Nov
26
Look Who’s Talking Now - Penrith
Filed Under News
A UNIQUE new class at a Penrith nursery is giving babies a head start when it comes to talking.
The pioneering scheme, launched at the Safehands Greenstart Nursery, in Oak Road, involves baby sign language - helping youngsters from just a few months old upwards make sense of each word they hear.
The baby signing was delivered by Wigton mother-of-five Helen Atherton on behalf of Tiny Talk, which will be staging other special classes at the nursery in the run-up to Christmas.
Nine babies joined staff at the first class, held in the nursery’s special baby room, Safehands Greenstart manager Carrie Geider, who lives in Orton, said:
“It was amazing to see the babies react and having so much fun in a learning environment. Babies realise objects have names and, although they don’t normally learn to talk until 12 to 18 months old, baby sign language bridges that gap,”. Most popular words included milk, drink, more, eat and thank-you.
The remarkable classes are part of celebrations to relaunch the nursery, formerly known as Abacus, which has now been taken over by the Blackpool based Safehands Network, one of the UK’s leading providers of childcare and nursery education facilities. The Penrith nursery, which can cater for up to 47 youngsters and is open from 8am to 6pm five days a week, is the first eco-friendly nursery in the region.
From a very early age, youngsters are taught about conservation, environmental and recycling issues in a fun way and have an outdoor garden and play area where they learn to grow fruit and vegetables, much of which is then served up for them by cook Helen Middleton.
The pioneering Penrith scheme has been so successful it is to be introduced at other Safehands nurseries, There are also plans for a sensory garden and a special minibus service helping to reach parents and children in the more remote rural areas of Cumbria.
