| TinyTalk - Reading West |
| Hi there and welcome to TinyTalk, Reading West's scrapbook. Here you will meet some clever little one's that I've helped sign, see what we've been up to in the classes, read comments from parents plus much more. I hope you enjoy this page as much as I have putting it together. |
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 would just like to drop a note and say how much we've both enjoyed your classes (Eleanor shrieks in hysterics at Dingle Dangle Scarecrow, Bear Hunt and Hickory Dickory Dock) And lets not even mention Row Row Row my boat. It's been really good fun, and in the early days somewhere to bring E when she would be quiet and listen to the singing!” |
Claire & Eleanor,
Caversham Babies |
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 Lola and Archie are both doing great. Lola is doing fabulously at school and reading seems to come naturally to her which I'm sure is partly a result of being signed to as a baby. Archie too has an amazing vocabullary for his age and is a real chatterbox and a great conversationalist, contrary to what people always say about boys. It really has helped them in life and made my time with them as babies so much more interactive and enjoyable and I will continue to sing your praises for ever more! I hope all is well with you and your familly, we miss coming to your classes :( Kathryn, Lola and Archie
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| Josh signs rest of gold fish |
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| As you know Max & i won't be returning next term as i'm at work, but thank you for two fabulous terms. Keep up the great work you do.” |
Bev,
Caversham babies |
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I know you always like feedback. I know we are no longer able to attend your classes and do miss them but I still practise signing with Jessica.
I just wanted to say a big thank you to you for the great job and effort you put into your work, If it wasn't for you and the passion you show for your work, I might not have continued to sign with Jessica. Yesterday she had a very severe reaction to some food and did baby sign for hurt in her mouth and throat and signed for a drink. She then drank near on two full bottles of water. The ambulance staff said that the water clearly made a massive difference to her comfort whilst waiting for them to arrive.
Thank you so very much for making a difference via your work to the comfort of my baby.
Charlotte - Caversham babies
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| Josh signs part of gold fish |
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| I just wanted to say a big thankyou for being an excellent Tinytalk teacher! Katy really enjoyed the sessions, and so did I, it is a shame that we won't be able to come anymore. By the sounds of it, Katy would have enjoyed the toddler classes too!” |
Amy,
Tilehurst Babies |
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Leilani and I were at a soft play thing at Rivermead Leisure centre the other day. it was really noisy and busy in the hall, and she was across the other side from me so we could see each other but couldn't hear. She was looking at me and trying to say something, so I signed 'what?' to her. She signed back 'toilet', so we managed to do a quick run to the toilets and avoided any accidents on the bouncy castle :) Just thought I'd let you know! She's also been signing brother & sister since that trial TT2 session you did...looking forward to the new term! - Ruth - Tilehurst Toddlers
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| Hi, Tracy is a fantastic baby and toddler signing teacher. Her classes are fabulous. My toddler son really enjoys learning the signs and songs. We particular ly love the games especially when she get the parachute out. As a Mum I have also really enjoyed learning the signs and this has helped me in my role as a primary school teacher too. It is also a great way to socialise with other parents who have children of a similar age. - left on netmums.co m
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Claire,
Calcot Toddlers |
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Just thought I'd share that yesterday Leilani put a toilet toll tube on her arm and then pretended to be you running tiny talk, consulting her song list on her arm then doing the songs :) - Ruth - Tilehurst toddlers
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| I really like Tracy's class. She put lots of herself into it and tries to find individual approach to every child:) - left on netmums.co .uk
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Yulia,
Tilehurst |
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Some months ago I was in town with my husband and then 14 month old daughter Evadne, who was in the push chair. We had driven into town. My husband left us to go to the barber. Evadne fell sleep in the push chair and so I decided to walk home instead of disturbing her. I passed the barber's shop nd saw my husband throught the shop front window. I signed to him that Evadne was asleep and we would walk home. He signed OK and so we mananged to communicate without me having to go into the shop,and whilst he was having haircut. Knowing a few signs in the family is prooving to be extremely useful. Thanks! - Christina - Tilehurst
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| I just wanted to say thank you again for the brilliant classes. We really missed it this week. Good news though, despite being at nursery full time where unfortunat ely they don't sign, Ben is still picking up signs really quickly.” |
Helen,
Caversham |
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Hi Tracy,
I just wanted to say a big thank you to you for the great job and effort you put into your work, If it wasn't for you and the passion you show for your work, I might not have continued to sign with Jessica. Yesterday she had a very severe reaction to some food and did baby sign for hurt in her mouth and throat and signed for a drink. She then drank near on two full bottles of water. I feel that the water clearly made a massive difference to her comfort whilst waiting for the ambulance crew to arrive.
