TinyTalk Gosforth & Jesmond

Hello, my name is Emma.

I am married to Steve and we have two children, Isabelle and Nicholas.

I have been running TinyTalk Baby Signing classes since 2014, and have loved every minute.
I feel honoured to have met so many wonderful families and to have spread the absolute joy of signing with those families.

I first attended a class in 2008 when Isabelle was 4 months old.
/> Isabelle did her first sign - sun - when she was 11 months old. It was so exciting to realise what she had just done. We signed with Nicholas from birth. He did his first sign - more - at 9 months old.

Baby signing blew us away! Both children became accomplished signers and were able to sign over 100 words each. I consider it to be one of the most rewarding things we did for them. They were able to communicate on a level that I believe would have been impossible had we not been able to sign together. Yes, they were able to tell us what they needed (eat, more, milk), but it went so far beyond that:

* we knew what they were thinking (Isabelle signed 'moon' and pointed at a sliced mushroom on her plate - it was crescent shaped!)
* we knew what they understood (Nicholas signed 'hear' and 'aeroplane' as an aeroplane flew over our house)
* we were able to correct any misunderstandings (Isabelle signed 'frog' when I said 'flag')
* when they started to speak they were able to fall back on their signs when we couldn't understand what they were trying to tell us (Isabelle said "bucky" which we thought might be 'book' or 'biscuit' - she then signed 'ball'!)

I would love for you to come to one of my classes so that you and your baby can have fun learning some baby signs (we use British Sign Language signs) which could provide an incredible insight into your baby's thoughts and give your baby the ability to communicate before they can speak - how amazing is that!?! Being able to sign helps to alleviate a baby's frustrations because they are able to express themselves. I have witnessed how excited a baby can get when they can communicate and realise that they are being understood.

TinyTalk baby signing classes are suitable from birth - 2 years old. They are fun and relaxed and are 1 hour long. The first 1/2 hour is where we learn that week's core signs through singing nursery rhymes and stimulating the babies with some sensory equipment such as voile scarves, bubbles and mirrors. The second 1/2 hour is a social time for you to chat and have a refreshment and a biscuit while the babies play with small toys.