A Father and Son Moment

A young father recently shared with me that his little boy woke up in the middle of the night and was crying. At first the new dad couldn’t figure out what was wrong, but then he noticed his son using his hands. Both he and his wife had been teaching their baby sign language, and their baby was learning sign language at his child care center. So when the little 11 month old looked at his dad, and signed ‘more music’, the father, recognized his signs, and began singing a lullaby to his little boy. The boy put his head on his dad’s shoulder and went back to sleep as his daddy sang him a lullaby. How wonderful to be understood! How great that the father was able to recognize his signs and to understand the intent the boy had in communicating to his father. How wonderful that the baby could feel understood and respected! ahhhh, the beauty of sign language.

Babies, when given a mode of communication that is available to them, can express themselves even when they don't yet have their vocal chords fully developed. They feel empowered with the use of their hands and intentional eye contact.

Communication is about Connecting with Others

Signs, words, facial expressions, eye contact, a kick of the foot, cries and giggles are all about communication, and communication is about connecting with others, expressing needs, wants, thoughts and ideas. The more children and babies feel understood, the more they will use these modes of communication to initiate a reaction from you.

Establishing a routine allows children to anticipate and to feel in control; establishing a routine is a good thing. Sign language is a wonderful tool to incorporate into your routine as it helps the baby’s brain to anticipate, remember and to be understood. By having a routine, the chances of your baby guessing what is next, or anticipating what is next is much greater. “Oh, so when mommy signs ‘milk’, I’m going to be fed.” Eventually he’ll try to communicate his desire by imitating your sign or by approximating his own.

Focus on keeping learning fun, and communication about being understood. When you demonstrate that you understand what your baby is thinking, he feels successful in his communication - his simple reward is “they understand me!” When I asked, 'oh do you want milk?', your baby may give you a big smile, nod of his head, a nuzzle in your breast, a clap of his hands or a gleeful kick of his foot. This is great communication. He is using his signs to let you know what he wants.

Baby Signing Video - Scarlette

We have been teaching baby sign language to our baby Scarlette since she was 4 months old. Her first sign was for 'milk' at the age of 10 months. She was so excited with herself and has embraced this wonderful communication tool with literally 'both hands'!

She is now 'almost' talking, and still uses her signs on a daily basis to emphasize the important keywords as she is talking to us. Here is a short video we took last year of some of her signing vocabulary. Click here to watch if you can't see below.



One of the things I love is that when she doesn't know the word, she makes up a sign to show us what she is trying to communicate. We were swimming in the pool on our vacation and one of the other children in the pool had some swimming goggles on. She put her fingers up to her face and made the shape of glasses to show us what she had seen.

My favourite sign has always been 'Thank-you'. This one always makes me smile and I have to admit (although I am her mommy so I am allowed to be biased) I have never met a 2 year old that has such beautiful manners. When we ask her something she always replies "yes please mommy" and then when she receives something she always says 'Thank you".

I would like to take this opportunity to say "Thank you Scarlette" for the joy you bring and these lasting memories we are lucky enough to have captured on video.

Enjoy!

dancing with your hands...

so often, i've heard (and said) that signing is so much more than saying words with your hands.  it's not just about using your hands to label something, whether it be an object, an emotion, or an action.  it's obvious, when you see people signing, that it's not just their hands moving, but their faces, and their bodies.  so much is said beyond the hands. 

for babies, signing is a key to unlocking a world of communication that might not otherwise be opened until many months later.  babies learn the importance of non-verbal communication by cuing into facial expression, body language, and even the feelings that come along with communicating. 

i recently was told an amazing comment after teaching a baby signing class.  this mother explained that learning and using sign language is more than what she expected... that she can actually feel what she is saying... essentially, that signing is emotional.  she compared it to dancing.  she is a dance teacher, and related the movements of dancing to communicating with signs.  it's not just about the movements... it's so much more than that.

(and thank you to that wonderful mommy... you know who you are :)  )

Zoë signs over 200 signs in 5 minutes

Look what we found in our old home videos!

If you ever wondered about whether YOUR family can still sign, this is a MUST-SEE! It's a video of our little girl Zoe signing more than 200 signs at only 3 years old! But not only that, she's signing on command, in both Hebrew and English!

After watching this video,  How many signs have YOU counted?
Post your count on Facebook or YouTube.

Let the Sign Shine,
etel


Etel Leit, M.S.
Founder & Owner www.SignShine.com
Publisher www.BabySignShine.com
Respond here or on YouTube....

