The Baby Signing Blog

Hands On Literacy - Review

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 01:01:00 +0000

By Leah Della Colli

Learning to read does not happen in one day. It involves a long process of learning over many years. The best time for children to start learning to read is when they are very young. Studies have shown that children, who learn sign language at a young age, become better readers and start reading earlier.

Hands On Literacy by Trish Peterson offers families great tips to making a more literacy-enriched home. Every parent wants their children to be interested in books, however it is easy to make some common mistakes without knowing that your overwhelming your young child. Here is a list of some quick tips to making your home a more accessible reading environment.

Make sure books are age appropriate: Be aware of the books around your house. Read them through yourself. Just because it looks like a children’s book, it’s not always the case. Focus on pages with minimal words and lots of pictures.

Separate books from toys: Your child needs to learn books are not toys. Keep them separate from toy areas or rooms. Keeping them in their room is a good idea, making the bedroom a place to be calm and available to curl up with a good book.

Make reading a part of your daily routine: Make it a priority to read with your child at least once a day. When starting, don’t choose long books. Keep it short and simple to keep your child engaged. If they are losing interest, end the book short.

Don’t overwhelm your child: Keep a basket in the child’s room with 5 books. One should be their favorite, and the others should be changed every couple of weeks. That way your child doesn’t become overwhelmed by too many choices and can be excited about the new arrivals!

Be a good role model: It is easy to become wrapped up in a world of technology and screens, but it’s important for us all to unplug and unwind. Your child is always watching. Be conscious of reading and writing in front of your child. If they see you enjoying a book, they’ll want to do the same.

Peterson’s engaging book also provides detailed activities and games for specific age groups that promote literacy while incorporating sign. These activities focus on children ranges 2 through 5 years. Along with the activities are milestones that are usually met at each age group. The activities focus on meeting these milestones and advancing to more challenging ones.

Literacy enriches children’s lives in countless ways. Reading helps all aspects of communication and opens a world of imagination for your child. Armed with Peterson’s great activities and helpful tips for shaping your home, your young child will be reading and enjoying the world of literacy in no time!

Baby Signing Time - Review

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:31:00 +0000

By Tina Lalonde

I put this video on our TV. while my 4 year old was playing quietly in the family room with some toys. I was curious what her reaction to the Baby Signing Time - Let’s Be Friends video might be and did not want to influence her in any way so I said nothing to her before I put it on. As soon as she saw the little babies and young children in the video, she dropped what she was doing and stood in front of the TV! She began trying to sing along and mimic their actions. She was mesmerized!

I really liked how well this video was made. The incorporation of songs and upbeat music to continually show each sign being made by children helped to keep her interest. The rapid screen change from child to child, who each performed the target sign, kept my daughter engaged and allowed her plenty of opportunity to practice positioning her fingers until she could be successful. This video claims to be geared toward children 3 months to 3 years. My 4 year old loves anything to do with real babies so this video spoke straight to her. What I found even more amazing than my younger daughters total participation and interest in the video was the interest my 10 year old daughter showed! She had been playing on the computer but decided to join us by the TV when she saw us having fun. She enjoyed encouraging her little sister and poking fun at the songs. Even though she thought she was acting appropriately “cool” she was sitting there, watching the 45 min. video and taking in all the signs.

The narrator, “Rachel,” came across as animated, enthusiastic and warm. We all had to laugh out loud when the food section of the video began and Rachel was wearing a big white bib!

Overall, I found this video to be two thumbs up!! The pace of the signs being presented was good. There were multiple opportunities to practice each sign along with other children demonstrating them and the vocabulary choices blended well together. It was a fun way to spend some time together with two of my daughters in the afternoon and a chance to see what we could remember in the evening over dinner. It was time well spent.

Sign with your Baby!

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:29:00 +0000

By Leah Delli Colli

Whether its new parents, caregivers or educators, we all are itching to know what’s going on in infant’s minds. Now more than ever it’s easy to get a snapshot into the meaning behind those laughs, cries or babbles. Sign with your baby by Dr. Joseph Garcia provides viewers with information, motivation, tips, tricks and everything in between to communicating with your infant before they can speak. Through teaching sign language to children, they are able to communicate their needs and wants before the muscles used for speech can catch up to their always-learning minds. This ability to communicate with adults eases caregiver anxiety about knowing why the child is crying, while offering immediate gratification and rewards in mutual understanding.

The instructional DVD allows viewers to know when’s best to start signing, what signs to start with, when to introduce new signs. It also followed families and their journeys and experiences of signing with their young children and the successes they’ve experienced. The DVD left me feeling motivated and confident in introducing sign language to infants. The package also comes with a book which further investigates the countless benefits signing with infants brings to families and educators. The book gives deeper insight into:

· Understanding the infant’s perspective

· Answers common questions and concerns

· Being aware of various types of gazes and how to effectively incorporate sign

· Vocabulary guide of 100+ signs

As the package states, it is never too late to start signing; sign language can facilitate language at any age. Imagine what a great feeling it would be to see your child crying, and be able to immediately give them a bandaid and a hug because your child was able to sign “hurt” over his/her knee. Sign with your baby makes this idea possible and easy! With patience, repetition and love your child could be asking for ``more juice`` before he/she can even say mom!

