About CommuniKids

  • CLICK HERE for more information about our teaching and administration team.
  • SCROLL DOWN for more information about our classes and age groupings.
  • CommuniKids Language Immersion Preschool (Spanish and French) opening 2009 in Falls Church, VA, and DC / Tenleytown!  CLICK HERE for more information.

First and foremost, we are a group of dedicated parents who are raising bilingual children.  We are also educators who collectively have worked with all age levels from preschool to adults in foreign language/bilingual education. After working in several public and private schools, and thoroughly understanding the importance of early exposure to languages, we became disappointed with the lack of foreign language instruction at the earliest ages. In the Washington D.C. area, elementary school programs are few, and immersion and bilingual programs are either accessible only by lottery in public schools, or extremely expensive in private schools. We decided to form CommuniKids to expose the youngest children to a second language when the window of opportunity is at its best to acquire sound systems. 

We are EXPERTS in language education:

  • We ATTENDED bilingual schools!
  • We TAUGHT in bilingual schools!
  • Our CHILDREN now attend bilingual schools! 

CommuniKids is:

THE FIRST: CommuniKids was the FIRST language school in the DC area founded EXCLUSIVELY for young children!

THE ONLY: CommuniKids is the ONLY language school that that was founded by experienced language teachers who are raising bilingual children.  Collectively, we have over 25 years of experience teaching language to all ages from 1 - adult!

THE BEST: CommuniKids offers the BEST classes for children because they are total immersion, taught by experienced native speakers, and designed by experts in second language acquisition theory and early childhood education!

About our Classes

All of our classes are total immersion - that is, there is no English spoken in the class whatsoever.  One of the benefits of learning a language so young is the ability to replicate any sound system and to acquire a native accent.  Therefore, we feel strongly that classes should be taught be native speakers. ALL of our teachers are native speakers of the target language.  We also adhere to the prevailing philosophy among experts in early childhood education that children learn best through play.  All of our classes are play-based.  Each session is organized under a single theme and the weekly activities are all related to the organizing theme.


The “baby” class (12-24 months):
Currently offered only in Spanish, this “learning together” class is designed as an introduction to CommuniKids. It exposes our youngest learners (and their parents) to the unique sound system of the target language. Even pre-verbal children are very active learners during this crucial stage in language acquisition!

18-30 month old classes:
Let’s move! Our toddlers enjoy exciting classes that make use of their unbounded energy and openness. Children will develop fine and gross motor skills while enjoying developmentally appropriate music, art, and movement activities, completely in the target language.

3-4 year old classes:
Our preschoolers will focus on speaking and listening skills as they become more comfortable with the target language through the full-immersion model. They participate in circle time, puppet play, storytelling, crafts, movement, and music.

5-6 year old classes:
In classes for our oldest age group, the focus is on speaking and listening skills, but we begin to introduce pre-reading skills as well. Children will be prompted to produce more language and will focus on more complex activities while still enjoying a dynamic, play-based program.

6-8 year old classes:
Our oldest learners take their knowledge a step further with a full-immersion, culture-based program that provides a challenging yet nurturing and fun environment.

CommuniKids in the Community (updated July, 2008)

At CommuniKids, our personal and professional commitment to multilingualism informs everything we do.  For Jeannine, Raul, and Mariana (our founders), language learning and teaching is our passion.  We feel strongly that all children should have access to early language programs and we are advocates for language programs in our elementary schools.  Raul serves as the DC representative of the National Network for Early Language Learning and we continue to participate in many associations and programs that advocate for increased teaching and learning of world languages.