Has anyone been to a Talking Tots class?

[mumofjemima]

Just wondered if anyone's got any experience of Talking Tots? It's one of the many pre-school classes, is national but not as widespread as some so not sure what it's like. Looks brilliant from the website but not been yet - all about communication and social skills for 1 - 5 yr olds.

Anyone heard of it or been to class?

Personally, I think it's okay for babies but once my LO got over about 18 months she was bored and so were a lot of the children in the class.

If your LO has speech and language delays it might be useful but otherwise I think there are other classes that do the same thing and are much more fun.

hmm, interesting as they have 3 classes don't they which are meant to go up to age 5? which class was she in?

Hi,

Great to see a discussion about Talking Tots! Sorry that you didn't have the best time at one of our classes ... our classes are usually packed with fun activities! Here's a little more info. about each of our classes (that are grouped according to ages & stages of development).
Sprites?boosting early chatter This class looks at fundamental skills such as social confidence, sharing & turn taking and listening & attention skills. There's lots of fun & action packed structured games, with exciting props, singing and rhymes. At Sprites, we focus on fun games and carefully-designed activities that encourage your little one?s natural desire to communicate, by building his vocabulary and helping him to understand and talk about the world around him.

Sprinters? building confident communication At Sprinters, children take part in games and interactive activities that will build their social confidence and listening skills. Our exclusively-designed, vibrant pictures and props also help to develop your child?s narrative ability and build their vocabulary.

Sparklers? paving the way for school In this pre-school year, children may enjoy playing with sounds, and will begin to join in with word games such as finding rhyming words and identifying the beginnings of common names and objects. Sparklers builds on this natural interest in words and sounds to boost a child?s pre-literacy skills and help prepare them for the classroom. At the same time, our friendly, supportive classes promote vital social skills such as listening, turn-taking and sharing.
Don't hesitate to get in touch if you need any further information.
Regards,
Lisa

My LO did the first class, which we liked, then it was a mixed second and third stage class because there weren't enough people for them to run both. Maybe that was the problem.

I'm sure the theory is great but my LO is quite lively and I think too energetic to sit around for 40 minutes at a time. And I think you can learn taking turns by playing games, and just talking to children - we switched to Tumble Tots which was much more our sort of thing (and cheaper, too!)

Best of luck with whatever you decide.

It sounds like a diffent class to the one I took my little boy to!
The Talking Tots class we went to was great. We found that the activities really caught his interest, and he used to get so involved and excited that he forgot he was shy. He definately doesn't have any speech problems, he's very advanced for his age but he still got loads out of it. We're looking at starting Sparklers after half term but have to wait for pre-school to move some dates around.

I'd recommend it to anyone.

I have been to Talking Tots and Tumble Tots. I think it depends what you and your child prefer doing. My daughter got bored at Tumble Tots going up and down the same equipment all the time and it was £1.50 more expensive than most other classes.

My daughter loved Talking Tots. We started in the 2-3 group and then she moved up to Sparklers which I think goes up to when they start school. I had to finish a couple of months ago as I went back to work full time, which was a real shame as she really misses it now.

She loved the songs and there were some really good games with cards that helped her learn and listen to letter sounds. I must admit I did see some new children try it out and then didn't come back as they ran about a lot. I think it is something you have to stick with though as the really active ones that did stay soon stopped running about so much and one of the mums said they couldn't believe how much her son's listening had improved.

I'd definitely recommend trying it out. There aren't many other classes around that are so educational. As long as they enjoy whatever you choose that's the main thing.

I've been to various classes with my daughter (Music Bugs, Tumble Tots, etc.) but Talking Tots by far engaged her the most!
She is now 3 and has been going for over a year, she loves the songs and repeats them at home all the time. She also enjoyed doing all the different activities such as matching colours and picking cards that displayed the action the class leader was doing.
She was always an avid talker but her concentration and patience has come along amazingly. She can also take direction better now and I think these classes have prepared her for school in a better way than I ever could (and even her nursery did, which is excellent).
A recommendation definately!

Talkingtot Are your groups suitable for children with more than a mild speech and language delay or children with identified SN? I was interested in a similar group called Little Learners but they told me they could only take children with a mild delay in the area of communication but not if he had identified difficulties in other areas as well.

Hi Nappyaddict,

Our classes are for ALL children and are totally inclusive. If there's a class near you why don't you pop along for a trial session.
HTH,
Lisa