The Blossom Method is finally available!

Today is the day so many people have been waiting for. It's the official day of publication of 'The Blossom Method', by Vivien Sabel, published by Random House. I truly believe this groundbreaking book will be hugely influential in the field of parenting and childcare forever and I for one am hugely excited about what's to come! The book outlines a simple way of using non-verbal cues to understand what your baby is telling you FROM BIRTH! I have had the priviledge of reading the book already as I attended the launch party on 29 May. One of my observations was that The Blossom Method is not complicated but a very simple, beautiful and natural communication and bonding experience. So simple that parents and carers have been watching babies using their tongue and body to communicate for years, but we haven't understood it's significance!!

The reason Vivien and her daughter Blossom were the ones to make these discoveries are to do with Vivien's life experiences and history. She is the daughter of a non-signing deaf mother. Vivien and her mother have no problems communicating at all, they use non-verbal cues to do so. This has made Vivien totally in tune with the body language of others. I know this as we have 'skyped' a few times and she was able to tell when my facial expressions and body language have not been congruent with my utterances. She had me totally sussed from the moment we 'met'!

When Vivien had her daughter Blossom, she was able to tell by her tongue, lips, body and smell when she was hungry, tired and even sick. It was so natural to her that she assumed everyone else was doing it too. When she discovered they weren't she just knew she had stumbled upon something amazing that she just had to share with the world and the seeds of The Blossom Method were sown!

I have got to know Vivien well over the past few months and she has become a very treasured friend. When she asked me to be a speaker at the launch of The Blossom Method in the Hotel Du Vin in Harrogate on 29th May I knew I had to be there! It was a fabulous evening. Not only did I get to meet Vivien and some of the amazing people I have met or got to know better on twitter (affectionately known as my #twitmates) but I got to hear what others said and to share my views on The Blossom Method.

With the lovely Blossom

Vivien and Blossom

Me speaking at the event while Vivien signs

Yummy cupcakes!

I explained to everyone that one of the main reasons I started Sign2Music was that I was impressed how signing with my daughter Cara not only helped support communication and reduce frustration but also supported attunement and connectedness in our relationship and ultimately enhanced our bond. I have seen the consequences of poor attachment in my job and follow the current research that shows how poor attachment contributes to lack of empathy, propensity to violence, mental health and addictions. The Blossom Method was like music to my ears. I have been looking for something that can enhance very early communication before the benefits of signing really kick in. I believe The Blossom Method is this 'something'! Vivien explains in her book how to move from using The Blossom Method techniques to baby signing and it is a very natural and beautiful progression.

I know there are a lot of people wanting to know exactly what The Blossom Method 'techniques' are. All I can say is, if you have a young baby or are pregnant please buy this book. If you have a friend or family member that does, forget about buying babygros as a gift, buy them this book. They will truly thank you for it. It is a little gem!

Sharon Trotter (TIPS Ltd), Moi,
Vivien, Vicki

Vicki Gilbert (Babies Can Sign/ Tinysigners),
Moi, Vivien Sabel, Heather Avul (Tinytalk Leicester)

A Win for Sign2Music in Down Council BeyondNI Business Awards 2012

BeyondNI is a business programme targeted towards supporting existing businesses of all sizes within the Down district area. The Beyond programme facilitated 'Business Week', a week of events in May culminating in the Beyond NI Business Awards, held at the Slieve Donard Hotel in Newcastle. The Awards were largely funded by Invest NI and supported and hosted by Down Council.

 

We were delighted to hear in early May that Sign2Music was leading the way as a finalist in 3 categories:

 

- Best Use of Social Media and Online Technologies

- Training and Development

- Chairpersons Special Recognition Award

 

I was so excited about the Awards. It mean a lot to me being selected as a finalist because the Beyond Awards are local business Awards and the winners picked by council officials and business experts. I was also excited because it was a proper formal Award Ceremony in an amazing 5 star hotel, the works!

I couldn't wait to tell my family, the Sign2Music teachers and of course the parents, carers and others who take part in Sign2Music programmes that we had reached the final. Everyone was over the moon and it was time to get to the preparations in earnest! Who would look after the kids? Long dress or short? What colour? What shoes? Tie or dickie bow for the men? The list goes on.....

