Hello and Welcome to TinyTalk Harrogate! I am Emma, your local TinyTalk teacher and mum to two TinyTalkers, Ben(5) and Toby(1). I first heard about baby signing when Ben was a very premature newborn and found that he was going to have a trache and would not be able to talk for many years. I started using some basic signs and to my amazement, my tiny, poorly little darling was communicating with me!! I wanted to do more and tried to find a local class but I couldn’t, so I decided to start my own!

That was in January 2006 and it has been a real pleasure to meet so many lovely parents and babies and share the joys and benefits of baby signing over the years. Signing with Ben helped me to identify his needs quickly and it also allowed me to gain an insight into what he was thinking or trying to communicate to me before he could talk, be it the bird on the Cornflakes packet or to tell me he was tired!

It has been fabulous watching Toby start to sign. I started to sign with him when he was about 10 weeks old and by 4 months he was beginning to recognise simple signs like milk and get very excited!! His first sign was 'more' at about 8 months (he is a big boy and always hungry!!) He is now just one year old and he is already linking two signs together 'Ben eat', Daddy phone'!

Watching the look of joy on your child's face when they realise that they can be understood is simply fantastic!!

TinyTalk classes are 1 hour long starting with ½ hour of singing popular nursery rhymes and action songs with appropriate signs followed by ½ hour social time. This is a chance for the adults to chat and relax with a hot drink and a chocolate biscuit (or two!) while the babies socialise and play with toys. This is also the perfect opportunity to ask questions or for new signs.

Contact me now to find out more about how you can join in the TinyTalk fun!

STOP PRESS: NEW TINYTALK TODDLERS CLASSES BEGIN IN SEPTEMBER. See notice board for details