Baby Signing Classes from TinyTalk - a short history

I started TinyTalk after reading about many hearing babies, born to parents where one was deaf and one hearing, being brought up bilingually, through sign and speech. Time and time again these babies were showing that they understood their parents’ messages first through sign. They were also communicating first through baby signing. These articles often concluded with words to the effect of: “Surely there is benefit here for all hearing babies.” I could see with my own experience and understanding how it could really work. I was interested in furthering my studies in this area of language acquisition with a Masters. However marriage and babies has put a stop to that for now!

I started baby signing with Harry from 7 months, to his amusement and my husband’s cynicism. However six weeks later, when Harry reminded us, by baby signing, that he was aware that we had failed to give him his morning milk and that he would like it now please (!), we were both blown away. From ‘milk’, ‘food’ then ‘more’ came quickly. We then expanded our baby signing repertoire to include ‘bath time’, ‘book’, ‘bed’, ‘duck’, ‘fish’…. and on and on we progressed, with Harry’s understood vocabulary growing steadily larger and larger. Friends urged me to teach their children baby signing. I deliberated about teaching the baby signing signs ‘dry’ on their own, showing the parents and carers baby sign after baby sign. I didn’t think about it for too long: there was no way that the babies would stand for it! I also wanted baby signing to be a lively session for them. Music classes are universally popular with most parents and singing well-known nursery rhymes and action songs seemed the natural way to also teach baby signing. Baby signing has always been a great way of having fun with language. I therefore wrote a term’s scheme of work that was 12 lesson plans, covering all the core baby signs which related to home environment vocabulary as well as first speech sounds and words spoken.

The first baby signing classes started just after Easter 2002. The reaction was incredible. The word that people kept using was ‘raved’. One person that enjoyed my baby signing class would ‘rave’ to their friends about it and would come back the next week with either a couple of other mums or maybe even her whole antenatal group!! Local press, led to national press, which led to television interviews, including the exciting one on ITV’s ‘This Morning’ (with Philip and Fern!) Although it all seemed so brief and one of our children cried (see the opening credits of the show to see Philip comforting Toby!) the interest in baby signing was phenomenal. People enquired after the Signing Pack, their nearest baby signing class, as well as how they too could teach the baby signing classes.

The national TinyTalk baby signing business began in May 2003 when the company was incorporated and the first group of baby signing teachers were trained. I then had my second baby, Lucy in June. (No - I wouldn’t have planned to have my second baby and start a national baby signing business at the same time!) Since then, TinyTalk baby signing classes have grown from strength to strength with a formidable team of trained baby signing teachers both delivering baby signing classes across the country as well as supporting hundreds and hundreds of parents and carers understand their children better, helping their babies communicate before they can talk.