Signing MORE

Signing for babies is very rewarding and
fun, but every parent wants to know which signs are the best
The most common sign that parents, who are not taking classes, choose to start signing
is MORE. Be aware-vague signs like MORE might be confusing and ineffective for
babies, as they are seen in a variety of contexts, and can produce different
results in each different context. For example, signing MORE might get them
more milk, more cookies, more toys, etc. But signing is more salient when
it produces specific results, and thus gets positive reinforcement.
Signing MORE can easily be just a nonspecific cry, since it can mean so many
different things. With signing, we would like to enhance speech and enlarge
vocabulary, and I suspect that signing MORE as the first sign can do just
the opposite.

 So what are the hallmarks of a great first baby sign?
Read it in our next blog...

Let the SignShine,
etel

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

Effective Communication: Subtle Cues in Context

One of the moms in my Baby Sign class shared with me that her little one had been signing ‘milk’ for days before they realized that she was signing ‘milk’. Her baby just turned one year old, and signs the words ‘nice’, ‘more’, ‘eat’, ‘bubbles’, ‘water’, ‘mommy’ and is rapidly acquiring many more words. During her meal time, she would reach her arms out as if to ask to be taken out of her highchair. When her mommy realized that she was not happy with being taken out of the highchair, she suddenly realized that her child was actually trying to let her know that she wanted ‘milk’.

When a baby is consistently using the same gestures in the same context or situation, chances are, they are using an approximation for a sign and are trying their best to communicate. It may not look exactly like the sign you have learned, but it is in fact your child trying his/her best to communicate! Watch for eye contact and facial expression, and we will all be better at effective communication.

Babies Who Sign Feel Respected

Empowering your baby with sign language allows him to grow up feeling respected. When children feel understood they feel respected, and when they feel respected, they in turn are more aware of those around them and the impact they have on them. They feel more confident and happy because they can be understood. So if your baby is not yet able to express himself using his vocal chords to form spoken words, by empowering him with signs, he knows to use language to communicate - to get his/her ideas across, to express feelings using words, to use words to express needs and wants. Instead of crying, s/he now has the knowledge to use words, whether they be signs or vocalizations, or even pointing to refer to objects or people. Surprisingly, his confidence spreads across languages. One might think that a baby who is signing might get frustrated with someone who doesn’t know sign language. On the contrary, babies know to switch languages depending with whom they are trying to communicate. Often, one will observe a baby say ‘water’ to her mommy or daddy, but ‘agua’ to her nanny. Interestingly the baby will use the sign for ‘water’ with mommy, daddy and her nanny, demonstrating her understanding that the sign language is a bridge between the two languages. One of my moms reported that her little one knows to get her jacket and shoes when her nanny says ‘vamanos’ (let’s go), but when mommy or daddy try to say ‘vamanos’ her baby laughs.

Signing with Babies - Part 3

Here is Part 3 of our Baby Sign Language journey with baby Scarlette. If you missed it you can read Part 1 and Part 2 first.

In Part 1 we discovered how useful baby sign language was - before she could sign with us and in Part 2 we managed to capture her very first sign on video which was an amazing milestone. Here in Part 3 we discover how all of her signing starts to develop into two way communication for the first time.

After Scarlette signed to us the very first time it took another couple of months for us to see some more progress but it certainly did come together just after that. First was the sign for 'more', then came the signs for 'eat' and 'shower'. Soon after this came the sign for 'toilet' which she does now before dragging one of us off by the hand to the bathroom!

In between she has learnt some words to complete her animated little personality. These baby signs complete her vocabulary for words she is yet to pronounce however at this early age, she is communicating to us with such great comprehension. In fact, there is rarely a time when we don't know what she wants or needs.

There have definately been some key elements to her fantastic communication development. We get really excited with her progress and offer her loads of praise. We are also constantly talking with her. Stay tuned for Part 4 where I will go into further detail on why I think that Scarlette has has such an amazing journey with baby sign language and some of the key things we did to make it much easier for her to communicate with us.

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...

Sign Language for Babies

Baby sign language is one of the most rewarding things by far that I have tried with my own children. There are many benefits that have been discovered in the scientific research, shared at classes and documented on websites however I want to share a few of the most special moments that signing has provided our family over the past 13 months. My story is fairly long so stay tuned over the coming weeks as I tell it...here is part 1.