Praise for WeeHands in Edmonton!

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:26:00 +0000

Just received this praise for one of our Instructors classes:

Remember me?! Austin and I attended 3 of your classes from spring to summer ;) I just wanted to write and let you know that Austin is signing away and is so good at it. Because he uses sign language it makes my day to day life easier. He can let me know when he is hungry and what he wants to eat or drink....and also when he needs help and regularly signs please and thank you. I get all sorts of compliments from friends and family often. When is the next age class for him? I believe it's a while away (4 years old or so? He is 20 months now). I also wanted to let you know that I'm pregnant (due May) and I will be coming to class with our new baby.

Congratulations Michelle! Your classes are wonderful!

To find out more about Michelle's WeeHands baby sign language classes in Edmonton, Alberta see her webpage below:

http://www.weehands.com/profile.php?id=49

"Sign of the Week" poster!

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:49:00 +0000

Click here to download the PDF for this week's free "Sign of the Week" poster!

This week's sign is GRAPES. Show this sign to your little one when you offer her grapes...for each grape you give her, say the word and sign it. Before you give her a grape, pause briefly to see what she does!

Are you posting our Sign of the Week posters around your home or child care centre? Share photos of your posters on the WeeHands Facebook page!

ELEPHANT - Sign of the Week

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 18:40:00 +0000

Here is this week's free "Sign of the Week" poster!

This week's sign is ELEPHANT. Show this sign to your baby when you see them in books, on clothing, on blankets or even at the zoo!

Watch the video here!

Sign of the Week - DOG

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 14:14:00 +0000

Here is this week's free "Sign of the Week" poster! We hope you like it and that you share it with your friends, family and local therapists & teachers!

http://www.weehands.com/images/sotw_dog_weehands.pdf

This week's sign is DOG. Show this sign to your child when you see a dog. Show it as well when you see pictures of dogs in books. Watch the video here!

To see past Sign of the Week posters, click here!

Sign of the Week: CAR

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 14:19:00 +0000

Here's is the third of our free "Sign of the Week" posters! We hope you like it and that you share it with your friends, family and local teachers!

This week's sign is CAR. Use this sign when get in or out of the car; while playing with toy cars or if you see images of cars in board books.

Watch the video here!

To see past Sign of the Week posters, click here!

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/WeeHands-Sign-of-the-Week---November-7--2011.html?soid=1011269665115&aid=IFBD89VOcGM

We Want You!

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 21:48:00 +0000

WeeHands is looking for qualified & enthusiastic Instructors to teach across Canada in Calgary, Alberta; Edmonton; Richmond, British Columbia; Vancouver; Dartmouth, Nova Scotia; Halifax, Nova Scotia; Burlington, Ontario; Oakville; Etobicoke, Ontario; Kingston; London, Ontario; Niagara Falls, Ontario & Waterloo, Ontario.

If you are interested in setting your own schedule, running your own business (full or part time), sharing your knowledge and experience with others and making a positive impact in the lives of families in your community, then the WeeHands Instructors team is for you!

Spread the word and/or apply today! http://www.weehands.com/instructors.html

Smartphone App

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:36:00 +0000

Our WeeHands iPhone mobile app is well underdevelopment, with the amazing help of Jamie of JV Graphic Studio and Will from WonderAnt. Over a number of meetings (most of which that have taken place in a few English pubs in downtown Toronto - oh, how we love our pub food), we've come up with a plan for our first children's sign language dictionary!

Based on vocabulary in the awarding winning book, The Baby Signing Book by Sara Bingham, the first WeeHands app will teach you and your child over 300 American Sign Language signs that are both fun and functional!

The WeeHands app (our first!) will be available worldwide soon with iPhone, iPad and Android versions!

Baby Sign Language FAQs

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 16:59:00 +0000

A mom over at BabyCenter.com has asked some great questions about signing with her baby. I remember visit BabyCenter.com years ago when Joshua was first born...he turned 11 years old yesterday! Here is my response to autumnb071's questions:

Communicate Earlier

Signing with young children is helpful because the motor skills needed for signs develop before the motor skills needed for speech develop. First spoken words develop between 12 and 14 months, typically, while first signs can be produced by baby between 9 and 12 months of age.

Share Visual Information

As well, your baby will understand what you sign to them before they can produce their own first sign, e.g., they'll calm down when they see you sign MILK or get excited when you sign BATH. The visual information you'll be giving them, helps them understand your message. This is similar to our use of gestures when we give directions...I understand where a restaurant bathroom is better when a server points to where it is in addition to telling me using words.

Lessen Frustrations

The motivation behind any behaviour...for anyone is either (1) to make requests, (2) to get attention, (3) to escape a situation or (4) for sensory reasons. Three out of four reasons for behaviour is communication, and yes, that means 3 out of the 4 reasons for tantrums are communication based, e.g., I want food, I want you, I don't like this anymore.

