Hello and welcome to the Singing Hands blog!
We hope you like our colourful new website which describes more of who we are, what we do and why.
The main website will evolve over time but is very much about Singing Hands and our various singing & signing activities. However, we are also somewhat nervously dipping our signing toes into this blog-writing world. This will allow us the freedom to cover both Singing Hands related issues and other things outside of the business which we hope will be of interest to our Singing Hands fans.
Over the coming months, we will be using this blog to share a mixture of articles including:
- “How to…..” videos. These will include videos to give you tips on using a particular sign or doing an activity to incorporate a number of signs to develop your signing repertoire at home and/or school
- New song videos with accompanying notes and activities associated with the concepts featured in the song
- Links to resources and ideas for signing-related activities
- “Makaton Makes” – guidance on making things to help you with signing at home such as games and symbol activities
- Personal commentary and events – perhaps these will be a funny personal SEN-parenting stories or maybe a rant about the EHCP process…..who knows?! Time will tell.
- Things We Like – our eldest children are now 16 so over the years we have chalked up a lot of SEN experiences. Our children also have very different needs so between us we can use this blog to share some of these experiences and perhaps you might like to explore some of these things with your families too
- Other Stuff – nope, we won’t be offering braiding tips or videos on “How to do the perfect browshape” as there are people far better at doing that than us. But who knows, there will be other ramblings that will make their way onto the blog that don’t fit into any of the other headings!
Thank you for joining us here – don’t forget to come and follow us on all our other social media channels (Facebook / Twitter / Instagram) and subscribe to our SingingHandsUK YouTube channel too.
Thanks as always.
S&T x
Love your new website and look forward to exploring it in full and keeping up with your blog. Grace is still loving your DVDs and we hope you’ll come back up north again soon – we had such a great time at your show in York in March.
Dear Kathryn – Thank you so much for your message, we are delighted you love our new website – so do we!! Great news to hear that Grace is still enjoying the DVDs, we’ll definitely be back up to York again. They’ve already booked us to do #WDSD17 – so we look forward to seeing you both then. BWs S&T x
I would like to thank you both deeply. You have given us skills to communicate with our grandson in a fun loving way. It’s very scary and frustrating not being able to speak, communicate and be understood.
I don’t know (I don’t want to know) how our world would be if you hadn’t created singing hands. What was scary now isn’t. We all learn new signs with Makaton Mondays. This is vital to us as the hand movements when singing are a little fast when seeing them for the first time.
My grandson and I meet you both at London zoo, you told me about your YouTube site, so glad you did! It’s fantastic and rudy loves it. Thank you again
Hi Sofia – Thank you for your lovely comments about us helping you communicate with your grandson. Our own children had no other way to communicate so we too remember how overwhelming that felt all those years ago – it’s just so hugely rewarding to us knowing that our experience with our own children is now benefitting you and your family too. How amazing is that? Keep up the good work with learning those weekly signs (there is a cheesy new song going up tomorrow on YouTube “Summer Holiday”!). Hopefully we’ll see you both again at London Zoo or at one of our other events before then. BWs S&T x
hi Suzann and tracey I been wathing listening thound year all the time
Dear Singing Hands
Just at my first steps on learning Makaton sign language. Our beautiful granddaughter Abigail has learning difficulties and may never speak. You YouTube videos have been priceless first me to start learning to communicate with Abigail.
Kindest Regards
Paul Webb
Dear Paul, thank you for your message – I’m sorry we didn’t spot it to reply! We are so happy to hear how our YouTube videos are helping you learn Makaton so that you can communicate with your gorgeous granddaughter. Keep up the good work – we’ll be uploading many more in the coming months. With best wishes, S&T x
Loved “sing” you two do make me giggle. Makaton has been the best thing ever for Lucy and she just loves you both. Keep up the good work, it’s just the best thing seeing communication happen x
Thanks Karen – we should grow up and stop mucking about doing cheesey songs in a parked car, but we can’t help ourselves!! And like you say, it’s all about developing communication so if we can make it fun, then that’s what it’s all about. Don’t know what the postman thought as he watched us outside tho!! LOL x
My almost 3-year-old daughter has Schizencephaly and Cerebral Palsy and your dvds got me started with Makaton when she was a baby. We now sign all the time with her as she is non-verbal. We are about to embark on the world of educational psychologists and ehcp…..any words of wisdom and experience gratefully received! She loves your dvds and communicates really effectively with Makaton. I really believe that without your wonderful approach to signing she would not have learnt so much so fast.
Hi Caroline – thank you for your message and your lovely words about what we do! We are so glad our DVDs were able to start you on your signing journey! You know we have just launched a Pledge Campaign to make a DVD/CD of pop songs? We need support to hit our funding target so please do take a look. I’m sure your daughter (and you!) would enjoy learning the signs to those songs too! Our children are 17 now and have just made the transition to EHCPs – my primary advice on that is seek the support of an IS (Independent Support) – they are entirely free and every borough has one. My IS came to the meetings and help re-write/re-phrase our EHCP because the schools etc are so new to it, that they don’t know how/where to put all the needs / barriers to learning etc and you run the risk of a sub-standard EHCP. Best of luck xxx
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Keep up the great work look forward to see your blog
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Hi ladies,
I just wanted to say a huge thank you for your videos! My children (3&1) absolutely love the YouTube videos, I’ve ordered your DVDs for them for Christmas, singing hands is on at least three times a day. Brilliant for them and brilliant for me, I’ve not used makaton for years, but since starting a new job at Treloars, I’ve been using it again, and your videos have been helping bring the signs back to me!!
Can’t wait to keep following your blog.
Xxx
Hi Sarah – thank you so much for your message, it’s great that you have all been enjoying the YouTube videos with your littlies! You’ll have loads of fun with the DVDs – such a lot of new songs for you to enjoy. Say hello to all our friends at Treloars – they love singing & signing there. xxx
hi I like Suzann and tracey