Little Gym Franchise Set To Open

(Saturday, March 31, 2007) - James and Tanja Malkovich were so impressed with how The Little Gym improved their daughter's coordination that the couple decided to open their own franchise of the children's gym.

They plan to open the gym April 9 in a Cooper Creek Boulevard building not far from their Lakewood Ranch home. The Little Gym's core curriculum focuses on developing motor skills through noncompetitive gymnastics programs.

When 5-year-old Noelle was younger, her pediatrician suggested she be in a program that would help improve her motor skills, Tanja Malkovich said.

The Malkoviches enrolled her at The Little Gym and while Tanja hadn't heard of the company and didn't expect much, she was stunned when she saw how Noelle benefitted from the program. "They challenge the children on the right level so they can work themselves at their own pace," she said. "I saw her doing things I never expected her to."

The couple also are parents to Dylan, 2, and are expecting a third child. Noelle will be the first student at the local The Little Gym and often asks her parents what her job will be there. They tell Noelle she'll be the "director of toys," which makes her happy.

The family moved to the area from Northern Virginia about a year and a half ago. The Malkoviches have always been interested in going into business.

James Malkovich served in the U.S. Army and has a background in management as a Department of Defense contractor and his wife has a degree in education from Germany and more than 10 years of experience in child development.

"I have a lot of experience with children of all ages and I think my background will be really good when it comes to helping the kids," she said.

The Malkoviches' franchise already has children enrolled for its winter/spring session. This current session will run seven weeks and cost $112. "It's a developmental program that builds skills over the course of the semester," James Malkovich said.

When it opens, the gym will provide three programs for children 10 months to 12 years: parent-child, pre-kindergarten and grade-school classes.

Parent-child classes for children at least 10 months old focus on motor skills development through activities like aerobics, basic gymnastics and stretching. A gymnastics class for 3- to 6-year-olds adds tumbling, group games and activities on gymnastics apparatus, the class geared toward children up to 12 years old builds on those beginner and intermediate skills.

The facility is equipped with beams, bars, a vault and other gymnastics apparatus. In the fall, dance, karate and sports-skills programs are expected to be added. Eventually infants as young as 4 months old will be able to participate, the Malkoviches said.

"We'll be making a difference in other families like we experienced," Tanja Malkovich said. "It'll be as much fun for us as it will be for the children."

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