My working life… baby signing teacher

Esmarelda Pearson is a baby signing teacher for signing organisation Tiny Talk. She runs a franchise in south west London and also co-ordinates training for nursery staff, childminders and parents.

‘It took my son two months to learn his first sign, aged eight months. When he did the sign for “milk”, I was absolutely floored. I have a restaurant and catering background, but I decided I wanted to teach other babies to sign.

‘Baby signing is a pre-verbal form of communication. Babies develop hand control long before they can speak, so by teaching them signs they can communicate from as early as six months old. Signing cuts out a baby’s frustration from feeling that no-one understands them. When babies are understood, there are fewer tantrums – and more relaxed parents.

‘It wasn’t until my second child was aged six months that I bought a franchise. At Tiny Talk we teach babies British Sign Language (BSL). Our classes cover 150 core words and every baby’s first sign is ‘milk’ so they can tell you when they are hungry.

‘I deliver classes in community venues – currently two a week. I pack my car to the brim with mats, toys, coffee cups and refreshments and drive to the venue where I meet up to 18 parents and babies. Baby classes are from birth to 18 months. I also teach separate toddler classes from 18 months to pre-school age.

‘We sit in a circle and I begin class with our welcome song, which involves lots of waving and clapping. This warms up our hands and voices. Baby is facing mummy and mummy shows them the sign and always says the word at the same time – that’s very important. A lot of people think signing will stop a baby from talking, but not if you do it correctly.

‘Every week we focus on about five core signs. We start by asking a parent to choose two signs relevant to them and their home situation. These could be basic things such as milk, food, eat, dirty, nappy or bath. Once the baby shows understanding of these signs, you teach them more. We go through the signs at the pace set by the parents and babies. During the class we check if they are engaging, and encourage parents to help babies move their hands into the signs they are learning.

‘The babies are like little sponges. They either watch me or watch one of the other mummies. Eventually, from between six to 12 weeks, they will make a sign. But they understand the sign much earlier than they make it, which is one of the perks of doing it from birth. From about four months they start developing hand-to-eye co-ordination.

‘After half an hour of class time, we have half an hour of socialising. Toddler classes are different because they are beginning to speak. The signs I teach them are relevant to their world, such as forms of transport and shapes. We also teach turn-taking and social skills. The toddlers are more mobile so these classes are much more active.

‘As well as delivering classes, I co-ordinate Tiny Talk’s organisational training. The company provides training for childcare professionals who want to use baby signing in their daycare settings. This training requires providers to spend a day learning our core 150 signs, how to incorporate them in daily activities and how to teach signing. Each trainee is assessed on 50 signs and has to score at least 45 to pass. Training also includes a parents workshop where we teach a few basic signs.

‘I deliver this training and also manage enquiries about it from childcare providers across the country. I monitor training progress, process feedback forms, and issue accreditations. Every accredited setting has to do yearly refresher training.

‘As a franchisee I have to do paperwork, but this only takes about an hour a week. We also have two professional development days each year where we discuss policy updates. BSL is a language – it’s always changing – so we have to stay up to date.’

CV

Employment history

2012-present:baby signing teacher and organisational training co-ordinator, Tiny Talk, London

2010-2011:store manager, Pizza Makers, London

2009-2010:general manager, Leon food outlet, London

2006-2009:general manager, Bel and the Dragon pub, Surrey

2004-2006:general manager, Auberge brasserie, Surrey

1997-2003:various restaurant management positions in South Africa

Qualifications

Senior Certificate with University Exemption (Equivalent to UK A levels), Jan van Riebeeck High School, 1995, South Africa

Training

There is no standard route to becoming a baby signing teacher. Tiny Talk provides a day of training to its teachers, which covers class structure, how to teach signing and the science behind the activity. It also requires its teachers to be fluent in the 150 core signs it teaches. Other baby signing providers may use alternative formal signing systems, such as Makaton, and have different requirements from staff.

Useful websites

Tiny Talk, www.tinytalk.co.uk

National Deaf Children’s Society, www.ndcs.org.uk

Deaf Sign, www.deafsign.com