Being able to communicate these needs clearly before speech develops, or when you are so emotional speech doesn't come, will lessen challenging behaviours.

Easy to Learn

Babies learn to wave because you model that gesture for them, encourage them to repeat it and reinforce it. So do the same with signs for things that they like, e.g., milk, food, water, etc. When I was learning Italian (and I still am) I learned the Italian words for things that I liked and were important to me the fastest! (Une bicchiere de vino rosso, anyone!)

Use signs for things that they like and that they can feel/taste/touch/smell to start with. Highlight their sensory experiences with signs and speech ... and narrate their world!

Sara Bingham is the founder of WeeHands and the author of The Baby Signing Book. WeeHands is the world's leading children's sign language and language development program for babies, toddlers and preschool children.

Differences between Boys and Girls

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 17:10:00 +0000

Dr. Harold Koplewicsz states that girls have better language development while the book Beyond Baby Talk: From Sounds to Sentences, written by two speech-language pathologists, say "research that has examined whether boys and girls understand language differently has consistently yielded no (significant) differences".

Expressively there are slight differences in expressive language, e.g., girls are more likely to use more words related emotions than boys do.

Apel and Masterson also state that girls typically use language to work with peers to solve problems earlier than boys. Preschool boys seem to work through more problems with actions and over time begin more problem solving with words. Whether problems are solved with actions or words, the success that boys and girls have with problem solving is similar.

They also state that girls tend to initiate more turns in a conversation than boys, use more nouns and have clearer speech. The slight differences in general language development between boys and girls are not problems, when the goal is the same...language development.

Sara Bingham is the founder of WeeHands and the author of The Baby Signing Book. WeeHands is the world's leading children's sign language and language development program for babies, toddlers and preschool children.

Raising bilingual children: How to compete with the mainstream language

noreply@blogger.com (Aloveforlanguage) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 01:55:00 +0000

If you are reading this article, you are probably trying to raise bilingual children in a monolingual environment. As a speech-language pathologist living in South Florida I have worked with many children who at the age of 2 or 3 spoke Spanish only, and then when I run into them years later they speak primarily or only English. Now as a parent of a three-year old who spoke Spanish exclusively until 6 months ago and now seems to be wanting to speak more and more English I find myself worrying about how to maintain my daughter´s competence in our first language.

Raising bilingual children is all about celebration. Celebrating, enjoying , embracing and accepting our roots as well as our current environment. My suggestions come from my own experience as a speech-language pathologist, as a parent and from what I have seen work in other families.

Celebrate our culture: Children should have an understanding and pride in where they come from. "This is where our family is from". Celebrate with pride and joy what we do, without criticizing other cultures. Speak your native language. If possible have a circle of friends who speak the home language. Read to your child in your native language. Sing to and with your child in your home language. Cook traditional meals and desserts together. Look at pictures of the country you come from, if you can take trips back home!

Celebrate the mainstream culture: Remember that the country where you now live is your child's home! Our children are being born and raised in a different culture from ours, speaking a different language. Naturally they will feel drawn to the mainstream culture and language. After all their teachers, friends and favorite shows speak the mainstream language. So my advice is never reject what they bring to you. If a child feels rejected he may in turn react by rejecting you. Accept that your child is enriching your life by bringing his language and his culture to you and embrace it. If you don't speak the mainstream language ask your child to teach you something, find ways to show him that you understand both cultures are important to him, after all we don't want to make our children choose ONE culture or ONE language.

Celebrate differences: This has worked for my family. We come from a family where many members are either from a different country or currently reside in a different country. We like to talk about where all of our family members live or came from. We also talk about the different languages spoken in other countries. My daughter speaks English and Spanish but has also learned words in Portuguese, Italian, French and ASL. I strongly believe that it is very important for children to view multilingualism and multiculturalism as a normal and desired process. This may help prevent them from feeling embarrassed or ashamed about being different as they get older. They have to learn from the time they are little that differences are good. If we accept others that are different from us, our children will be less likely to fear rejection.

Match what they are learning at school: by providing them the same vocabulary at home. For example, when my three year old tells me she's learning about "mammals" I respond with enthusiasm in Spanish and I tell her that "mammals" are "mamíferos" and then proceed to ask her what she learned about mammals (all this in Spanish). Even though she speaks better Spanish than English, typically when she tells me about school she switches to English. I don't reprimand her for speaking in English, but I do respond in Spanish and I make sure I am giving her the Spanish vocabulary she needs to talk about the topic in question. Most preschools provide parents with a calendar of themes for each week or a daily log of activities. If your child does not really talk about what he did at school you can learn by looking at this calendar or talking to his teacher and then try to continue the theme at home in your native language. The language used in school is normally more sophisticated than the language used at home. For the bilingual child this means that once he starts school his home language will lag behind unless parents make sure that they are matching the school vocabulary at home.

