Tiny Talk (Tiny Talk Baby Signing Classes)

Member Name: Mrs-LT

Product:	Tiny Talk Baby Signing Classes
Date:	21/02/09 (27 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lovely classes

Disadvantages: Not sure if signing may slow speech

Tiny Talk classes are baby signing classes that are franchised nationwide. The idea is that they teach baby sign language to allow baby to communicate with you before they can speak. There is some debate about whether this delays speech or aids earlier speech - of course Tiny Talk claim it helps babies to talk sooner because you always say the word out loud at the same time as you sign it. I am a bit sceptical about this personally, as it looks quite odd when the teacher talks in full sentences and signs at the same time - rather like proper sign language.

Just to be clear for non-parents who wonder - this is not for deaf babies as I originally thought, although some baby signing classes do use elements of British Sign Language. This is generally thought to bee too complicated for babies to pick up though.

A session costs £4, or £3.50 if you sign up for two or more consecutive classes. You are given a trial session for £3 first to see whether you enjoy the class and want to join. I would advise you to only pay for 2 at a time as the price does not decrease further if you pay for more than 2 but the chance of you missing a class due to illness increases. If you paid for 5 classes at £3.50 each (thus saving £2.50 - 50p reduction off each class) but only attended 4, you would lose £3.50 and so it would actually work out MORE expensive. The group leaders do have discretion though so if yours is flexible and does not insist on consecutive weeks this may be a better option.

Each class lasts 1 hour but what I really like is that everyone is still there chatting an hour and a quarter later and the group leader does not pressure you to leave on the dot of 60 minutes at all. This creates a lovely, relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

I think a lot of what you get out of these classes and how much you enjoy them will depend on who leads the class. The lady who runs our local classes is bubbly, funny and great with the children. If it was someone with a different personality I may have a more negative opinion, so this is where the trial session will be useful to see what you think.

As with all franchised things, they will differ ffrom area to area due to the fact that the classes are run by different people, so what I say may not be true of all areas.

We started Tiny Talk classes when my son was 7 months old. According to Tiny Talk, the ideal time to start baby signing classes is between 6 and 8 months, although there are lots of much younger babies at our classes, and many older too. Toddlers can attend until they are two years old, although sometimes older at the class leader's discretion (which is usually if a younger sibling attends). There is a 2.5 year old attends with his 1.5 year old sister and I have to say most of the other parents feel the class leader's discretion has been ill-advisedly used here as he throws persistant tantrums, is far too boisterous around the young babies and generally is very disruptive. However I can understand the reasoning behind allowing him to still attend, as otherwise his little sister would miss out.

The first 30 minutes are singing songs (with signs) sitting on the floor, sitting on knees on chairs and walking in a circle around the room. The songs are a combination of well known ones and others that Tiny Talk have made up. They are chosen each week to introduce a few new signs to the group. My son absolutely loves the singing.

The next 15 minutes is making music - singing with percussion instruments. This is also very popular as the babies get to join in here!

Then for the last 15 minutes (or often longer) big boxes of toys are brought out for the babies to play with. This is brilliant as there are more than enough toys for everyone and lots of different types to keep them amused. The toys are always clean and well cared for. At this time, parents are offered a choice of hot drinks and biscuits and finger foods are provided for the older babies. Again, I think this is a very nice touch.

The only negative thing I can say about the class is that there seems to be no real control of how many attend and a couple of times there have been so many people there that there was not enough room on the mats for the babies or space round the mats for the parents' chairs. It is very much a drop-in session with what seems to be no upper limit. However a full class creates a lovely atmosphere.

We do not practice the signs at home the way they advise because in all honesty I treat it as a music and actions class. Because there is no conclusive evidence of it slowing or not slowing speech I have chosen to treat it as an activity once a week which we enjoy rather than a part of everyday life as I am far more interested in my son learning to speak than learning to sign.

But overall I would highly recommend these classes, I am so glad I disovered them!

Summary: Great activity and well priced!