamic movement to pack action into your scenes with our Anime Style Art Camps offered in Japanese, Mandarin, Spanish, and Hindi. Travel back in time to the Middle Ages and learn how to illustrate period-specific characters and scenes while strengthening your drawing and coloring skills in our Medieval Castle Art Camps taught in Mandarin and Spanish. Enter the Enchanted Academy, where young wizards learn that nothing is as it seems! Recreate the majesty of the great dining hall in a beautiful graphic, and amuse yourself in the not-so-ordinary life of witches and wizards with a plethora of cartoon drawings, taught in Mandarin, Spanish and Hindi.

POW! BANG! WOW! Become a comic book artist by learning to draw your own muscular superhero characters in a variety of action-packed poses and dramatic scenes in our Superhero Cartooning Art Camps offered in Japanese. If you’re an animal lover, the hilarious Cartoon Zoo Art Camp is for you! You will create several expressive cartoon drawings each day that tell fun stories about life in the zoo. All lessons taught in English.

For every girl who dreams of being a princess, Fashion Runway: Royal Princesses Art Camp, offers a special week of drawing and designing beautiful fashions, fit for royalty. Learn basic portrait and figure drawing, and illustrate medieval-themed dresses and accessories. Join us for five days of fashion design and drawing, layering and styling, and dozens of dazzling accessories in the Fashion Runway: Tween Style Art Camp. The perfect workshop for the young fashionistas, you will learn to draw portraits, figures and tons of the latest fashion trends.

In one of our special Preschool art camps, offered in Japanese and Hindi, kids will learn how to draw pictures inspired by favorite summer places and things to do — like warm beaches, cool treats, toys and cuddly animals in our Summer Fun Art Camp. We will draw pictures of a barn, a tractor, and a variety of animals that live and play on a farm in the Down on the Farm Art Camp. Grab your goggles as we take you on a sea-faring voyage in the Under the Sea Art Camp, where children will learn how to draw expressive sea characters with bold colors and patterns. Want to learn how to draw animals found in our local zoo, including giraffes, lions, tigers and birds? Join our Zoo Animals Art Camp in Parkside.

The teacher will use English as needed to provide artistic guidance and ensure children are able to get the most out of the camp.

Join us to celebrate our 10^th anniversary on Saturday, February 6, 2016 from 1:30 PM-4:00 PM at our Seattle location. We’re planning a big Global Gala with international performances, activities, and language learning!

Kids will delight in Thistle Theater’s “Dance Around the World with Jennifer.” Dressing in an array of costumes, dance teacher Jennifer Carrol takes her audience on an interactive adventure with cultural dances and intriguing stories from different countries. Seattle’s Melody Dance Group will captivate with a spectacular Chinese folk dance performance.  This centuries old art form features stirring music, magnificent costumes and graceful ribbon wands.

There’s more! Arlette Aranibar of Cakes and More will host a children’s cupcake decorating class. Kids will also learn to prepare crepes, the popular French pancake.  Rounding out the day are make and take crafts from around the world, refreshments, and free, fun-filled Spanish, Mandarin, French, Japanese, Hindi and German classes taught by Sponge’s native-speaking teachers.

Curious about travel? Jennifer from Global Family Travels will be on hand to answer your questions about traveling to places near and far!

This event is geared toward children ages 10 and younger and their families.

Please RSVP to events@spongeschool.com or call (206) 227-7138.

We’re excited to announce that we’ll be supporting Treehouse for Kids this December. Treehouse is a great local organization that provides lots of services to foster kids in our community, including academic support! Learn more about Treehouse and what they do.

For every Spring session registration we receive during the month of December, we’ll donate $20 to Treehouse. Planning to sign up? Now’s the time to do it! Help us reach our $500 goal. Sign up here.

You can also help us give back to the community by purchasing a Sponge gift certificate this holiday season. Give the gift of language to a loved one, and 5% will go to Treehouse all through December. Happy holidays!

Questions? Let us know at info@spongeschool.com.

Advanced Mandarin Chinese is coming for Spring Session. We’re very excited to announce this brand new class, and look forward to helping your student excel in all aspects of Mandarin Chinese. Are you curious about class? Wondering if it’s the right choice? We have answers for you!

Who can take Advanced Mandarin?

The class is open to 2nd-5th grade students who have been studying Mandarin for over a year, have basic speaking skills, or are heritage speakers. 1st graders will be admitted on a case-by-case basis. If you are not sure, please reach out to us! We want to make sure your student is in the right class.

How is Advanced Mandarin different from a Just Kids class?

Advanced Mandarin will look a little different. Students will follow a textbook-based curriculum, and will learn skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing. Listening and speaking activities will follow the interactive and fun Sponge methods you know and love from our Just Kids classes. The difference is the added challenge of learning to read and write!

What’s the book? Do I need to buy it?

For Spring 2016, we will be using My First Chinese Reader: Volume 1. It uses a spiral curriculum to introduce both simplified characters and pinyin, with a variety of topics, including greetings, names, nationalities, school, family, home, dates, fruit, school supplies and food. You do not need to purchase the book, as the cost is included in tuition.

When and where is the class?

Advanced Mandarin will be offered at the Eastside Sponge center on Thursday afternoons from 4:30 – 5:55pm, and at the Seattle Sponge on Tuesday afternoons from 4:30 – 5:55pm. Both classes will be offered beginning in our Spring 2016 session.

When and where do I sign up?

You can sign up right now, with the following registration links!

Eastside Advanced Mandarin Chinese

Seattle Advanced Mandarin Chinese

For our full schedule, visit the online registration system.

Still have questions?

Please give us a call at (206) 227-7138 or email info@spongeschool.com. We’d love to hear from you!