TinyTalk Horsham and surrounding villages

surrounding villages and Mummy to two wonderful boys.

My signing journey began when Dexter was 9 months old, just as the country went into lockdown in March 2020. I had signed up to baby signing classes in person and they were moved online. The online classes not only meant we had something to do while we were stuck at home but we were learning a new skill together.

One thing that Dexter taught me is that not all babies sign straight away, perseverance and consistency are key. He understood so many of the signs but didn’t do his first sign until he was nearly 15 months old. Then they all came at once! His favourite was ‘more’ and he used this for everything whether it was more food, more goes on the slide, more peekaboo or watching more videos of himself!

When he started going to the childminder, I shared some of the signs that he used most often. After a few weeks I received a message from his childminder saying, “We are so impressed with his signing – it’s really sweet and clear and he’s not shy to communicate which is lovely.” I love the fact that baby signing gave him a ‘voice’ and a way of communicating when I wasn’t there to advocate for him.

After our signing success with Dexter, I knew I wanted to sign with Milo as well. We had done some essential signs with Milo from when he was tiny and went to our first class when he was 6 months old. He loves the songs (often dancing along) and picked up so many signs to help him communicate. He loved signing ‘where’ and turned it into a game: dropping something onto the floor and then signing ‘where’, expecting me to pick it up and hand it back again. He found this hilarious and promptly dropped the object again.

Before becoming a mum, I was a primary school teacher. When the opportunity to become a TinyTalk teacher arose, I loved the idea that I could have a job that worked around family life, that I could still experience the joy of teaching and go on a signing journey with lots of new families.

TinyTalk Baby Signing classes are suitable from newborn to 2 years. Classes are split in two. In the first 30 minutes you can expect to learn signs linked to a weekly theme. We sing nursery rhymes and incorporate some of the key signs within these as well as a sensory activity. The second half is social time: a chance for babies to play and for the adutls to have a cuppa, a biscuit and a chat.