 

We eventually got all the preparations sorted. Our family are a bit like the Griswalds, so of course there were a few dramas, like last minute alterations needing done to the dress and Cara deciding tonight was the night to cry after mummy and daddy! And of course a 15 minute drive took half an hour as everyone and their granny had decided to go to Newcastle that night.

We drove into the grounds of the Slieve Donard and were taken aback at how beautiful it was on such a sunny evening, even though we had been there so many times before. Before going in for the event we spent some time enjoying the view and soaking up the beauty of the setting. The Slieve Donard is a beautiful 5 star hotel in Newcastle, Co Down, at the foot of the Mourne Mountains.

We were soon joined by one of our Sign2Music teachers, Steph Hanna, and her husband Colin who had joined us to represent Sign2Music. Steph, who is due her 3rd child in August, was looking gorgeous in purple! The room was looking fantastic and it was clear it was all set to be a brilliant night! Everyone was looking fabulous and we took our seats.

We had a fantastic meal and the event was hosted by Dermot Curran, Chairperson of Down Council and Sarah Travers from BBC Newsline. We also had entertainment by a local comedian. When the time came for the Awards presentations we were all well fed and entertained, but getting more nervous by the minute!

The Awards were announced one by one.

1. The Dundrum Inn won the Customer Service Excellence Award.  

2. Wildflower Boutique won Best Kept Business Premises Award

3. Crossgar Foodservice won Training and People Development, one of the categories Sign2Music was a finalist in. Crossgar Foodservice was a very well deserved winner. Well done!

4. Alternative Heat Ltd Best won Export Business 

5. Best Use of Social Media and Online Technologies Export Business.

When this Award was being announced we were sitting on the edge of our seats. I will never forget how amazing it felt to hear the words SIGN 2 MUSIC echo through the hall. The walk to the stage and collecting the Award was a blur. It was great to see so many familiar faces sharing the applause as we returned to our seats including Jim Masson from Down News the 2011 winner of this Award.

6. Ballymote Community Project Ltd won Best Community / Social Enterprise.

7. NI Bootcamp won Best New Business.

8. Platinum Recruitment won Best Marketing Campaign.

9. Laura McGreevy, Mange Tout won Employee of the Year

10. Boatcovers Ireland won Best Small Business

11. Stephen Mayne, Mayne Communications won Dermot Curran Young Achiever

12. Charlene Molloy, Henderson’s Spar, Ardglass won Chairman’s Special Recognition another of the categories Sign2Music was a finalist in. Charlene was a very well deserved winner. Well done!

After the Awards were announced the offical photographs were taken. Anyone who knows me will know I never miss an opporuntity to promote Sign2Music so made sure I got a chance to tell the lovely Sarah Travers about what we do and how wonderful it is. She was genuinely interested in Sign2Music and how we find Social Media useful. She did confess to not being too savvy with the intricacies of Facebook and Twitter!

We left shortly after the photos were taken but the party had only started with all the guests, including local businesses, council officials and political representatives boogying the night away! I did not want to let the children and parents in Ballynahinch down by turning up in a mess the next morning so made an early exit!

And of course the following week we appeared in the local newspapers both online and in print:



Down Recorder 30 May 2012

Mourne Observer 30 May 2012





 It truly was a magical night and one that I will never forget. I am so grateful that our hard work was recognised in relation to making social media an intergral part of what we do. However, it is important to say that social media is not something that the Sign2Music teachers and I do in isolation. The term social media says it all, it can only work through interaction with others. The parents and other businesses who support us and interact with us using social media deserve this Award every bit as much as us so CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU ALL and thanks for helping this happen for us!

Deirdre :)

Daisy Doggy Supersigner 2012

Sign2Music has held a Daisy Doggy Supersigner competition since 2010 to celebrate our birthday. Each year parents and carers send in photographs and videos of their little ones signing and the Sign2Music teachers each vote for their winner.

2012 has by far been the most amazing year yet. We have had some super entries. So many fantastic children. We have been humbled this year with the signing experiences we have seen and heard shared. Despite the common perception that children do not do their first sign until 6 - 9 months we have had a number of children sign before this age. We have also had the benefits of signing for early literacy reinforced as we have seen some children sign letters as young as 12 months!