Be specific about the joy and importance of being bilingual: I NEVER reprimand my daughter for speaking English. I know she wants and needs to practice the skills she is acquiring. However, I do tell her that when we are spending time together as a family we speak Spanish. I have even explained to her that if she doesn't , she may forget Spanish. I want her to know now that forgetting a language would be a LOSS, something sad, something to mourn. We also talk with joy and admiration about the people we know who speak several languages and about new languages we want to learn.

Do not stop speaking in the home language: Speak, read and write in your native language. Make sure that the complexity of the language used in books in the home language increases as your child speaks more. Teach your child to read in the home language. Some studies show that children with good vocabularies are better readers, but after they become readers they draw new vocabulary from books. So as your child's language skills improve get books that use more complex language (slightly better than your child's).

In addition to the aforementioned strategies the following may help: Vacations with family members who do not speak the mainstream language. Watching TV shows in the home language (I read in a blog about a mom who on certain days of the week gives her kids the choice of No TV vs. Spanish TV). Most children movies have the option to change the audio setting to Spanish, sometimes French and Italian too, so you can watch them in the home language if available.

Find the strategies that work best for your family and do not give up. Your child will continue learning from hearing you speak in the home language. He will see your pride and love for your culture, and if you show respect and appreciation for his culture, chances are he will embrace and respect yours!

Lucy Windevoxhel is a bilingual speech pathologist from Venezuela who currently resides in South Florida. She has 11 years of experience as a speech-language pathologist and is also a certified WeeHands baby sign language instructor. You can find more articles relating to bilingualism and speech and language development on her website: www.aloveforlanguage.com . Visit the A Love For Language, Inc Facebook group for great information on general child development, nutrition and literacy or you can follow her on twitter @speechmiami

Molly's Language Development - Baby Sign Does Work!

noreply@blogger.com (Cari) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 22:58:00 +0000

I've been doing 'baby sign' with my 17 month old daughter Molly to help her communicate. I've always been a big believer in its effectiveness, but now I have proof with my own baby!! It's been going amazingly well with Molly. She can tell us what she wants to eat, what she sees in the world around her, and she's starting to be able to share her feelings with us. (see below for a growing list of Molly's current signs).
For those of you who think that signing with babies delays speech, I have NO worries in this area. Her language development is wonderful. She does have about 10-15 words that she speaks (Mama, Dada, her grandparents, park, pasta, paper and others), but remember, speech is not 'language'! The other day, she saw a picture of herself as a tiny baby with Mark (her daddy). She was wearing a little newborn hat in the picture. She was not only able to tell me (with her voice) that it was 'Dada' in the picture, but in sign language, she was able to tell me that MOLLY was the BABY who was wearing a HAT because she was COLD.
Cool, no? (The picture shows Molly signing "please").

Because I'm so into this and believe in it so much, I've recently become a certified and licensed WeeHands Instructor! WeeHands is the world's leading children's sign language and language development program for babies, toddlers and preschoolers.

If anyone is interested in starting a class (maybe 'hosting' for a mommy/daddy group in your home), then get in touch!! It will be a blast!

SIGNS MOLLY KNOWS AS OF AUGUST 16, 2011

Molly’s signs: (58 signs)

-milk
-water
-cookie
-cracker
-baby
-bug
-wind
-rain
-bath
-hat
-cold
-food/eat
-ice cream
-music
-kiss
-apple
-banana
-go
-ball
-bed/sleep
-telephone
-bird
-book
-bunny (personalized sign)
-butterfly (personalized sign)
-cat
-cry/sad (personalized sign)
-dirty
-duck
-flower (personalized sign)
-eye
-nose
-fan
-finish
-fish
-hair
-mine/mine/me
-monkey
-star
-more
-please
-thank you
-share
-snow
-hot
-grass
-friend
-clean

Cari Haim is Molly's mom, a Specialist Teacher of the Deaf, and a newly minted WeeHands Instructor! She is looking forward to starting to teach families the benefits of signing with their little ones.

Enhance Language & Lessen Frustrations

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:29:00 +0000

Wouldn't you like to deal with fewer toddler tamtrums?

Miriam Devitt from SuperHands in Ireland answered, "Yes! The toddler years are a lot easier with sign language. When a child expects he will be understood, he is calmer in any situation." Julie Reid, TinyTalk Baby Sign teacher in Scotland also shared, "Absolutely, my son never had a tantrum because he could tell me what he wanted!"

I'm currently marking research papers for a class I teach within the Communicative Disorders Assistant program at Durham College. In class we discuss enhancing communication for individuals with autism, Down's syndrome and other special needs. It's inspiring!

I love that the idea of 'baby sign language' is becoming more and more common place and that parents of children of any ability are more comfortable with the idea of signing with their children. Whether someone uses speech, text, sign or pictures...that's symbolic communication!