Also although Jessica is poorly with allergies I have to say compared to any of the other babies of her age, mentally she is streets ahead and again I truly believe that this is due to baby sign. Being a 1st time mum can not express how much I feel all children should be given the chance to learn baby sign to give them the best start in life, baby sign has created a world of even more happiness between Jessica and I and she loves the fact that I can understand what she is seeing, thinking and feeling.
Words really can not express how grateful I am to you and your skill's - Thank you so very much for making a difference via your work to the comfort, well being and happiness of my baby .
Cheers
Charlotte & Jessica x
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| Thank you to those of you that have nominated me in the Most Outstanding Activity or Class Leader 20 |
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| Tracy I cant handle it any more !!! I need to come back ....... I need TinyTalk (and It would probably help Mason too !)
Hope to see you again soon
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Eve,
Tilehurst |
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We were playing in the lounge quite happily and Isaac suddenly sat down very hard on his bottom and signed 'food' and crawled into the kitchen. I checked the clock and it was 11:40am, 5 minutes before he usually has lunch! Same thing happened in the afternoon, 10 minutes before he usually has tea. I went with his requests and he ate really happily as if he was rewarding me for understanding him!
Unfortunately a similar thing happened yesterday, I blew him a kiss from across the room and he stopped what he was doing and crawled into the kitchen as if he thought I was telling him it was tea time! It was a good 30 minutes early and nothing was prepared so he screamed at me whilst I quickly got something together! Lesson learnt! - Victoria - Calcot
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| Before my second child Anthony was born, my husband and I decided that we would definitely begin signing with him as soon as possible. I had taken our first child, Kate, to Tracy’s Tiny Talk sessions and loved them. We saw how empowering it was for her to communicat e with us and wanted Anthony to have the same opportunit y. We all began signing “milk” and “bath” to Anthony pretty much from day one but didn’t begin classes until he was 6 months. His first sign was neither milk nor bath but “dog” and he was 10 months old. We were so pleased as we were beginning to wonder if he would ever sign at all. Three months on and Anthony can also sign “bird”, “hot”, “sleep” and is just beginning to sign “bath” and “elephant” . His highchair sits opposite our patio doors and during every meal he tells us if he can see a bird at our bird bath. He also tells us that our cups of tea are hot and that he can see our pet dog Buster. The delight on his face when we acknowledg e what he has told us is just magic. Tracy’s Tiny Talk classes remain my most favourite club that I have participat ed in with my children and I am so grateful to Tracy for the joy that she has given my children in being able to communicat e with us from an early age. Thank you. ” |
Victoria,
Tilehurst |
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I was sitting in a restaurant with my family, I turned to Danny (2) and signed "I love you". Imagine my surprise when he signed it back!!! I totally melted and made everyone in the whole place watch. I couldn't wait to get to class and show everyone, so after arriving and waiting for a significant amount of people to turn up, I regailed my story and said "watch". I called Danny and signed "I love you", to which he signed .......... "bothered!". Obviously having older siblings isn't always a good thing.
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| Thank you Tracy. It is really nice to be able to come to a group which is so supportive outside of the signing itself! I really was unsure about coming yesterday, but am really glad I did. It is lovely to feel cared for and it is nice to get back to 'normal' , whatever that is!!! I went home in a good mood.” |
Christine,
Tilehurst |
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Hi Tracy, Just let you know, that from no signs a couple of months ago, Zach is now signing like mad. He does mouse every time you mention the word or he sees one in his "That's not my..." books and cat every time he sees or hears us say our cat's name. He is also learning thank you and cuddle, although they are a little hit and miss. He has also started star when we do Twinkle twinkle. We really love the classes and have made some great friends, so thank you for introducing us to this new world. Christine
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| I also wanted to say how much signing has seemed to help Evadne learn to talk. She is 17 months old this month. She never seems to use a sign without saying the word and so is very easy to understand as she is signing and sometimes saying something unclear. She can sign and say (in either English of Greek and sometimes both): food, milk, hello, goodbye, dog, cat, mouse, elephant, cow, rabbit, pig, duck, crocodile, owl and beaver (I made up my own sign for these as have no idea what they are), spider, fish, monkey sun, rain, home, more, sleep, mum, nose, eyes, ears, mouth and some more that I can't think of at the moment. She also says loads of other words without signs and I'm sure that all the singing and fun that she has at Tiny Talk has helped with this.
We absolutely love coming to your sessions and Evadne gets really excited and starts to jump and say signing, singing repeatedly whenever I tell her that we are going to "Baby Signing."
A big thank you from my family and I and we think that you are wonderful and do such a great job so enthusiastically and energetically!
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Christina,
Tilehurst Toddlers |
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STORY: Nicholas has been signing lots recently but has also done away with signs to talking too. He did lots of new signs on our holiday:
juice (he also put sign for apple or orange before juice)
water
boat
helicopter
He still loves to play where is? using his sign for where and any given object that we are playing with OR a particular person. Shown on Holiday when his grandparent left after a week and we stayed on he asked "Wheres Pops?" & "Wheres Mimi?"
