I am delighted to welcome Natalie Bell from Tiny Talk York as one of our guest bloggers!

Natalie runs the Tiny Talk baby signing classes in York, teaching parents and babies to communicate with each other through sign language even before they can use words! 

To find out more contact Natalie at natb@tinytalk.co.uk or have a look at the Facebook page www.facebook.com/yorktinytalk.

Tiny Talk and Baby Signing

TinyTalk Baby Signing classes are a fun filled hour of signing, music and sensory activities to promote early communication skills with you and your little one.  Using British Sign Language, with well known nursery rhymes and a different theme each week you quickly develop a tool kit to use at home.

The TinyTalk baby signing classes are designed to cover 150 core signs that go with activities that you do most in your day to day life. This sounds like a lot but we focus on around five each week and use more to support the songs and the theme. By covering the signs in this way, you can select the ones that are most relevant to you and build them into you routines at home.  Using the signs in context is one of the best ways of strengthening the links your little one is making between object, person or activity and the language we use to describe it. 

We always say the word at the same time as signing as the classes are about supporting all early communication skills.  I started TinyTalk with my little boy when he was six months old and within weeks he was able to sign ‘milk’ closely followed by ‘food’.  For me I felt like I’d got my money’s worth from the course just with this!  It was when he was 12-18 months that I really saw the benefit of signing with him.  As a preverbal toddler he was able to tell me all the things he could see that were important to him and he never had any frustration of not being understood.  Now, age three, his vocabulary is vast and I put this, in part, down to his signing.  Everyone’s signing journey is different as children learn to sign at different times and rates, just like learning anything new.  But, for me, the benefit of continuing to sign with him has been worth its weight in gold and I enjoyed the classes so much I have gone on to run TinyTalk in York!

The TinyTalk classes follow the same structure each week as this helps with the babies learning patterns. However, each week is different as we use a theme each week from the essentials, Meal Times and Bed Time through to Going to the Seaside and Teddy Bears Picnic. Each session is an hour long with the first half an hour filled with signs to well known nursery rhymes, sensory activities and music. The second half of the session is an opportunity for your little one to have a play with other babies while you have a rest and the all important chocolate biscuit…or two!

The TinyTalk baby signing classes are designed for babies aged 0-18 months and Toddler Talk is now available in York for toddlers who are confident walkers so approximately 18 months to pre-school age.  I often get asked when the best time to start is and I always say that it is when you feel happy to come along to a class.  Being a parent is full of joy and is hard work!  So when you feel ready to come along to a class this is the right time as it is as much about what you do at home as what you do in the class.  Generally speaking, babies start to copy from 6 months old but I have had babies start at 4 weeks old and start signing at 4 months.   All babies are different and will start signing at different times.

These classes are popular and there is often a waiting list to start so do get in touch to book your place.  There are no more than 15 places in a class and they are currently £4.50 for the TinyTalk baby signing class and £5 for Toddler Talk with payments made for block bookings.  These are family prices so you do not pay for additional siblings or family members.  To book your place or to find out more contact Natalie at natb@tinytalk.co.uk or have a look at the Facebook page www.facebook.com/yorktinytalk for what we’ve been up to!