I also love thinking back to when my own kids were learning to sign and talk (they don't stop talking now!). Sabrina's first sign was "NO" at 11 months and at 18 months she had over 80 words (a comination of spoken words and signs). Typically, toddlers at 18 months have about 10-20 words. That's not just a little difference...that's a BIG difference!

Signing allowed Sabrina to play with language, make mistakes and learn more words. If she hadn't been able to sign, something that's easier to do than clear speech for a toddler, she would not have had the huge vocabulary that she did.

Katrina Poole of Binksy & Bobo shared this tweet, "my son became frustrated not being able to be 'heard'. Learning the simple 'more' or 'milk' sign really alleviated that."

One of the things that we talk about a lot in my college class is behaviour. We don't talk about how to suppress challenging behaviours though, we talk about how to change them. There are four reason behind any behaviour: 1) to make a request; 2) to get attention; 3) to escape a situation and 4) for sensory reasons. Three out of four of these are communication based! If we can teach toddlers, and anyone, appropriate ways to request, e.g., "No, I want the BANANA", get attention, e.g., "My eye HURTS", and to communicate "I'm tired. I'm FINISHED"; just think of the temper tantrums that can be avoided! Using sign language with your baby, and toddler, definitely can reduce frustrations for everyone!

Sara Bingham is Sabrina's mom and also the founder of WeeHands and the author of The Baby Signing Book. WeeHands is the world's leading children's sign language and language development program for babies, toddlers and preschool children.

Meet Zoe!

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 21:17:00 +0000

This is Zoe! She's the face of WeeHands. Earlier this year we ask our WeeHands fan on Facebook to tell us more about her. Our fans help us very poetically to tell Zoe’s story!

She's four years old. She likes apples, oranges, and bananas, she likes to play hide and seek. Her favourite toys are her trains, dolls, and bears! Her most favourite toys though are those in her stuffed bunny collection. She loves unicorns and her favourite games are Candy Land and Chutes & Ladders.

Zoe is a loving little girl who is the apple of her daddy’s eye. She greets everyone with smiles but she is hesitant to go to kindergarten because she thinks that her mommy will get lonely. She loves to swing back and forth at the park and enjoys tickling the clouds with her toes as she goes higher and higher.

Thank you to our fantastic fans, Becka Marsch, Whitney Cochran and Mandy Patrick-Hickey for sharing!

And a very special thank you to my daughter, Sabrina, for being the inspiration behind the WeeHands logo...and Zoe!

Sara Bingham is Sabrina's mom and also the founder of WeeHands and the author of The Baby Signing Book. WeeHands is the world's leading children's sign language and language development program for babies, toddlers and preschool children.

A Word is a Word

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 19:38:00 +0000

A word is a word, no matter how small...oh, wait, the line is actually "a person is a person, not matter how small" from Dr. Seuss!

When we discuss first signs, the concept of first words often come up which creates an opportunitity for me to explain that a word is a word, whether it's spoken or signed.

I think it's funny that we would never debate if a 11 month child who could used text to communicate their first word...imagine a baby picking up a pencil and writing M-I-L-K and caregivers saying "Oh, that's not a word, she didn't verball say it."

I watched "The Miracle Worker" yesterday afternoon...W-A-T-E-R is definitely a word! Funny how that movie was made in 1962 and we're still explaining the concept of a word!

As baby sign language instructors we often get asked, ""Will signing with my baby delay his speech development?” I love how one of our Instructors, Shannon Thomas, who is also a a speech-language pathologist, answers this question:

"No, absolutely not. Signing not only does not delay your child's communication skills, it enhances it! Children have the ability to comprehend and express a manual language, like signing, at an earlier age than they can a verbal language. A child can develop the skills necessary to manually sign a word before they develop the more complex motor skills needed to produce a verbal response. In other words, a child can learn how to sign "more" or "milk" before they can learn how to say it.

I remind parents to always pair the sign with the spoken words. The goal is for the child to become verbal, however, using signs is a way in which to facilitate their verbal language skills. Having the child realize that they can affect the world around them by using a symbol (manual or verbal) is the basis of language and a beautiful revelation to watch unfold in a child.

In addition, research has shown that children who have been introduced to signs have a greater vocabulary and stronger verbal skills later on. We are simply providing them with a method of communication that they can understand and use at an early age. As a speech-language pathologist, I frequently use signs to help facilitate and develop early language skills! One of the philosophies of WeeHands is: a word is a word, whether spoken or signed."

Sara Bingham is the founder of WeeHands and the author of The Baby Signing Book. WeeHands is the world's leading children's sign language and language development program for babies, toddlers and preschool children.

When and How to Start Signing

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 19:40:00 +0000

I see this question a lot, "When should I start signing with my baby? She's 11 months old, is it too late?"

The best time to start signing with your son is today! I've had babies in my classes as young as three weeks old and as old as 22 months. Most babies are capable of signing back their first signs between 7 and 11 months of age. Start now!

You want to start with signs for words that are really motivating for your son. For my son that was toy and play signs; for my daughter that was food signs...and more food signs. Sign at your comfortable level, e.g., start with 5-6 signs for things they really like and when you are comfortable with them add more!

