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Baby Signing Teacher & Certified Kindermusik Educator

I have been Baby Signing since early 2001, one of the first to introduce signing to babies in the UK. I launched The Best Start Club in Hertfordshire in 2005.

Starting with my son, now 12, from 2 months, I signed with my daughter, now 9, from birth. It was extraordinary, my little girl clearly recognised her first sign at just 4 weeks, and thus began her own magical journey of discovery. Simple concepts like asking for 'milk', telling us they were 'tired' or sharing their joy or excitement, brought us deeper into their world.

Having explored every opportunity imaginable to sign, through singing, dancing, play, stories, games and so much more, the fun took over and thus began the first foundations of The Best Start Club. I wanted this to be much more than just Baby Signing, yet all focused around this amazing path to early communication.

I have now seen many of the long term benefits of signing with "hearing" children personally with my children who are bright, confident and express themselves well. Daily, I see, the clarity of speech developing in children in The Best Start Club, many still coming after 3 and 4 years.

It is my heart felt driving passion that this work enhances the lives of babes and children. It's in the title, The Best Start Club; that's just what we try to give each and every young life we encounter. We believe that each and every child is an incredible human being with the most extraordinary intelligence waiting to be unlocked.

Having discovered the joy of signing, I studied BSL (British Sign Language), qualifying at the University of Hertfordshire. My background is also musical. I studied piano with the Royal Irish Academy of Music, and both classical and acoustic guitar. With a group of friends, in Ireland, we formed The Green Emerald Choir in 1995. We recorded the album "I Will Arise" at Rickling House Studios in the UK, selling several thousand copies across the world. I also hold an internationally recognised teaching certificate from the world's largest independent music and movement organisation for children, not to mention being a trained Commercial Pilot Instructor.

I look forward to personally meeting you and your baby soon,

Iris Powell

Genevieve Overy

Baby Signing Teacher and Certified Kindermusik Educator -
Watford and Central St Albans. Baby Club Co-ordinator.

I started signing with my daughter Freya when she was about 12 weeks old. She recognised her first signs (milk and nappy change) after just two weeks and now at just over a year, she has over 30 signs and picks up several new ones every week. It just blows me away when we are sitting in the garden together and she tells me there is an aeroplane overhead or a bird in the tree. My husband Alan also came to classes with us and just loves this added dimension of parenthood with our beautiful little girl. She likes nothing more than leading him to the stereo, signing ‘music’ and ‘dancing’ until he puts her favourite tunes on! My sisters also both used sign language with their children and I was amazed at how clearly they could express themselves and how early they talked. As a primary school teacher, I know how important early communication is with our children and I was delighted to find such an experienced teacher when I joined The Best Start Club with Iris.

I had been aware of signing as non-verbal communication since writing my dissertation at the University of Sheffield in 1999, where I was developing a theory that our oldest human ancestors may have used sign language rather than speech and came across research with signing gorillas and chimpanzees. I took a BSL signing course when I was training to be a primary school teacher in East Sussex before meeting my husband and moving to Watford in 2005. My current other hats include NCT Homebirth contact and Support Group Host (Watford), Chair of the Maternity Services Liaison Committee (West Herts), part time Year 5 teacher and running our Baby Club in St Albans on a Monday.

I became a teacher to inspire and enrich children’s lives and have now got the most wonderful opportunity to launch this journey of signing, music and sensory exploration with my future pupils and their families when their bodies and minds are first ready to grow and learn. The benefits of signing with your baby are enormous and I am delighted to be working with such an excellent programme which offers so much to the development of our children.

I look forward to welcoming you and your baby to one of our groups very soon!

Genevieve

Shelley Healy

Baby Signing Teacher - Sheffield, South Yorkshire

I was 18 when I first became interested in Baby Signing after seeing it in a child development documentary on TV. I knew from then on that I would sign with my children and that baby signing was something to get excited about.

When we had our son, Jamie, in 2007, my partner, Stevi, and I were eager to get started and we began signing classes when he was 10 weeks old. A year on and we have a very contented and sociable signing toddler who is interested in everything the world has to offer.
I feel that my academic background equips me well in the understanding of just how baby signing works to promote excellent language, cognitive, emotional and social development. I have a BSc in Cognitive Science, which incorporates Psychology, Developmental Neuroscience and Language Development/Linguistics in its discipline; I have furthered this knowledge by taking a Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology and I am now studying for an MSc in Health Psychology at Sheffield Hallam University. Baby Signing is quickly becoming a 'hot topic' in the academic world, with many Psychologists researching its benefits - Jamie and I have even taken part in one of these studies.

Over the years I have also had a strong love of music, especially singing. I am trained to RSM Grade 7 in Classical Voice and I also play both Classical and Electric Guitar. I have performed in over 50 Plays, Musicals and Concerts, including touring Prague, Vienna and St. Petersburg as part of a choir, and performing at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the Hertfordshire County Youth Choir. I have also worked for charities including The British Red Cross, Relate and The Association of Young People with M.E. and am passionate about helping and supporting people.

Social, cognitve, language, emotional and physical development begins from birth and signing with your baby is one of the best ways to encourage this development and bond with your child. Being able to communicate with your child before they can speak is a magical experience, and The Best Start Club helps to share this magic with everyone.

I look forward to sharing some of this magic with you in my classes.

Shelley

Wendy Steele

Baby Signing Teacher and Certified Kindermusik Educator - Bath and Frome, Somerset

My journey to become a Kindermusik educator started in 2007. I was looking for an organisation I could believe in which was involved in the children’s musical education sector. I looked at many different companies and organisations but I was drawn to Kindermusik because of its philosophy and its wonderful method of teaching. I am so proud I am now a qualified Kindermusik educator and have been since April 2007 and I feel it is a privilege to be able to share my love of music with the parents and the children in my classes.

I have studied for many years with private vocal coaches both here in Somerset and in London where I lived prior to relocating. To date I have gained the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) graded exams and Trinity Guildhall International certificates, all in Vocal Studies/Singing and various ABRSM Music Theory exams and Piano exams. I continue to pursue my own musical studies as I believe we should never stop learning or exploring knowledge.

My enthusiasm and belief in the Kindermusik Philosophy have enabled me to finally pursue my goal of providing full time Kindermusik classes to my community. As part of a international and national framework of educators and licensed Kindermusik programs, I can teach a program that believes in the value of early childhood education, it brings parent and child together in a unique way providing FOL’s (foundations of learning statements) which help the parent to gain a new insight into their child’s developmental stages in their young lives.

Coming from a household where my husband and I continually pursue our musical aspirations in learning and performing I am in a unique position to inspire children with my passion and commitment to musical education. My energetic motivation, will get not only the children but also the parents singing along in no time at all!

These are musical experiences for the entire family to enjoy both in the class and at home with the high quality At Home Materials which are essential to continue the bonding and the learning that your child experienced in the weekly class.

I do hope you will come and try the Kindermusik with Wendy courses, I would really like to share the magic of music with you and your child, we’ll share this musical journey together!

We also have other teachers currently studying in our Training Programmes.