Nick and Peter encourage and help kids find lifelong joy in playing an instrument and listening to music. They have been teaching around Seattle for several years, offering music lessons in many instruments to hundreds of people. Playing in local rock and roll band Let's Get Lost, Nick and Peter have a unique approach to music education hosting rock and roll summer camps and encouraging their students to collaborate with friends. They also emphasize composition/songwriting, improvisation (lots of blues), and learning to read sheet music. They offer private lessons and host occasional group classes as well. 

ART CLASSES

From ancient to modern times, people have used a variety of materials in their environment to bring beauty into their lives. This session will allow students to become aware of these fine arts, which is our inheritance as world citizens. Explore, create, and discover a variety of cultural arts in this exciting session with Smart with Art! Discover Mexican Indian Yarn Art, design an Australian Aboriginal Painting. Create a print-making project based on a traditional African Adinkra cloth with found objects. Explore the art of calligraphy, and the art of working with a Sumi-paint brush to create Chinese Calligraphy. Work with special air drying clay to create a Mexican Sun!  We continue our journey in multicultural art discovering Japanese fish printing, a unique print-making experience. Take a trip around the world with Smart with Art as we discover art from many hands!  www.smartwithart.net

JUMP ROPE CLASSES 

Children are grouped based on age/grade to work together on different skills/events.  We will work on many different types of jumping rope including individual jumping, various partner skills (with individual ropes, with two ropes connected, and two people jumping), long ropes, and Double Dutch. The instructor, Colleen McCary, has been a competitive and performance jump roper for 17 years, so there are many varieties and styles of jump rope that will be covered.  There also will be a small show for the parents during the second part of the very last class, so that everyone can see their progress and the kids can have a chance to show off a bit!

CHESS LESSONS

Visit www.chess4life.com (under School Classes, Ben Rush) to register for this class.

Chess4Life instructors work closely under the guidance of National Chess Master Elliott Neff.  All instructors follow the coaching methods that were developed by Elliott over the past 20 years in training students and teams to both state and national titles. In 2006, Elliott Neff founded the Chess4Life Center in Bellevue, where students can receive additional training, and where Chess4Life coaches continue to develop and hone their teaching skills with guidance from Elliott. Classes are tailored to the skill-level of the students. In addition to learning the basic rules of chess, our classes typically include lessons on fundamental opening principles, middle game tactics and strategy, as well as basic endgame technique. Coaches also work with students in other areas like visualization, preparing for tournament competition, board habits, and much more. 

LANGUAGE CLASSES

Visit www.spongeschool.com to register for classes, or email us at info@spongeschool.com.

Sponge is excited to be offering Spanish K-2 and 3rd - 5th, and Mandarin for K-2 students at Ben Rush Elementary. Our classes are designed to be engaging and effective. We learn through hands-on activities, music, drama and art. Students focus on building comprehension and communication skills while they're having fun. Being comfortable communicating in another language is an important aspect of global competency, and the earlier you start the better! The University of Oregon recently announced a research paper where they discovered that students who start a language in elementary school are 70% more likely to reach competency in that language than those who begin their studies in high school. http://casls.uoregon.edu/questions.php