The following children impressed us so much and will receive a Daisy Doggy Supersigner 2012 certificate from their local teacher:

- Noah from Newcastle classes, who at 12 months, was able to sign letters, notably the letters for his sisters names. He also showed us how he can sign BABY in another video.
- Daisy from Bangor for her wonderul and energetic performance of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
- Lucy from North Belfast for showing us lots of animal signs and singing and signing Insy Winsy Spider and Horsey Horsey
- Orlaidh who attends Ballynahinch classes for her signing of her favourite song, Miss Polly had a Dolly. We have loads of videos of Orlaidh signing from she was a little baby. She is a fab signer!
- Ellie from Ballynahinch classes for signing along with Little Daisy Doggy while on a car journey. Her speech was so clear too!
- Caden from Ballynahinch classes for signing MORE and for his fab fingerspelling and singing our alphabet song.
- William from Newcastle classes for signing NAPPY CHANGE. William was one of our early signers this year.
- Ryan from North Belfast for his super fingerspelling and singing our alphabet song
- Ruby from Newcastle classes for signing MORE
- Norah from Whiteabbey who we caught on camera in class signing MUMMY and BATH
- Olivia  from North Belfast for signing MILK and BATH

These fab videos can be found on the Supersigners playlist on our You Tube Channel or in the videos tab of our Facebook page

However there can only be one winner. There was a very clear winner..............

DANIEL is the 2012 Daisy Doggy Supersigner Competition winner!!!! Daniel is 18 months old and is a dedciated Sign2Music participant, having attended classes in Ballynahinch for a number of terms. His mum and dad both attend classes with him every Saturday and are very committed to signing with Daniel. They are happy to share with others how beneficial signing with Daniel has been for them. The videos below show Daniel demonstrating some of his huge signed vocabulary:

Well done Daniel and his mum and dad. I am a very proud teacher too! Looking forward to presenting you with your Daisy Doggy next Saturday!!!

Congratulations to all all those who entered and those who are receiving the Daisy Doggy Super Signer Certificates!

Deirdre

What a Wonderful Month!

What an amazing month it has been for Sign2Music. First of all we heard that we are a finalist in the What's On 4 Little Ones Awards (Best Local Activity for Under 5s and Most Outstanding Activity Leader for Under 5s, Deirdre MCLaughlin) and received a shiny new badge:

Then we heard we are finalists in the Netmums Favourites Awards for Preschool Classes in both Northern NI and Southern NI areas and got another shiny badge!

As if we weren't excited enough we discovered we were finalists in 3 categories in the Down Business Awards: Best Use of Social Media and Online Technologies, Training and Development and Chairpersons Special Recognition. We attended an amazing Awards ceremony in The Slieve Donard Hotel and WON AN AWARD for Best Use of Social Media and Online Technologies. We are absolutely delighted and will blog about this event later.

 

I was invited to Harrogate on 29th May to attend the launch of a fabulous book on baby communication, The Blossom Method, by my friend Vivien Sabel who is the author. I had the pleasure of speaking at this event and will blog about the event and the book later. This picture is me with my #twitmates Vicki Gilbert, Babies Can Sign, Vivien Sabel (author of The Blossom Method) and Heather Avul, Tinytalk Leicester:

Phew my feet haven't touched the ground this month, but it has been a wonderful month in many ways. Looking forward to blogging about what I have been doing and bringing you the news this weekend about the winner of our Daisy Doggy Supersigner Competition 2012!

Deirdre x

Deaf Awareness Week 7th to 13th May 2012

It is Deaf Awareness Week from 7th to 13th May 2012. People are often think Sign2Music is an organisation solely for deaf children. Most of our service users are in fact hearing children and their families, carers and educators.

