Tracey Park and Lisa Houghton were paediatric speech and language therapists before launching Talking Tots in 2005. They have more than 30 years’ combined experience working with young children experiencing communication difficulties, and are respected experts in the field of early language development.
Their experience working with young children convinced them that it’s possible to boost any child’s language and social skills with the right mixture of encouragement, fun and carefully designed activities.
Tracey and Lisa collaborated with a team of early years specialists including fellow speech and language therapists, teachers and educational psychologists to develop a unique set of classes that would support and build on the specific developmental milestones of pre-schoolers.
The first Talking Tots classes were launched in Lytham in 2005 and were so popular that Tracey and Lisa soon realised they’d hit upon a winning formula. While there are plenty of pre-school activities for children to learn about music or physical activity, only Talking Tots focuses entirely on building social skills and communication – the most important skills we ever learn!
Research shows that as many as half of all children arrive at school without the skills they need to learn effectively. The Talking Tots programme has been specifically developed to familiarise children with fundamental pre-literacy and communication skills such as verbal expression, attention and listening skills, phonological (sound) awareness and turn-taking.