Healthy development for my child
Our Mission
To help parents and teachers give children ages 10 months to 6 years happy, engaging learning adventures by providing the method and play learning tools that promote healthy cognitive, emotional and social development – what we call “a smarter beginning.”
Our Family Team
Carson Stearn
President and Sole Owner
My international education gave me a strong understanding of the global marketplace. I started my education at the Hackley School in New York and then left after 8th grade to move to Florence, Italy, with my family where I attended the American International School of Florence. After 4 years, I graduated with an International Baccalaureate Degree.
At that point, I had a better idea of what I didn’t want to study than what I did want to study. I was one of those kids who didn’t know what direction I wanted to go in. There are advantages to that. I’ve been around – a lot. You can learn things about the world, about people, and about yourself that way. And I have.
After high school, I thought it would be interesting to go somewhere totally different and that’s how I decided to study at the Hong Kong University of Business & Technology. Guess what? It didn’t work out the way I thought it would. In short, it was not for me, so I went back to Florence.
Lucky me. My parents had started an artistic lighting company. Working with them, with the company product manager, Massimo Mencucci, and with a group of highly skilled Italian artisans, I received an apprenticeship in the ins and outs of running a business.
After that, I became Product Manager of PrimoMaestro Italia, and then Founder of Primo Designer International Ltd.
When I saw the work my mother and father had done on the best way to educate very young young children, it wowed me, so I pushed the idea of launching a company that would make the results of their work available to children, parents, and educators. That’s how TotSpark Ready came into being.
So it all came together for me. My international education gave me a strong understanding of the global marketplace. I even studied to become a certified software engineer at the Holberton School in order to strengthen my ability to market our products and method.
Most of all, I came to share our family vision to contribute to a future where children can reach their fullest potential to learn and think, to enjoy learning throughout their lives, to become principled members of society, and to succeed in school, career, and life.
Susan Sirigatti
Founder and Educational Consultant
Susan is a former New York City School Principal who has a Master's degree in Education and another Master’s degree in English literature, both from the University of Pennsylvania. Earlier in her career she was an English, reading and EFL teacher and then school administrator.
For many years, Susan lived in Florence, Italy, where she became fluent in Italian and taught English at the University of Florence. Her expertise is in English language arts and literacy.
Stephen Stearn, Ph.D.
Founder and Business Consultant
Steve is a scientist who has a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the City University of New York. He taught at Fordham University and at the City University of New York.
He was a consultant to New York State’s Centers For Advanced Technology at Cornell University and at The State Universities at Buffalo and Stony Brook. He also served as consultant to the Montefiore Medical Center and to the University Hospital for Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and The Rockland County Economic Development Corporation in Rockland County, New York.
In addition, he was a co-founder of Colgate Medical Ltd in Windsor, England, founder of Tellus Lighting Company based in Florence, Italy, and PrimoMaestro Italia LLC in Delaware, USA.
While attending graduate school, Steve taught chemistry to young children and teens as well as to college students. This sparked his interest in the basis of conceptual learning and in the best ways to nurture children’s motivation and intellectual curiosity.
