TinyTalk Baby signing classes are all about having fun while learning a practical and extremely beneficial skill!
For the first 30 minutes I lead my class in singing, signing, moving and a sensory activity, providing a stimulating and enjoyable environment for you and your baby to bond and play together. The second half of the class is our social time where I pop on the kettle, crack open the biscuits for the adults and put out an interesting selecting of toys and books for your babies to explore, while parents and carers have a chance to chat!
We follow a specially developed scheme of work and each week has a fun theme with related Core Signs, (the signs which families may find useful in every day life), as well as extra signs which suit the theme. Every family and baby is different and the idea is for you have FUN together, for you to learn the signs which are useful and exciting to you both and use them as an additional tool to assist in your child’s development and self-expression. Babies begin communicating naturally through their hands at around 6 months (this varies from baby to baby), waving, clapping, pointing, and learning to sign gives them the ability to communicate so much more to us, relieving frustration and giving us a chance to see into their worlds. Being able to let you know that they are hungry or that they have just seen a bird in the tree before they are able to speak is rewarding for babies and parents. We always speak as we sign and as babies begin to develop their verbal sounds and speech, signing provides that extra clue to us as parents as to what they are trying to say allowing us to understand and encourage them!
I took both of my children to TinyTalk classes and as well as having a brilliant time, I was genuinely surprised to discover just how much of an impact signing has had on my husband and I’s parenting, influencing not only how we spoke to our babies but also how they in turn reacted back to us, even before they could sign themselves.