On September 16, 17 and 19th, we’ll be holding Elementary Parent Orientations at different locations in the greater Seattle area.  Our goal is to help parents of students in our elementary school programs (or considering our elementary school programs) to have a better understanding of what we do in class and why.

We’ll cover the goals of our program, the benefits of language learning, what you can expect in terms of progress, our teaching philosophy, and more.  And, since we believe that all learning should be fun, we promise fun demos for you, too.

Monday’s program is at the Mercer Island Community Center at 7pm.  Tuesday’s program will be at Medina Elementary in the Multipurpose Room at 6:30 pm.  Thursday will be at Stevens Elementary in the library at 6:30 pm.  All 3 programs will cover the same material, so please pick the day/location most convenient for you.

For more details and to RSVP, please email to info@spongeschool.com with your child’s name, grade and school.  We’re also happy to answer any registration or other questions you have.

We hope that you’ll join us for an evening where we talk about the linguistic genius of your child!  Yes–so much is going on in the brains of young children as they acquire language.  Kelly Bolen, our Education Director, will be sharing the recent research on how children acquire language.  She’ll help you with strategies–and answer questions on the how-tos, the whys and the whens.  Join us for wine and cheese and great discussion.

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WHERE:  Sponge, Seattle: 3107 S. Day St., Seattle, WA 98144

WHEN:  Thursday, September 12th  7pm to 8pm

RSVPs are appreciated  – events@spongeschool.com

We are looking forward to seeing students again at all 3 of the amazing elementary schools in the Mercer Island School District.  We are happy to support the district in achieving the 2020 Vision of preparing students to thrive in a global world.

One of the great things about classes at MISD is that students can take classes at any of the 3 schools.  The awesome bus drivers and transportation team make it safe and empowering for the kids!

For a view of the full schedule and more details, see the following: MISD 2014-2015.

You can go directly to our online registration service here.

We are always happy to answer questions and to hear your feedback.  Please email us at info@spongeschool.com.

We are also looking forward to talking with you in person at our Orientation evening.  It will be held September 16th from 7-8 pm at the Mercer Island Community Center.  We’ll be going over the goals of the program and what your students can expect.  Fun demos included!

Join us on August 25th from 3-5 pm at our Seattle center for an end-of-summer fiesta. You can try creative cake-pops courtesy of Carol Herrarte, Spanish-speaking cake chef extraordinaire.  We’ll be decorating piñatas, shaking maracas and more.  Come sing, dance, craft, nibble and chat with us!

Friends and family are most welcome.  We would appreciate an RSVP, so we can plan.  Send us an email to events@spongeschool.com.

Please vote for Sponge in this year’s Red Tricycle 2013 Totally Awesome Awards and help us win again this year.

We appreciate all the kind words and support from our families.  We’re honored to be the *only* language school mentioned in ParentMap’s 2013 Golden Teddy awards.

You can read more about what parents say about us–and get other great ideas for resources in the greater Seattle area on the ParentMap site.

Join us April 13 and 14 for Free Fun Musical Events!

On Saturday, we’ll enjoy Miho and Diego as they perform from their award winning series “Music from Around the World”. We’ll travel from Japan to South America, sing songs in both Japanese and Spanish and learn about musical instruments rarely seen in the US. There will be tasty treats and crafts too!

And the fun continues on Sunday in Bellevue. Shiho Kurauchi from Seattle’s Silk Strings will introduce us to the koto – a traditional Japanese stringed musical instrument with 13 strings and moveable bridges. Sponge staff will share Japanese stories and we’ll make cherry blossom crafts to celebrate Spring!

When and where will the fun happen?

Mt. Baker Center on Saturday April 13th, 10 am – noon

Bellevue Center on Sunday April 14th,  10 am – noon

We’re thrilled to be hosting a Teacher Development Conference. The event is co-sponsored by the Confucius Institute of Washington and by WAFLT (Washington Association of Foreign Language Teachers).

Two of the things our teachers tell us that they love about Sponge–besides the kids–are the community of other teachers they meet and the professional development we provide. On April 10th and 11th, we’ll do more of both.

If you teach young children or you have an interest in being a teacher, we hope that you’ll join us.