Little Gem’s Helps to launch National Deaf Awareness Week.

Little Gem’s a group aimed at children with hearing impairment and deaf children with additional needs launched on Saturday 5th May at Maryhill Children’s Centre, Kidsgrove. The group has been commissioned through Maryhill’s Children Centre and delivered by Class Activity Leader Justine Heathcote of My Babytime offering a drop-in session for families the 1^st Saturday of each month 10am till 11.30am. The group has the support of the local Stoke and North Staffordshire Deaf Children’s Society.

Little Gem’s is a group aimed at families with children aged 0 – 5 years with hearing impairment or deaf with additional needs. It aims to give parents the opportunity to have fun whilst supporting their child’s cognitive, emotional, social, language and physical development. Whilst the children love dancing, singing and signing to the different kinds of music and movement and respond in different ways, the percussion helps develop their rhythm, hand-eye coordination and musicality movement is the way in which the different senses learn to work together to support posture, balance and coordination. Our friendly puppet, "Sally", join’s us as we sing well-known nursery rhymes, play parachute games and use Baby Sign to stimulate the children.

Families from Staffordshire, Stoke and Cheshire came together to have a fun morning of singing, dancing, signing & play - “We had a brilliant time at Little Gems this morning. Lovely to see all the children having so much fun. Can't wait for next months.” - commented Leah Herbert one of the families that attended the session. Justine Heathcote commented “it’s great to see so many families coming together, offering each other support whilst the children interact and have lots of fun, the group is extra special to me as youngest daughter Lucie (2) was born profoundly deaf and is a wearer of bi-lateral cochlear implants, she has benefited greatly from sessions such as this with her speech, signing and listening skills”

The group also celebrated the launch of National Deaf Awareness Week from 7th – 13^th May.

For more information about Little Gem’s contact:-

Justine Heathcote - Class Activity Leader & Deaf Awareness Co-ordinator on: - 07872015723

Or www.mybabytime.co.uk for further classes & information.