Brought into the country by Dyan Joyce Cortez–who earlier operated Davao City-based Little Achievers nursery school–Tumble Tots employs both active play with early academic lessons.
"I started out as teacher of Little Achievers, my mother’s school which was run by my auntie. I enjoyed every minute of my teaching job. When my mom heard of how articulate and way ahead her friends’ tots were, she decided to look into the school and learn more about the business of the school. I took the pains of convincing the UK-based Tumble Tots that I deserve to be the exclusive licensee of the center for franchising it in the Philippines," Cortez said.
When the license was finally released in July 2002, Cortez immediately obtained the go signal of Tumble Tots UK to convert the Little Achievers into Tumble Tots "as a showcase of UK learning system and technologies."
In 2003, Cortez went to Manila–after getting married– to scout around a site for another company-owned Tumble Tots center. In August 2004, she opened the 200 sq.m. site in Techno Plaza I in Eastwood which also houses an active play area for children from six months to two years.
"The equipment are colorful, safe and child-sized to develop the child’s motor skills while challenging his thinking and problem-solving capabilities," Cortez said.
There are different levels of enrollees: the Tumble Tots Active Play Program and the Tumble Tots Preschool Program. In the Active Play Program are the Gymbabes (6 to 15 months); walking to 2’s (16 months to 2 years); Tumble Tots Junior (2-3 yrs. Old) and Gymbobs (4 to 6 yrs. Old), where children come into the world ready to learn.
"At Tumble Tots we not only teach the children but we also have separate education seminars for parents and caregivers/yayas to advise them how to cope with difficult times with children and how to teach them to become independent thinkers and doers," Cortez said.
The tuition for active play is P6,950 which meets once a week (or every Saturday) for three months while for preschool, the tuition is P90,000 a year, she said.
"We also have a talent hour. We invite talents (actors, singers, painters, writers, declaimers, speakers, etc) to teach the children appreciation for culture. We expose them to various fields of the arts and appreciation for nature also," Cortez said.
In the UK, Tumble Tots was founded in 1979 by Bill Cosgrave, a former Olympic coach for gymnastics. There are now 300 centers in UK. Its worldwide network totals 500 with centers in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Hong Kong and Thailand.
An investment of P1.5 million is required for Tumble Tots franchising program; a floor area of 200 sq.m. and the license is good for five years with renewal to be mutually agreed upon, Cortez said.
At the start, the would-be franchisees are required to undergo a month of training with Tumble Tots Eastwood for Metro Manila and nearby provinces and in Davao for Mindanao franchises. The franchisee’s employees–namely one administrator, four teachers, two teacher aides, and one maintenance have to also go through a month of training.
Tumble Tots is accredited with the Department of Education and all its products, teaching tools and equipment carry the exclusive trademark of UK which is registered with the Intellectual Property Office.
G/F, Technoplaza I, Eastwood City
Telefax :687-6793