Also use another 5-6 signs for frequently occuring activities, things that you do every day, a few times a day. For example, these may include the signs for "eat", "change", "play", "bath" and "sleep". Also, use these and add more signs for activities as you get more comfortable using more signs.
Also, always sign the word when you sign. That way they are both seeing and hearing the word. My son signed at 9 months and my daughter signed her first sign at 11 months so all babies are different as to when that first sign comes along. Both of my little ones had well over 80 words by the time they were 18 months old!

Sara Bingham is the founder of WeeHands and the author of The Baby Signing Book. WeeHands is the world's leading children's sign language and language development program for babies, toddlers and preschool children.

Signing in Child Care Centres

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 02:42:00 +0000

In 1994, I did a placement as a Communicative Disorders Assistant student at Georgian College. One of my placements that winter was with the Sault Ste. Marie Children's Treatment Centre. On my caseload were school children who stuttered, had language disorders or reading disabilities. One little one on my caseload had just moved to Canada from China and I was also teaching him English. It was a wonderful experience ... it's hard to think about how old those kids are now! I had my challenges as a shiny new student but one of the most challenging tasks I was assigned was 'playing' with a young non-verbal toddler! My, how times have changed!

Fast forward to 1997 when I was working as a Communicative Disorders Assistant at Surrey Place Centre working within their Infancy & Early Childhood Division – who would have thought babies and toddlers were going to be my thing! I was in the library at work researching intervention strategies and stumbled across an article about using sign language in child care centres.

In this particular study, a child care centre was signing with one young child with Down syndrome who was in their care. The staff at the centre had gotten into the habit of signing so they ended up signing with all the children in their care. This resulted in fewer challenging behaviour occurring in the centre. There were fewer children hitting and fewer children biting. This makes sense because the main motivators behind challenging behaviours are a desire (1) to request tangibles, (2) to request attention, (3) to request escape or (4) for sensory reasons.

This makes sense because if a toddler doesn’t have the spoken words to appropriately request something they want, get your attention or to say that they’ve had enough of an activity, a tantrum or other challenging behaviour may result.

Time for summer camp!

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 13:08:00 +0000

WeeHands is doing something a little different this summer and would love to have you and your little ones involved.

Sign with your baby or toddler or simply enjoy a unique and special time with your preschool child and family at WeeHands children's sign language summer camps. All WeeHands summer camps are lead by a certified WeeHands Instructor and are a great way for the whole family to connect, learn and grow together this summer.

Baby Sign & Sing Camp

Five days of fun for you and your baby! This five-day camp teaches your family signs and songs to help you get started, food signs, family signs and daily routine signs. You and your baby both attend this camp! Campers will receive a Sign & Sing At Home Family Guide and will meet each day for an hour and a half.

Each day you and your baby will learn a minimum of 10 theme specific ASL signs and be introduces to a new song and book to sign with your baby. Your week will end with special party celebrating everything you and your baby have learned.

Toddler Sign & Sing Camp

Five days of fun for you and your toddler! This five-day camp teaches your family signs and songs related to related to animals, colours, playtime and emotions. You and your toddler both attend this camp. Campers will receive a WeeHands at the Zoo Family Guide and will meet each day for an hour and a half.

Each day you and your toddler will learn a minimum of 10 theme specific ASL signs and be introduces to a new song and book to sign with your toddler. You'll learn to get up and dance...and get down and read with your toddler! Your week will end with special party celebrating everything you and your toddler have learned!

Preschool Play & Sign Camp

Five full days or ten half days of fun for your four- to six-year-old child. Songs, games and crafts make this sign language summer camp a favorite! Your preschool child will learn songs and signs for feelings, animals, playtime, vehicles, the park, colours and so much more! Attending this camp with your preschool child is optional. Signing with preschool children has a positive effect on both vocabulary and literacy development and, like all of our summer camps WeeHands makes it fun!

Our two-week campers will meet each day for two weeks for two and a half hours. Our one-week campers will meet each day for one week for six hours. Each camper will recieve a Play & Sign Family Guide with all songs and signs taught.

Where to find it

Contact your nearest WeeHands Instructor to find a WeeHands summer camp near you!

Sara Bingham is the founder of WeeHands and the author of The Baby Signing Book. WeeHands is the world's leading children's sign language and language development program for babies, toddlers and preschool children.

Dear Mr President...Premier...or Prime Minister

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 13:18:00 +0000

Sometimes I wake up in the morning wondering if I should blog today and then I get an email in my inbox with the subject line "Solutions for Ontario Students with Communication Disorders". The message contained a link that led to a petition about education in Ontario and how our current education system serves those with communication disorders. Any discussion regarding a lack of speech and language services for those in need flames my fire.

From my own experience I know that the Ontario government since 1997 has put millions of dollars into preschool speech and language services...and it's not enough. I was hired in '97 when preschool services launched in Ontario and I do know that the system got more organized and waitlists lessened depending on where you are. Still a 2 year wait list in some areas for a 3.5 year old is too long...they'll age out of the system before they get off the wait list.

