Guest Blog

I wrote a guest blog for www.muslimmummies.com, it was a privilege as I am still a complete novice although I have had this blog a while now.

I am though very proud of this guest blog I wrote and please do go and read it as here is the full web address http://www.muslimmummies.com/2011/11/guest-post-baby-signingwhat-it-means-to.html . I really enjoyed writing this also and have shared photo's.

I must thank Foz from Muslim Mummy for welcoming me on her blog.

Heather

Cheeky Monkeys Tea Parties

I am also the Coordinator for the Leicester NCT Cheeky Monkeys Tea Parties.

So far I have delivered two tea parties one was in February in the Birstall Village hall and we raised over £230 which was fantastic, the other was in Glenfield at the Scout Hut in September and we raised £140.

In the photo I am doing the cheeky monkeys tea party TinyTalk lesson plan although I had a sleeping little boy with me in his sling on my back probably being a little monkey. He was very clingy as it was the school holidays and so I wore him in the sling and he fell asleep and when it was time for the demo he slept almost all the way through and woke to 12345 once i caught a fish alive and sang to it beautifully.

The hall on both occasions had stalls of which they all gave a contribution to the NCT, families would pay just £3 to come in and had my entertainment plus also another entertainment also as well as craft activities, the last one which was held in Glenfield I had creation station come along to woman the craft table it worked a treat. Families also receive a goody bag with some little freebies in and info on my classes and perhaps swimming classes and other things that go on in the area.

Tea and coffee and juice is provided at no extra cost and cakes are available at a small donation. The next Cheeky Monkey Tea Party will be in February of 2012 on the Friday afternoon of half term at The Birstall Village Hall.

These are a lot of hard work organising but when you see the joy of the children it is all worth while. It is great for net working and meeting new people.

I intend to make my tea partys better and better and more worth while for all whom attend.

Thank you Heather

When Parents tell me about their baby's first sign

When a baby performs his or her first sign they get a certificate. It can take a while depending on how old the child is, for instance a toddler might sign after the first class well usually they do. A baby how ever will recognise the sign first and will not sign back untill much later usually around 8 months old though I has been known that babies sign for milk at 4 months old but like I said around 8 months they may start to sign milk, all gone, more, bird etc.
The first sign is a mile stone for the baby but the parent is so happy also and it might be a while before the little one signs again and then all of a sudden out of no where around the one year mark the little one will sign quite a few signs, remember they are watching you all the time and learning.
The first sign is very exciting for both baby and parent, the parent is proud and the baby is on the road to communication.
Once the first year is up the little one will want to communicate more and this is a very frustrating time if they can not get their wants and needs across and this is where the signing comes in as at this age they will start to use the signs they have learned in their little life during this crucial time before their mouths are physically able to pronounce words correctly and talk.
We must always speak at the same time as we sign to hearing babies with both the sign and the attempt to speak we have a better understanding of what the little one would like to get across to you.

Toddlers and sharing

The Toddler class had the topic of Sharing the other week, can you imagine toddlers and sharing it is a hard thing for them to learn, but they all did very well indeed. I am very proud of them all.

My Taster sessions

This past week I have had some taster sessions at my venues in Glenfield, Birstall and Oadby.

All Baby classes had plenty of parents/grandparents with babies, it is a joy to see so many dedicated people coming to my classes learning some starter signs such as milk, drink, all gone, pain/hurt and more. Such signs are crucial to a babies first year in life and as the term progresses the families will learn more and more signs. 50 of the signs are what we call the core signs but also there are a 100 extra signs plus ones I know as I have studied British Sign Language and currently working on my Level 2 201 assessment.
The class is an hour long with 30 minutes dedicated to signing along to popular songs and nursery rhymes followed with 30 minutes social time.

The Toddler classes are for toddlers 18months and older and these sessions are very lively and filled with structure and songs and language development. We have parachute signed book time and instruments too.

My tasters this week were fantastic, many came back for more and lots of new faces.

TinyTalk Leicester Is a baby signing class for parents to bring their babies to a structured class and so parent and baby can learn some simple signs to help their child communicate develop language and reduce frustration. Visit www.tinytalk.co.uk/heathera for some more information.