Chatter Matters
The Royal Shakespeare Company will help families with young children find time to talk next week as they lend support to a programme to celebrate and promote communication.
Warwickshire Chatter Matters Week runs from 14 to 19 March and a number of activities are taking place with the aim to raise awareness of the importance of early language development.
Speech and language therapists, children’s centre staff, and early years providers around the county are using the week to promote the Warwickshire ‘time to talk’ programme which helps parents to communicate imaginatively with their tiny tots.
In Stratford, the Royal Shakespeare Company is supporting the week by offering a family drop-in event on Monday 14 March. The RSC’s Swan Reading Room in Stratford-upon-Avon will be open for families to join RSC actors and staff from 10.30am.
Parents will be able to have fun chatting, playing and exploring the theatre with their children. Children are also invited to enjoy the Play Cart in the room to make puppets, create plays and make up their own words just as Shakespeare did.
Nicky Cox, RSC Events and Exhibitions, said: “Our new drop in activities and workshops here at the RSC look to encourage families to learn, play and talk together.
“With Shakespeare’s language being at the heart of the RSC’s work, we feel that the Chatter Matters incentive is an important strategy to highlight and support and we look forward to working together to explore more opportunities for further activities in our buildings and across the community.”
Warwickshire Speech and Language Therapist Alex Williams explains the importance of communication: “As a society we are forgetting how important it is to spend time talking and listening to young children, as a consequence many youngsters are not developing the speech and language skills they are capable of.
“Being able to listen, understand and use words effectively helps children with all aspects of their learning, making them happier and able to achieve more.
The variety of sessions on offer at the county’s Children’s Centres and nurseries are about children learning to talk and parents and carers learning to listen. We spend time sharing rhymes, songs and stories and show them how good it feels to have a chat.
“We hope Chatter Matters week will give parents a taster of these sessions and give them some inspiration about how they can spend more time talking to babies and toddlers.”
Every child who takes part in one of the week’s events will get a sticker, and Chatter Matter goodies will be given out at libraries, nurseries, health centres, children’s centres which are supporting the campaign.
The ‘time to talk’ programme is delivered in partnership with Warwickshire County Council and the NHS. For more information or for details of local sessions email timetotalk@warwickshire.nhs.uk or call Alex Williams on 07909000434.