Baby Sign News-Week of Nov 10

Hello Signing Families,

News & Local Happenings:

• If you are Netflix subscribers you can now catch one of over a dozen 20-minute clips from the Signing Time Series II episodes. Rumor has it, they are working on getting selections on hulu.com in the future.

• The next new class in Holyoke will start up in January. We are planning for Tuesdays – stay tuned for official confirmation.

• Special topic opportunity for former or present students: At the Restaurant. Join me at Cup and Top Cafe in Florence for an on site lesson with food and restaurant signs. The cost would be $10/family. I am looking at Saturday, December 7^th 11:00-12:00. Email me if interested. Group limited to 6; parents & babies who have already completed a session with me by December only, please.

• Congratulations to Korby Clark (and the wee Jack & Joseph), winner of the DVD giveaway!

Cool Stuff:

• Signs About Town…Found the illustration to the left – the sign for BREAD– at Park Hill Orchard in Easthampton.

• Signing can be a wonderful anchor for the bilingual or multilingual child. ASL becomes a common reference point for any other language in the house. Here is an article that discusses things further, and includes a note on the science behind how (as I’m constantly saying) your child’s brain (literally!) expands when learning to sign.

Tip of the Week:

We had a great time at World Eye Bookshop in Greenfield for the signing story time last Monday. The place was packed to the gills! (Totally blew a photo op on that one!) Those who were there may have heard one of the little girls from the YMCA’s daycare ask me how to sign praying mantis. When I told her that unfortunately, I didn’t know, she didn’t miss a beat. “It’s like this,” she told me, doing something with her thumbs and pointer fingers. It gave the crowd a chuckle, but truly, she was on to something. While I am wholly against the “baby sign” stuff that uses made up signs, it is natural for children, especially those familiar with sign, to sometimes create signs of their own for concepts they haven’t yet learned. It shows they are thinking; it shows they understand that this is a system by which they can communicate; it shows you, as parents, are doing something right.

For those praying mantis purists out there, of course, you could fingerspell it. You could also go with something like the sign for BUG and then possibly adapt it within your conversation.

This Week in Class:

• We have some review to do for clothing words: HAT, SHOES, SOCKS, COAT

• We’ll be on our way to the playground this week where we will learn WALK, RUN, CLIMB, SLIDE, JUMP, DANCE & more. So grab something for the sandbox and sidle up.

• This week’s song is “Five Little Monkeys” which will give us the opportunity to practice DOCTOR, BED, JUMP, and HURT.

• If you can get there early, take advantage of extra time to quiz each other with the flashcards and read some of the books to your baby, inserting any signs you remember. Learning sign is about review, review, review.

Products:

If anyone wants to order Signing Time products for themselves or friends for the holidays (or anytime), please let me know. I offer them at a discount and without shipping costs that apply on the ST website. It’s easiest to order in a lump, so if there are folks interested, I’d like to gather orders and do it all at once. I am able to order anything on the site for you: all Baby Signing Time DVDs, books, flashcards etc., but also anything from the general Signing Time series (I have a few favorite DVDs I’d recommend). I do have a small number of things in stock already. Feel free to email with questions.

Sign on, Kitty

startwithsign.com

Come see what your child has been waiting to tell you!

Expectant parents welcome.

Older siblings welcome.

Start With Sign:

• Uses real American Sign Language
• Teaches vocabulary important to little minds, like food words and family members
• Includes music, movement & stories
• Allows children to communicate before they can speak
• Enhances cognitive development
• Reduces tantrums and frustration
• And so much more!