Unfortunately, since the first dollars were put into preschool speech and language services in Ontario, more than 10 years ago, no additional funds have been sent that way. There is very little new hiring and when therapist positions become open due to maternity leaves or job changes; they cannot be filled due to lack of funding.

Since 1997 the Ontario government has introduced the Infant Hearing Program. "Every year in Ontario, approximately four in 1,000 babies are born deaf or hard of hearing. Through the Ontario Infant Hearing Program these babies can be found very early and given the help they need to develop language."

Millions of dollars have gone into Preschool Autism Services and those services are not supposed stop once a child gets to a certain age. What's offered at the preschool level, intensive behaviour intervention (IBI), though is not easily duplicated at the school level without a massive shift of thinking and training for the staff in our schools.

Ontario is increasing its annual spending on autism by $25 million. Since 2003-04 the government has more than quadrupled autism investments to over $186.6 million.
Since 2004, Ontario has committed more than $15 million to autism-related research.

If your child had a communicative disorder that wasn't due to autism, there has been no increase of funding. If you were looking for intervention for your child with autism, that wasn't related to intensive behavioural intervention (IBI), there is no funding for your family.

In Ontario, there are many more supports for preschool children with communication disorders since 1997 but it's not enough. As well the children I saw between 1997 and 2001 while working at Surrey Place Centre are now teenagers. These children have severe communication disorders...are they getting the support they need? Many of the young adults I worked with during that time only received speech and language intervention if they had severe behaviour problems.

Has the system for older children and young adults with communicative disorders changed in the past ten years? Unfortunately, it hasn't.

There's a lyric from a P!NK song that hits home for me: "No child is left behind? We're not dumb and we're not blind. They're all sitting in your cells" (lyrics from "Dear Mr President")

Here are some chilling facts from the American Speech and Hearing Association "Special Populations: Prison Populations - 2004 Edition":

"Studies of the relationship between communication disorders and delinquency, violence, and incarceration date back to the 1920s."
"According to one study, the incidence of language and communication problems among female juvenile delinquents is approximately three times the figures cited for adolescents in the general population (9)."
"The majority of studies report the incidence of hearing loss in prisoners to be approximately 30% (2)."
"One explanation for the high incidence of hearing loss among inmates is that early loss can cause poor language skills, frustration, academic problems, and inadequate social skills. These in turn may lead to school drop out, juvenile delinquency, and eventual criminal behavior (14)."

Services for children with communicative disorders in Ontario school is fragmented and in some cases non existent. Therapists (speech language pathologists and communicative disorders assistants, when they are hired) are only allowed to provide assessments and consult with educators. Very little actual speech and language therapy takes places in school. Many school boards still refuse to hire communicative disorders assistants, who are trained at a post-graduate level.

This petition is calling upon the Ontario government to mandate, consolidate and fund speech language services for students with communication disorders as an integral part of our educational system.

We must pay for it now...because we WILL pay more for it later.

Sara Bingham is the founder of WeeHands and the author of The Baby Signing Book. WeeHands is the world's leading children's sign language and language development program for babies, toddlers and preschool children.

A Happy Baby Begins With You!

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 18:19:00 +0000

In an effort to provide WeeHands Instructors with opportunities for professional growth and to allow our Instructors to provide value added services to support their work with thie class participants, WeeHands has developed a cross marketing relationship with The Happiest Baby on the Block, Inc.

As many may know, Dr. Harvey Karp created his program to teach parents how to calm and soothe their crying baby in minutes. This revolutionary approach has been endorsed by some of the most influential organizations in the country, such as Prevent Child Abuse America. Dr. Karp's book is the only book endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics as a must have for new parents.

In 2005, Dr. Karp introduced a program to certify educators to teach his program in their local communities. Since that time, the program has expanded worldwide and has over 4800 individuals involved, 2800 of them have finished certification. Educators are in hospital settings, military installations, pregnancy programs, state and county health departments and independent educators.

WeeHands has developed a collaborative cross marketing relationship that would allow our licensed and certified WeeHands Instructor to also become a Certified Happiest Baby Educator, at a discounted rate. This will allow the WeeHands members the opportunity to expand their educational expertise and bring more information to the parents you touch each and everyday. This as an excellent opportunity to provide an additional option for teaching and marketing avenue through The Happiest Baby.

In return, WeeHands will be inviting Certified Happiest Baby Educators the opportunity to join our association and expand their educational opportunities as well. This is a win win situation that will benefit both organizations with continue education.

We would like to encourage all of our Instructors to take the time to visit The Happiest Baby website,
www.thehappiestbaby.org for more information on the certification program. The regular cost of the program is $225.00; however WeeHands has negotiated a discount for our Instructors to bring the price to $180.00 plus S/H. If you would like to take advantage of this excellent opportunity, please contact the Happiest Baby Education Department at 888-980-8062. They will be happy and available to answer any questions you may have about the program.

