ABC First Steps
Our ABC First Steps sessions (previously called Wee Song and Sign Circle) are the earliest stage of our ABC Programme for children aged 0 to around 3, but can be enjoyed by any pre-schoolers at an early stage of communication.
These groups are delivered weekly online. Children can attend from home or from nursery with a key worker or support assistant.
The groups are fun, interactive, inclusive for the whole family – siblings and grandparents are welcome to join in too!
ABC First Steps sessions help babies, toddlers and young children to focus on the sounds of language and introduce oral motor exercises in a fun way that parents and carers can continue out with the sessions. Weekly sessions involve a mixture of nursery rhymes and action songs; as well as signed songs and stories using props to support communication and understanding. The repetitive nature of songs and rhymes means that children learn to predict what’s coming next and when they are ready, join in.
Sessions last half an hour and participants are muted throughout, so your child can engage as enthusiastically and noisily as he/she likes without disturbing the rest of the group. Parents tell us that, as much as their children, they enjoy the opportunity for social interaction and making connections with other parents with children at the same age and stage of development.
You can see what an ABC First Steps session looks like in the video below. The video is of a ‘live’ ABC First Steps session- filmed pre-pandemic. Currently, our First Steps sessions are online using Zoom.
We are now able to offer face-face ABC First Steps events which take place on the last Saturday of every month in Glasgow. These events will provide an opportunity for families with children aged 0-3 to come and meet up in person, whilst having fun engaging with all the familiar aspects of First Steps. Attendance will be restricted to a maximum of 10 children and their families, and each event must be booked separately.
For more details and to book an event please visit Hub21.
“Just to say thank you for yesterday’s sing and sign session. I thought it worked really well and Emily seemed to enjoy it. She even signed ‘bed’ back at me when it was her nap time, which is a first, so I can’t help but think the monkeys on the bed song played a part in that. Looking forward to next week!” – Parent of a child who attends ABC First Steps
All of our online sessions comply with our Online Safeguarding policy, this can be accessed here, please take the time to read this policy prior to your session if you have any questions we are more than happy to answer them.
