“Somos una comunidad, no pensamos en solo nosotros mismo porque queremos a todo el mundo.”
“We are a community, we don’t just think about ourselves because we love everyone.”
Spanish Immersion
As we begin our third year of Spanish camp, we’ve taken time to reflect on what we’ve learned from our incredible community. Your feedback and participation have helped shape our evolving vision, and we’ve thoughtfully adapted our program to better meet your needs.
While our original mission was to introduce Spanish to all children, we’ve come to recognize the urgent need to support children who already speak Spanish—those who need meaningful opportunities to maintain, grow, and take pride in their language. That’s why this summer, our focus is on creating an immersive environment that celebrates and strengthens Spanish, especially by welcoming more children whose first or home language is Spanish and those who are dual language learners.
Our goal is to ensure every child experiences a full day of authentic Spanish interactions, whether during open play, mealtimes, or in structured activities. This natural, culturally-rooted approach helps language thrive—not just in the classroom, but in community.
As we look ahead, we hope to continue growing and, by next year, have enough campers to create two dedicated groups: one for dominant Spanish speakers, and another for those who are learning Spanish as a second language. This will allow us to tailor the experience more intentionally, ensuring that every child feels both challenged and supported in their Spanish journey.
Committment
Research and experience have shown that consistent exposure is key to language development. That’s why we recommend a minimum of 4 weeks of camp—this allows children to build trust with their teachers and peers, feel part of our Spanish-speaking community, and begin making meaningful progress in their language skills. Language grows through relationships, routines, and repetition—and our camp is designed to nurture all three.
In order to accommodate summer travel and family plans, we’ll be offering limited spots for Mini Immersion Campers (less than 4 weeks) after we’ve confirmed placement for campers joining us for 4 weeks or more. This allows us to prioritize consistency for language learning while still staying flexible for families with varying summer schedules.
Daily Activities
STEAM and Cooking Class
Our classes are designed to be fun, hands-on, and highly interactive. Each week, campers will learn theme-based vocabulary tied to their projects, along with a key phrase that supports communication around that theme. These carefully selected words and phrases help build confidence and make it easier for campers to use Spanish naturally in conversation and play.
Cooking class is done in after care.
Emotions
Communication isn’t just about vocabulary—it’s also about expressing how we feel and what we need. At camp, we’ll spend meaningful time exploring emotions and practicing how to use our words to express ourselves in Spanish. Through conversations, stories, and reflection, campers will gain the tools to speak from the heart while building emotional intelligence in a second language.
We’ll also focus on what it means to be part of a community—one that respects each other, ourselves, and the space we share.
Our guiding mantra is:
“Somos una comunidad, no pensamos en solo nosotros mismos porque queremos a todo el mundo.”
We are a community, and we don’t think only of ourselves—because we care about everyone.
Together, we’ll create a space where kindness, empathy, and connection flourish en español.
Outside Play
Campers will have about an 1.5 hours of park time. They will venture out to a few different parks in the area dependent on weather.
Mozart Park-2036 N Avers Ave
Monticello Play Lot-1810 N Monticello Ave
Julia de Burgos Park off the 606-1805 N Albany Ave (on occasion)
*If you need to leave before 3pm, please let us know. Your child may be at the park. We will aim to be back by 2:50pm.
Lunitas Quetzales-Money incentives
To encourage everyday use of Spanish, we’ve created a fun and meaningful reward system using our very own Lunita bucks—Quetzales (named after the national bird of Guatemala and a symbol of freedom in Latin America). Campers earn Quetzales when they speak Spanish during camp activities, play, and conversations.
They can redeem their Quetzales for special rewards like becoming the “Ayudante del Día” (Helper of the Day), “Capitán/Capitana del Día” (Line Leader of the Day), fun stickers, or mini treasures from our prize box. It’s our way of celebrating effort, encouraging language use, and making Spanish come alive in a joyful, community-centered way.
Mini Walking Field Trips
Every Friday, we take an exciting adventure to explore our community and practice Spanish in real-world settings! Our weekly outings will take us to local gems like La Canasta Panadería for fresh bread and pastries, the Xurro Factory for churros, La Cueva del Indio for delicious Puerto Rican food, an elote stand to enjoy traditional corn on the cob, a Puerto Rican ice cream cart for a frozen treat, and a fruit stand filled with tropical delights. This is a fun and interactive way to connect with the language and culture while supporting locally owned Latino businesses! Each week we’ll send out permission slips with where we are going.