After 18 months of research and many practice sessions, Sponge opened in the fall of 2005. This year, Sponge will provide language classes for over 350 children from newborn to seven years in the Seattle area. This language program offers Spanish, Mandarin, French and Japanese--all taught by native speakers. While the staff sets out to create a program for the very young, parents appear to be learning, too. Many of the techniques that work well for children turn out to be effective for their parents, as well. This article provides a list of some of the key practices used in Sponge. While they were developed for the youngest learners, they are adaptable to all ages.