He really has a lot of signs and loves the classes (although he doesn't sign very often during a class!!!)
Thank you for being such a great teacher and giving Nicholas the communication skills alongside the excitement and enjoyment that Signing has bought us as a whole family. - Alex and Nicolas - Calcot Class
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| Our TinyTalk Toddlers class is great and i think it is mostly down to a GREAT teacher, who is full of fun and genuinely cares about all the mums and toddlers/babies who come to class. It truly brightens our day!
All the children have such a great time and we have a lovely group of mums too. It is good to be able to chat with them and see we all have the same fun/issues with our toddlers.
Also I love the subtle art of learning through fun. Although Luke (my son) doesn't sign, his speech development is good and his understanding of both signs and words/communication has developed well.
All round we love TinyTalk and I am so glad that i have another baby on the way to bring along for more fun in the future.
Thanks Tracy x” |
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Helen,
Calcot Toddlers |
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STORY: When Kieran was about 13 months, his older sister and brother returned from school and wanted to play in the garden. I got Kieran sorted and was just about to take him in the garden when he signed "no, bed mummy". I thought it strange but took him upstairs anyhow and he fell fast asleep for two hours. Imagine how grumpy he'd have been if i'd "made" him play!
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| Have been coming for nearly 4 years and will miss it lots when we stop coming. I'm sure signing was the reason both boys talked really early - helped them understand words. I've enjoyed meeting lots of new people.
Tracy does a fantastic job - born to do this. Makes the children feel happy and involved. Been a really great class xxxx” |
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Kerry,
Tilehurst Toddlers |
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| I like the fact that TinyTalk Toddlers includes lots of moving songs and the focus on developing speech as well as signing - good tips on the little hand outs too.” |
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Lynne,
Calcot Toddlers |
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| I really appreciate how well organised each class is - i've been to some classes where there's lots of faffing around between each song and the children lose interest!” |
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Lynne,
Calcot Toddlers |
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| We both just enjoy TinyTalk so much. Millie has developed a huge repertoire of signs, some she uses a lot, others just now and again, and sometimes surprises us by adding in a new sign we didn't know she could do. The other day we were getting ready to go out and I said to Millie "lets get our coats on and she signed "cold" back to me. Then I said "lets get in the car" and she signed "car". Its so great being able to hold a conversation with her and knowing she completely understands what you are saying. A very proud moment was when Millie started to sign "mummy", hasn't quite mastered "daddy" but it should be mummy first, shouldn't it!!!
Also we think you're great Tracy, so enthusiastic and welcoming that TinyTalk is such a familiar, cosy place for both Millie and I. Now its the highlight of our week.” |
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Carla Jay,
Calcot Babies |
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| Me and my son have just completed our first term with Tracy's classes and I can definately say we will be coming back for more. Tracy is just so enthusiastic about the babies/toddlers and to see them all each week is fab and they are always doing something different. Most are almost mobile now. Luke loves it. seeing his friends each week. It is great knowing that he is starting to understand certain signs even though he might not use them yet. Tracy gives us the tools to take home and use at our leisure. Not just the signs but the songs. They always put a smile on his face. The rest of the family also enjoy learning what we have done so often join in with songs/signs. It's good for us mums too. To be able to go to such a fun place with other mums and babes is a real find in our book. Definately something we look forward to each week. Thanks Tracy” |
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Helen,
Caversham - left on netmums site |
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| I've been taking my daughter Leilani to Tracy's class in Tilehurst for about a year and a half now (she's 2 and a bit). Both of us love the classes, and Tracy is a great teacher. Leilani went for a while doing absolutely no signs, but then once she began there was no stopping her!
It has been incredibly useful as I could understand some of her basic needs before she could actually talk, and then even once she had a few basic words I could still understand her a lot more thanks to the signing, so if I couldn't make out her babble she would try to sign what she meant. From a very early age she could put together complex thoughts thanks to the signing, and I remember her telling us once when she was still very little that her toy dolly and duck were her friends and that they would sleep in her bed with her!
Even though she's very verbal now she still uses signs at times, especially when her mouth is full but she still wants to say something to us!
I would absolutely recommend Tracy's classes. We've had such fun. It pushed me to get dressed and get out of the house on at least one morning a week when I was struggling with a little baby, I've made some lovely, lovely friends, I've been 'talking' to my daughter since she was teeny tiny, and it's been fun for the whole family as we've taught her grandparents, on both sides, signing so they could join in too! ” |
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Ruth,
Tilehurst - left on netmums site |
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| I have been attending the Caversham Tiny Talk baby signing for the past 5 weeks, and can say that it is the most fun that I have had with my daughter so far!.
