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Helping Babies Communicate – New Website makes it ‘Child’s Play’!
Added: (Mon Feb 07 2005)
FURTHER INFORMATION
(& signing babies images available)
Sasha Felix, Sing and Sign
Tel : 01273-550587
Email : info@singandsign.com
Helping Babies Communicate – New Website makes it ‘Child’s Play’!
Have you heard of ‘baby signing’? The recent parenting craze for using signs with
hearing babies before they can speak is no longer seen as a passing fad from the US, and
is gaining popularity here in the UK. The launch of a new British website this week has
given a major boost to the many parents intrigued by the idea of their baby being able to
gesture their needs before being able to speak. Offering a simple way to learn, the site
demonstrates over 200 baby signs online with the facility to print out whichever ones
parents think their baby will enjoy and respond to.
The website, www.singandsign.com, is the brainchild of Sasha Felix, founder of the
UK’s first franchised baby signing classes, ‘Sing and Sign’. Sasha, who signed with her
own baby daughter, says, “Baby signing is so natural and so easy to do, yet many parents
have absolutely no idea how to start! The new website offers good advice and
inspiration. Signs like “milk” and “food” are all very well, but exciting signs like
“park”, “swings” and “squirrel” really inspire babies to communicate. It is
breathtaking to see a little baby who can’t yet talk, being able to excitedly tell his mum
he has just seen a squirrel. Exchanges like that may seem trivial, but there is such
happiness for mum and baby in understanding each other. This is what baby signing is
all about.”
Baby signing parent, Jane Jarvis, mother of Jayden (now aged 3) and Josiah (19 months)
says, “This website is a brilliant idea. Being able to choose what signs you and your
family want to use is an amazing resource for parents like me whose babies have loved
signing. Jayden had over 60 signs before he could talk and Josiah is still using them to
tell me he is hungry or needs his nappy changed. It has made looking after them so much
easier, being able to meet their needs without all the usual tears and frustrations.”
The original concept of Sing and Sign classes, where the signs are taught through music,
has already taught baby signing to thousands of families across the UK since its launch in
2001 and seen a surge in the number of parents who are attracted by the obvious benefits
of understanding their baby better. There are currently over 200 classes running across
the UK
But will all this signing delay babies from starting to talk? Not so, say the experts. In fact
signing encourages babies’ speech, as long as parents say the word at the same time.
‘Sing and Sign’ is widely recommended by Sure Start, the Government’s programme to
deliver the best start in life for every child. Sure Start services across the UK have funded
many Sing and Sign groups to benefit local parents. Susan Duffy, Speech and Language
Therapist for Sure Start says, "Sing and Sign is a brilliant programme. We suggest all
our mums and babies use signs, as gesture is a natural first form of communication. The
gestures used in Sing and Sign can help babies understand more of what is said to them
and enables babies to express themselves earlier. Using signs can make life for parents
far less stressful"
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