Sara Bingham is the founder of WeeHands and the author of The Baby Signing Book. WeeHands is the world's leading children's sign language and language development program for babies, toddlers and preschool children.

Sign Language & Speech Delays…Re Visited…Again!

noreply@blogger.com (Becka) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 04:30:00 +0000

I have been getting this a lot more lately. See, my kids are shy. At least, when they are younger. They talk up a storm at home, having full on conversations well before the age of 2. But get them around other people, especially people they are not comfortable around, or who are new, and they clam right up! It took my oldest a year in the same day care around the same people, to finally open up. The teacher and director both asked me if I wanted speech for him! I had to bring in a recording of him to prove that he spoke…and at 18 months had well over 300 words!

But my older 2 were not really signed with, so the point with them (my daughter having 150 words at her 1 year checkup!) is moot.

So I keep hearing: “but I want my kid to talk” when I ask new parents or parents with young children, if they ever considered joining a class. Heck, even with preschoolers it is still fun! I then have to go into my usual spiel on how signing with your child not only does NOT delay speech, but opens up multiple learning centers in the brain for building communication. This is especially harder with older adults, who only know American Sign Language to be the language of the deaf.

Teaching your child to use American Sign Language is just like teaching them any other language they are not used to speaking in their households. It broadens their learning spectrum and teaches them that there is more out there then the language they hear daily. ASL helps them play with language a lot sooner, then children who do not use signs or another language.

There have been multiple research studies, including one by The National Institutes of Health, on the benefits of signing with young babies and children. This is especially true with children with special needs, such as Apraxia, Down Syndrome, and Autism. Children with these disabilities may not be able to communicate well, if at all. It is a wonderful thing to have a way to communicate with these children, and adults, as to lessen their frustration with the world around them, and help them communicate with their caregivers, where otherwise, they would not be able to.

But, back to signing…with typically developing children…

Signing will not delay speech! (Have I driven that point home yet?)

Because gross motor skills develop before the fine motor skills involved in phonetic and articulatory actions (moving tongues and mouths in the proper way to create speech), babies can be taught to communicate with their hands before they are physically capable of articulating thoughts. What parent would not want an opportunity to have a front row seat in the mind of their baby, toddler, preschooler, and special needs child?

Hmm speaking of special needs…that might just be my next blog post! Stay tuned!

Becka Marsch, Happiest Baby Educator since 2006, WeeHands Instructor Since 2007. Mom of 4, business owner of Learn And Grow Together and Premier Magical Vacations with a Bachelors in Early Childhood Education And Development and 20 years experience in the field of her dreams :)

Meet our Charlie!

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 21:14:00 +0000

I have to introduce you to our family's dog, Charlie. She (yes, Charlie is a 'she') is a mix between a poodle and a golden retreiver. BTW, the retreiver part of her let's her gently carry baby birds that have just fallen out of their nest to back us...not that we know what to do with them when she brings them to us!

Charlie's been with us for the past 7 years and is just the best dog. Why am I gushing about our dog...besides just because she's great? Well, Charlie's owner before she came to us, was an ASL Interpreter! Charlie's name sign was the sign for BLACK but made with a C shape. She came to you when you made that sign and barked excitedly whenever we signed SIT or WALK.

Seven years later we've just found a wonderful dog groomer for Charlie...and guess what? Our dog groomer (and her husband) is Deaf! There's something about the ASL world that just keeps attracting me to it...and I have met some fantastic folks! Charlie, the sweetie that she is, was just meant to be with us!

Tell us about your family pets...we know you have them! The number one question often in our first or second class is "How do you sign DOG, CAT...PARROT?" or "How do you sign GENTLE?" These are some of the first signs that families with curious, pet-loving babies ask!

Sara Bingham is the founder of WeeHands and the author of The Baby Signing Book. WeeHands is the world's leading children's sign language and language development program for babies, toddlers and preschool children.

Let's Eliminate This Question

noreply@blogger.com (Sara) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 19:43:00 +0000

"Does signing with your baby delay speech?"

I'm the founder of WeeHands and the author of The Baby Signing Book. Can we please work to eliminate the question above!

I have a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and another Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics. I'm also trained as a Communicative Disorders Assistant (CDA) and have worked with children with special needs who had communicative disorders since 1994. I also teach within a CDA college program.

Each year I have my students research the question "Will signing delay speech?" using peer reviewed journal articles. We have never found any study that shows signing with young hearing children will delay speech. We have found a large number of studies that back that it enhances language, vocabulary and literacy development.

Signing with young children gives them information in an additional way so they can see, hear and even feel language. Remember speech is different than language. To keep it simple, signing happens at your hands; speech at your mouth and language in your head. The motor movement needed for signs develop before the motor movement needed for speech. A child uses his hands to learn language and when speech catches up, they already know the words!

Sara Bingham is the founder of WeeHands and the author of The Baby Signing Book. WeeHands is the world's leading children's sign language and language development program for babies, toddlers and preschool children.