Baby signing classes from TinyTalk: A chronology
May 2001	Harry Mayne born (first child of TInyTalk founder, Katie Mayne, and the inspiration for TinyTalk baby signing classes)
April 2002	First TinyTalk baby signing classes in Guildford, Surrey, followed by numerous local and then national press articles about baby signing. For example, Bella magazine article, in December 2002, about young mum Katie Mayne teaching her child baby signing and then introducing baby sign language classes to the UK.
February 2003	ITV’s ‘This Morning’ interview, followed by numerous national press articles about baby signing
May 2003	TinyTalk incorporated and first TInyTalk Teachers’ Baby Signing Training Day
June 2003	Lucy Mayne born (second child of TInyTalk founder, Katie Mayne and the continuing inspiration for TinyTalk)
September 2003	TinyTalk UK in Baby and You magazine article about how effective baby signing in general is and, in particular, through TinyTalk UK classes
October 2003	The London Baby Show 2003 exhibition at Olympia
March 2004	30th baby signing TInyTalk teacher trained in 10 months
May 2004	TinyTalk UK at the Birmingham Baby Show 2004 (NEC); TinyTalk UK in BBC Parenting magazine article about how baby signing helps you to get to know your baby; ITV’S London City Survival Programme about TinyTalk UK, broadcast across London and the South East
June 2004	TinyTalk UK Baby Sign Language Nursery Programme launched. TinyTalk UK in Prima Baby magazine article about baby signing encouraging speech and language development
July 2004	TinyTalk UK in over 300,000 Mum Plus One voucher books to new mums across the UK
August 2004	TinyTalk UK in Baby and You magazine article about how baby signing can help you to understand your baby’s body language
September 2004	NEW website and logo launched for TinyTalk; Second Professional Development Day; New Signing Pack launched; Sarah Collins, TinyTalk teacher for Ipswich (started April 2004) recognised for her tremendous endeavours by being given Suffolk’s Prince’s Trust Young Achiever of the Year Award 2004
October 2004	New TinyTalk Video and Interactive DVD launch; Practical Parenting magazine article about how effective baby signing is to understand your baby and for your baby to understand you; TinyTalk at London Baby Show (sponsored by Practical Parenting magazine)
May 2005	TinyTalk take the Birmingham Baby Show by storm - with one of the most visited stands.
June 2005	TinyTalk attend the Pre-School Learning Alliance Conference/Exhibition and receive a great response to our Nursery Training Programme and new ‘Introduction to Baby Signing’ workshop.
July 2005	TinyTalk is growing with another 21 new teachers trained this month!
August 2005	The public TinyTalk website is launched! It’s a great way for parents to share their baby signing stories and ask questions with the TinyTalk teachers on-hand to support and advise!
September 2005	TinyTalk / Amazing Baby ‘Baby Signing’ Book goes National! Early Learning Centre has decided to take on this book in all stores nationwide. Watch out for it coming to a store near you soon.
October 2005	TT 5th National Professional Development Day. Another successful weekend at the London Baby Show with Blooming Marvellous approaching us to stock our signing resources in their stores.
January 2006	Teachers in the news! A great month for local publicity for some teachers with Sarah Fry, TT Lichfield & Sutton Coldfield appearing in a full page article about her classes and baby signing in the Sutton Coldfield Observer and the Lichfield Mercury plus some follow-up interest from the local BBC news. Nicki S, TT Aberdeen appeared on BBC1 Scotland News talking about the TinyTalk Nursery programme and Eleanor C, TT East Reading appeared on Meridian News. Well Done to all of you!
February 2006	A new deputy Organisational Training co-ordinator, Caroline Hand joins Lucy Marriott in the OT team.
March 2006	The 1st Regional Professional Development Days are held around the country! It’s an excellent opportunity for TinyTalk teachers in the same area to meet up and share ideas.
June 2006	We welcome another 12 new teachers to TinyTalk and 10 experienced teachers complete their Organisational Training which allows them to offer the TinyTalk organisational training programmes to nurseries and other childcare professionals across the country.
July 2006	TinyTalk attends the NDNA Annual Conference & Awards in Warwick and the Pre-School Learning Alliance AGM in London to spread the word about our fantastic organisational training programmes for childcare professionals.
August 2006	Justin Fletcher (better known as ‘Mr Tumble’!) opens the Kidz@work nursery in Sheffield which has just completed the TinyTalk Nursery Training Programme. Here’s Tracey Spooner, TT Sheffield with Justin at the opening.
September 2006	Katie Mayne, founder of TT appears in a See Hear programme about baby signing. The TinyTalk Signing Pack & DVD are award-winning! They have both been given a Silver award in the Practical Pre-School Awards 2006. Buy our award-winning resources here...
October 2006	TinyTalk make their presence known at the London Baby Show- on stage at Earl’s Court! We had very well attended daily activity workshops and a stand manned by lots of enthusiastic TT teachers! Our 6th National Professional Development Day. A chance for all TinyTalk teachers to get together to develop their skills and catch up on news and be trained in the NEW curriculum!
November 2006	The TinyTalk/ Amazing Baby ‘Baby Signing’ book has been such a success in the UK that we’ve just finished a 2-day photo shoot for America (complete with ASL signs). Let all your American friends and family know that TT is coming across the pond!
December 2006	TinyTalk has been chosen to support the Communication course unit for a government-backed charity, Young Mums to Be. TinyTalk will be providing baby signs, training and guidance so that the young mums to be will then be able to help their babies express their needs clearly plus help their babies’ speech and language development. For more information about this course you can visit the YMTB website: www.ymtb.org
January 2007	The new TinyTalk curriculum is launched with fabulous new songs, extra signs and the TinyTalk Signed Book Time. Come along to a class and experience it for yourself!