We do work alongside groups that support deaf children and this would be a good week to highlight some of these groups:

The National Deaf Children Society (NDCS) in N Ireland provide a variety of great services for deaf children and their families. If you have a deaf child please do check out the services they offer.

http://www.ndcs.org.uk/family_support/support_in_your_area/northern_ireland/index.html

Sign2Music supports NDCS, delivering sessions for many of their events. Alison (our teacher in Bangor / Ards) works as an NDCS volunteer also. I will be facilitating a session for parents and a Sign and Sing session for children on Sunday 13th May at Jordanstown School for the Communication is Fun event. I also was invited to a super fun day on Mon 7th May organised by a new group called Sound Friends Deaf Children's Society. This is a local group in Portadown, run by parents and carers of deaf children. There are also similar groups in other areas


The British Deaf Association (BDA) is the largest UK Deaf-led organisation.  BDA represents the British Sign Language community and promotes British Sign Language, Deaf Culture and Deaf Identity The BDA works to promote equal rights for and to stop discrimination against Sign Language users.

http://www.bda.org.uk

Sign2Music took part in successful events with the BDA for Belfast Culture Night 2010 and 2011, promoting sign language and Deaf culture.

Sign2Music programmes do not use sign language per se, but vocabulary or signs taken from sign language (British Sign Language, NI Regional Signs), used alongside speech. We endeavour to ensure that the signs we use are accurate regional signs. We have a huge respect for the Deaf community and the beautiful language we have borrowed from them. We promote and encourage our teachers and service users to learn sign language through local colleges, etc. Many parents who have attended our classes have undertaken BSL qualifications, Stage 1, 2 and even 3! Some of our teachers had no previous sign language training and had to undertake this training to enable them to practice as a Sign2Music teacher. While the basic requirement is Stage 1, some of our teachers developed such a love for the language that they have gone on to do Stage 2 and 3!


Other organisations include:

Signature promotes excellence in communication with deaf and deafblind people. They are an awarding body providing a range of qualifications through accredited centres in sign language and communication.  http://www.signature.org.uk

Action on Hearing Loss is the new name for RNID (Royal National Institute for the Deaf). They help those who are deaf or have a hearing loss access services, receive equipment, care and support. http://www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk/about-us/northern-ireland.aspx

If you know of any other organisations in Northern Ireland that support deaf children please leave a comment.

Deirdre :)

Beyond Business Awards Finalists Announced

Beyond Business Awards Finalists Announced

What a lovely surprise I had this morning when I 'opened' the online newspaper, Down News. The finalists for the Beyond Business Awards have been announced and as you can see I am LEADING the way. I am beyond delighted! There was a great caliber of entries and my fellow finalists are some of Down's best businesses.

The Award Ceremony will take place on Friday 25 May in the Slieve Donard Hotel, Newcastle. The next step is to find some suitable attire for the Gala Event. Fancy frocks don't exactly fill my wardrobe of course!

Look forward to sharing the experience with you all via social media and of course will do a very special blog after the event!

Thanks everyone!

A very happy Deirdre :)

Happy Birthday Signing Sandy and Daisy Doggy!



It is so hard to believe but Sign2Music will be 5 years old tomorrow. This time 5 years ago Sign2Music was just a dream. I had completed my interview and test with Sign2Me and was awaiting to hear if I received certification as a presenter. Some of you may not know this but Sign2Music originally started out as Signing Kids. And Signing Sandy has had quite a few image makeovers in the past few years. Not only has he dyed his hair and changed his clothes, he has also had quite a bit of 'work' done and is a lot more handsome than he was in 2007!

What a whirlwind the past 5 years have been. We have had such fantastic feedback from our service users and colleagues and are always striving to improve the services we provide and reach as many people as possible to spread the joys of signing.

We have had a lot of ups and downs along the way of course! Reaching the finals in the What's On 4 Little Ones Awards in 2011 and being nominated in 3 categories in 2012 is definitely one of our great achievements.Voting for the 2012 Awards closes TODAY! Your vote would be a fabulous birthday gift for Signing Sandy and Daisy Doggy. It only takes a minute to vote in the following categories:
   1. Best local activity for under 5s.
   2. Most Outstanding Activity Leader for Under 5s ( N Ireland & Scotland) (Deirdre McLaughlin)
   3. Best Children's Party Entertainment

I've even sung again for your vote!

We are very grateful to those of you who helped and supported us over the past 5 years! The wonderful children, parents and carers we work with have been our inspiration! Thank you all so so much.
  
Deirdre :)