Tracy is very enthusiastic and her energy rubs off on you. I have learnt many valuable signs and had fun sing-a-longs with my 6 month old girl. The coffee and biscuits are also a welcome treat at the end of the week.
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Joanne,
Caversham - left on netmums site |
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| Hi Tracy!
Jessica must've been inspired by her class today - she has just signed 'thank you' for the first time!
I've also found Rich's 'official list' of new signs, so here you go: dirty, turtle, sheep, pig, tiger, lion, monkey, bee, fly, flower, aeroplane & cheese.
Many of the animal signs also come with sound effects (v funny!).
We really enjoyed class today.” |
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Sam & Jessica,
Tilehurst 2nd Class |
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| I started signing with my son, Dominic when he was 4 months old. He was frustratingly slow to respond and didn't actually start signing until he was already speaking, but when he did there was no stopping him! He did his first sign in class and it was one I didn't even use at home (I think he is still famous throughout the Reading classes!). We found it really helped him to communicate and tell us what he wanted in the early stages of speech, when many words often sound the same. He is now almost four years old and his language skills never cease to amaze us. His little sister, Charlotte, also started at around 4 months and has responded much more quickly. I introduced Dominic's favourite sign "More" quite early and she soon got the idea. The only thing is that she decided not to bother with the sign and after signing it at 9 months, she then started saying the word! She signed milk at 10 months, was waving at 8 months and clapping at 10. At 11 months old she now says Mummy, Daddy, Hiya, Hello, More, Oh dear, All gone, Wow and we occasionally get Bye, Night night and Dom. We still don't get many signs, but the objective is to get her communicating and she is certainly doing that. Dom really enjoys signing to her - they'll soon be talking without us even realising! But don't ever believe anyone who tries to tell you that signing slows down speech!” |
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Hilary, mum to Dom & Charlotte,
Calcot class |
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| We first attended one of Tracy's TinyTalk classes when Jessica was 4 1/2 months old - we both absolutely loved it! It was so lovely to get out the house and meet other mums and dads while having fun and learning something so very useful! Jessica first signed milk at 7 months and since then she has surpassed all our expectations, being able to sign when she needs a nappy change or wants to have a nap! Jessica is a very happy and contented baby, and we really do think that her signing helps to avoid a lot of frustration. Its also so nice to know what she is interested in - (quite often a bird or a tree!) - and communicate so effectively with her from such an early age. I really couldn't recommend TinyTalk (and especially Tracy's classes!) enough, and most importantly, Jessica loves attending classes too.” |
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Sam, Richard & Jessica,
1st Friday class |
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| My whole family really enjoy TinyTalk classes - relaxed, friendly and great fun. My son (now 13 months) loves the songs, music and seeing all the other little people. For me, it's a great activity to do with my son (and something we can do at home as well) and the social time (with tea and biccies) ends the session well. Must admit to finding our very first class a bit daunting, but it's surprising how quickly you pick-up the signs. Even sent my (very wary) husband one week, who came back having had a whale of a time and was surprised by how much he enjoyed it. Although my son isn't signing yet (and is definitely in the minority in that), he understands when I sign - there's something really nice about signing 'banana' and getting a big grin to say 'yes, please' - and I'm looking forward to when he's able to reply. ” |
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Sarah, mum to Matthew,
2nd Friday class |
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| We have been bringing Archie to TinyTalk with Tracy since he was 6 months old (he's now 17 months). Archie enjoyed the classes from the very beginning as he loves music and rythm and he did his first sign (milk) a few months later. He is now signing all kinds of things and loves to tell us when he hears the birds singing or a plane overhead. On Friday mornings, as we get ready to go to the class, I sing the "welcome song" to let Archie know where we are going and he is thrilled. Tracy is an excellent teacher and is fantastic with all the babies and children. The classes are also a brilliant opportunity for the babies to socialise with other chlidren and become more independent.” |
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Meg, Derek & Archie,
1st Friday class |
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| Signing at Greyfriars Nursery
We started using baby signs with our youngest children when the nursery first opened in October 2006. We were really pleased with how the children picked up the basic signs we had introduced; especially more, please and thank you, however as we were all ‘self taught’ it was difficult to think of how to teach the children a wider range of signs.
We started “TinyTalk” classes with the children in January 2008, Tracy comes to the nursery on Monday mornings and we really look forward to her visits. The children all get very excited when they see Tracy and are very interested in what she has brought in her giant bag! The children really enjoy the classes - especially the animal based ones and of course the instrument bag always causes lots of excitement!
We have now had a whole term of classes and have been amazed at the signs the children have learnt. We have incorporated the signs and songs into nursery life. We regularly sing “Who is in the box?” and the children get so excited to see what animal will come next! But we have been especially pleased at how our youngest children’s communication skills have been developed; we are looking forward to the start of next term! ” |
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Donna Overton,
Greyfriars Day Nursery |
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