Carrot

The mission of Simona and Krum Krumovi is to inspire families to give the best possible start to their children. They are well aware that the key to achieving this goal is helping parents nourish the kids' curiosity and develop their skills from a very early age. Krum and Simona have found a way to support and encourage parents on this path.

Simona is a diplomaed philologist and pedagogue, while Krum is a psychologist and psychotherapist. They have long-year professional experience in working with children of various ages, including kids from different social groups and children with special educational needs. They believe their mission is to develop the potential of children – a mission that gives them both meaning and direction.

When three years ago Simona and Krum welcomed their own son into this world, their work became their personal cause. They started dreaming to see him grow up in a society, where children are curious and develop confidently. They know that the innate curiosity every child is born with should also be nourished by the parents. As time went by, the interest of their son into this world grew and the couple began to look for educational materials to stimulate him. They were unable to find any products that could encourage children to actively explore the world in a family environment, while communicating with their parents and developing not only their knowledge, but also their skills. This motivated them to start creating such products on their own.

Pretty soon, other parents and their coworkers became interest in the materials that Krum and Simona had created for their son. The couple realized that there were actually many people looking for ways to develop their children, but they were deprived of any suitable tools to do that. Thus, in the end of 2017, they decided to make their materials available to other families, setting up the Carrot publishing house.

THE CHANGE they want to achieve:

Carrot offers educational materials for early child development, created by experts and aimed for parents. With their help, parents can develop their kids' skills and knowledge in a home environment in an exciting way from their very first months in this world.

Early child development means offering a child from its very first days an opportunity to explore the world led by their innate curiosity. Communicating actively with the child, answering their questions, listening and responding to their needs, helping them grow up confident and enthusiastic about the world throughout their lives.

Although early child development is a key stage impacting the further development of a child, many parents are still not familiar with its benefits or are unaware of ways to develop their children's potential.

In an effort to give these parents the tools they need, Carrot has developed educational materials inspired by various pedagogical approaches. So far, they have created six sets of materials on various topics. Their cards featuring animals, fruit and vegetables introduce children to the world around them through realistic images and interesting facts. The cards featuring life cycles teach children that everything in this world has its place and takes time. Cards featuring countries help them explore and get to know the world. Sand digits and words and tactile figures develop the children's senses, their motor memory, fine motor skills and vocabulary.

The same box of Carrot cards can be used by 10-month-old toddlers to stimulate them to start speaking, by a six-year-old child learning to group animals based on various features, and by 12-year-old kids as a board game. Cards are created so they can help all children learn, including children with special educational needs and development problems.

In a bid to further encourage and support parents, Krum and Simona are always available to share their experience through events, free consultancy and guidance depending on the individual needs, age and interests of the children.

Currently, Carrot works with over 600 families from all over Bulgaria and aims to expand this circle. They motivate parents to spend time with their children and explore the world together as they communicate. They want to teach them to believe in their kids and be bold in their efforts to develop their skills, memory, senses and emotions.

Krum and Simona's dream is to see everyone develop the education and skills of children together as a team. Thus, kids will realize that learning does not only take place in school or in the kindergarten; that it is not an obligation, but is rather an exciting and ongoing process that starts with mum and dad.

Contacts: www.carrot-bg.com