How to sign FaceBook in Sign Language?

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Let the Sign Shine!
etel


Etel Leit, M.S.
Founder & Owner http://www.signshine.com/
Publisher http://www.babysignshine.com/

Sign Language for Babies - Part 2

Here is Part 2 of our journey of teaching our baby Scarlette how to use baby sign language to communicate. If you missed it you can read Part 1 first.

In Part 1 we discovered how useful baby signing was before she could sign back to us, and here I will discuss what happened next.

The next milestone came the day she signed back to us. She had just finished her milk, the empty bottle was on our bedside table. She looked over at the bottle and signed 'milk' to us. We were so excited! I was lucky enough to get this special moment on video - she was only 9 months old.

Stay tuned for Part 3 where we discovered how all this fit together with her language development...

Don't Delay with a Speech Delay!

I've recently had the opportunity to instruct a number of different parents along with their children and have experienced the discovery of delayed speech in children 24 to 27 months old! As I carefully attempted to inquire with the parents regarding any acknowledgment or proactive stance on the matter - I found parents to be uneasy, but their pediatrician "assured them it was normal".

Well, clearly I have had to bite my tongue and curb my reaction to those claims. These same parents couldn't understand why the child has now started to lash out at a younger sibling, break and destroy things in their home, and/or "completely flip out in public" (a direct quote from a dad).
Do you think the child is ticked... because they are unable to effectively communicate? Maybe!?!?

Just so you know, there are a multitude of reasons children experience a delay in speech. The main one, no one seems to be addressing as early on as they should and can for that matter... Dyslexia! This causes speech delays in 20% of the WORLD's population. Not just the USA - the world. Most often, Dyslexia is not addressed until the child completely fails in reading and then that spills into other subjects, right about grade 3. The US school system then attempts their "college try" of slower-n-louder. These kids aren't Deaf - they're Dyslexic.
To learn more visit: Bright Solutions for Dyslexia

Sign Language Can Help Children Learn to Read

Teaching your baby sign language will actually improve his/her ability to learn to read.

Reading is a complex process that requires the reader’s brain to develop a multitude of neural pathways. The more developed those pathways, the greater the chances the reader will be able to automatize the act of reading. As the many pathways become fully developed, the reader becomes a fluent reader, and comprehension is possible.

A reader has to transfer the visual information of print into phonological information that is familiar to him from the auditory language that he hears daily in order to make meaning out of the print that he is processing. But a reader who has learned sign language, which is spatially visual, has the advantage of having developed neural pathways that connect the visual with language, or meaning. In other words, the baby who has learned sign language has a jumpstart on his ability to transfer visual information into meaningful linguistic information, relevant and critical to reading. He already understands that language or visual symbols convey meaning.

A child whose only exposure to language is auditory begins his development of the neural pathways at a much later age. The child who only knows auditory language must learn to take visual information (print) and make those visual symbols meaningful.

yet another benefit...

we all know there are so many benefits to signing, right?   countless, countless, benefits!  from reducing frustration, to higher vocabulary, to better social skills...the list is endless.

well, just recently, i discovered yet another benefit.  i'm not quite sure how to put it in words, yet, but i will do my best.

i was showing my son a picture of a police car, and i said to him, "look, it's a police car".  he looked at me, and signed "please" and said "please car".  huh.

a couple days later, we were squeezing limes into our water.  and i said, "do you want some lime water".  he looked at me and signed "lion".  alrighty.

what just happened for me, was i got a glimpse into my little guy's head.  i got a chance to understand what he's hearing.  how he understands what i'm saying to him.  sure, the words aren't quite right, but it shows me how what i'm saying gets processed through his little mind.  all these new words.  he takes it in, but has to filter it through what he already has in that little mind of his.  and sometimes it sticks, sometimes it's connected to something else.  whatever happens, had he not had signs, i could easily assume that a) it's going in one ear and out the other  or b) he understands exactly what i'm saying.

however, with his signs, i now realize that it's not just a) or b).  what is sometimes going on is that he does hear what i'm teaching him, but he also is working things out.  so, for right now, in his mind "please cars" drive around, and we drink "lion water."  and as he works it all out in his mind, i'm ok with that :)

Don’t Let APRIL 1st fool you!

Look at this billboard, isn’t it brilliant?!

On my way home, I saw this billboard: “APRIL”. I looked twice, and saw the L signed! No, this is not a sign for the deaf
community, nor for baby sign language classes. This is a promotional billboard for FOX studios. Right here in Los Angeles, Southern California. 

Signing comes as naturally, and anyone can do it! It is iconic and simple! I have witnessed children signing taking sign language classes, or not. With stay-at-home mommies or working parents. Sign Language is everywhere!

Today, look around, can you find Sign Language in your daily routine, on your home? Point it to your children and share this special moment.

Let the Sign Shine!
etel

Etel Leit, M.S. Founder & Owner www.SignShine.com Publisher www.BabySignShine.com

Clarify with Colors

Do you know the colors of the rainbow?


My daughter is starting to sign colors. I love it. I did not realize how it could help in clarifying her specific needs and wants.

This morning as she was hungry and said "sit," I went to put her in her green booster chair at the table. She was getting very upset with me as she continued to say "sit." I then went to sit down with her in my lap at the kitchen table next to her booster chair.

Still not working... I was stumped. Then I looked to the corner and remembered the high chair. She immediately felt heard and understood as I helped her "sit" in the high chair and almost chuckled out loud as I said and signed "orange" "chair"(being that the highchair is lined with an orange cushion)to help clarify what she could sign and say to me next time.

Speaking of clarifying, I also am signing "color," "paper," "time," and "out" more often now that my daughter is quite into colors and coloring... which does not always include on the actual "paper." As she sits on the "orange" carpet circle that we have for thinking time, I repeat the signs, "color" (draw) on "paper." I am clarifying as well... where I'd prefer the colors to be.

I sign "time" and "out" for time out or in the past with my other children I have used "thinking" "time."

Enjoy Signing your Colors! and have fun being creative with using colors in helping understand your child's needs and wants as well as expressing your own needs and wants!

Signs for Colors

Written by Shawna Tran: www.mybabydetails.com