SPARKLES: Assuring children of a fun childhood.


What are two US returned professionals with degrees in engineering and management doing in a place like home? Having a sparkling good time of course. Meet Jhumkee Iyengar and Hema Narayan, the brains behind SPARKLES, a multi-dimensional development center for children. Says, Jhumkee, mother of two, a son aged nine and a daughter aged six, and Hema with daughters aged four and one "We had fun watching our children grow. Parenting is a wonderful experience." And obviously not having had enough of it, they both decided to set up an enrichment centre for children.

Hema who had been tossing around the idea in her mind, shared it with Jhumkee, whom she had known as her cousin's fiancée; and the enthusiastic duo, related through Jhumkee's husband, nurtured it together over time and distance. Their professional skills came in handy here and the duo did a lot of homework, working on the project for three years before the centre was declared open in summer this year.

The centre located in a pleasant double storied bungalow in Aundh, is designed to make children feel completely at home. You will find children friendly furniture in bright colours, paper cut outs, toys, books and other interesting paraphernalia that will make them long to come home to SPARKLES.

At SPARKLES, school education is sought to be supplemented by a variety of fun programmes suitable to different ages. For e.g., the Little People's Club for toddlers is a parent-child interactive programme that encourages exploration and expression in an environment conducive to learning and help make the transition from home to school a smooth one. Similarly, Kindermusik is an early childhood music and movement programme for children and parents. Licensed from USA, Kindermusic is based on the belief that every child is musical and every parent, too, besides being the child's most important teacher.

Children enrolled at the centre also have access to the Little Book Room for browsing and whachyuknow, borrowing too! Here is a dream opportunity for young Sparkles readers to have easy access to high quality age-appropriate books. Over 2000 volumes of handpicked children’s literature are displayed and organized in a cherished child's world designed to encourage its students to explore, browse and eventually get hooked on to reading for life. Lucky Ducky Care, the high quality after-school programmme aims at fostering friendships besides giving opportunities to explore, to experiment and make discoveries through play. Freshly prepared lunch and snacks will keep them energized. And don't we all know that kids eat without a fuss, everywhere else but at home.

Speech, Drama and Theatre for honing the communication skills and Written Language Communication to give vent to one's creativity. To be commenced soon is media communication that introduces the child to the awesome world of audio-visual communication. These are some of the well thought out & brilliantly implemented programmes at the centre.

They have special plans for children with special needs, which includes assessment, regular therapy sessions, counsel and support sessions for parents, teachers and other care givers.

The Little Movie Club has big plans, one being to introduce good informative films to tickle a child's imagination. who knows one of them just might be a Kurosawa in the making.

Finally, chat sessions over coffee provide parents and staff an opportunity to meet, exchange ideas and share their anxieties and concerns.

So, dear parents, to add zing to your kid's childhood, make it fun and memorable, you now know, where to head.