Scarlette is 17 months old now and we introduced baby sign language to her at the age of 4 months. We understood that it would be a long time until she signed to us but we were keen to see her reaction nonetheless. What I didn't expect at this tender age was the feeling that she actually understood us.

It did take a couple of weeks but she would intently watch us, and eventually we get an indication that she actually understood that we were communicating with her. At this early age there was no way that she was going to have the muscle control or the dexterity to sign to us however there were some important things that we could tell her - for instance that it was time for a bath, time for milk or time for bed. This proved to be very beneficial in these early months.

In part 2 I will let you in on some of the major milestones as she discovered how to communicate with her little hands...to be continued.

start small

when first starting to sign with children, it can be a bit overwhelming. this is true with signing with babies, and can be even more so with older children, and with children with special needs.

my advice...start small.

pick what is really important. what do you find yourself saying every single day with your child?

once you figure that out, learn the sign, and sign it. over and over and over!

take a couple signs a week, and practice them. you'll see, it doesn't take long before what seemed like an overwhelming job, once broken down into smaller jobs, now doesn't seem so overwhelming.

and don't forget to have fun!

Even in Utero

Parents make an inpact–even in utero.

We know that, as expectant mothers, we need to be acutely aware of what we eat and drink, what medications we take, how much to exercise, what to avoicd, etc.

It’s also important to remember that our emotions effect our developing baby–and by 20 weeks, the baby can hear our voices. Singing and playing music can make a lasting impression.

My older son was born via unexpected c-section, so my husband was the first to hold him. Behind me, I heard Zeke’s crying suddenly stop as Ian began to sing to him. He clearly recognized his daddy’s voice–Ian had been singing into my belly daily for 41 weeks!

During my 2nd pregnancy, Zeke sang into my belly along with Ian. I had a V-bac and was able to hold Sian right away. He recognized all our voices, and even seemed to favor some of the songs we had sung most often. Both the boys study music now and love to sing.

Not surprisingly, a very early sign they both used was “music.” :)

Read more at www.mybabyfingers.com 

Babies: Prewired to Learn Language

How is it that children as young as three years of age are speaking in full sentences and expressing all their needs with little or no difficulty? Language systems are extremely complex, and yet, infants and toddlers are able to grasp the phonemic combinations and the grammatical rules to be able to communicate with near fluency. Professor Noam Chomsky of MIT in the 1960’s made major discoveries in the area of child language development when he proposed that language ‘was an innate property of the human species’. Infants’ brains are actually prewired for the learning of language. That is not to say that their brains are prewired with language, rather their brains are prewired for the LEARNING of language. Babies are influenced by the language that they are exposed to; their ability to learn the languages that they are exposed to, is made possible by their predisposition to decipher the complexities of language.

If a baby were placed in a room with no interactions, that baby would not come out speaking a language. On the contrary, babies who are deprived of human interaction, show significant delay in their language acquisition and in fact such deprivation has a negative impact on their brain development. In other words, the first three years of a baby’s life are critical in establishing neural pathways necessary for language and brain development, as demonstrated in the 1997 National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care.

Numerous studies have shown that the effects of language stimulation and the growth of brain pathways are critical in the first three years of life. Placing a child in front of a television or a computer does not promote language development the way verbally interacting with the child enhances brain development. Likewise, an environment that exposes the child to sign language - spatial verbalizations and a language system with linguistic structure - as demonstrated in Susan Goodwyn, Ph.D. and Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.’s study found when examining children, ages 3, 4 and 8 that children who learned sign language out performed children who had not been exposed to sign language on every cognitive, linguistic and intellectual level

APPROXIMATION

You are signing with your baby for quite some time, and waiting for the day she will sign back. One day, here it is… your baby is attempting a sign. Your initial response, “was that really the sign for MILK?” “Was he really signing MORE?” I often say to parents, if you think it is an attempt to communicate, it is a sign! Now, respond with positive reinforcement.
Often times your baby’s sign doesn’t really look like the sign that you’re signing. Due to your child’s developing dexterity and fine motor skills, she cannot quite grasp the exact formation. While your baby tries to mimic your sign, the sign may look different. You may ask yourself,” does my baby really signing or just playing with his fingers?”
For example, the sign for MORE is to bring all five fingertips from one hand to the five fingertips of the other hand and tap them together. Many children will approximate the sign into one fingertip onto the palm of the other hand.
See pictures: all children sign MORE.
Approximation is signing! It is almost like saying dada for daddy at first. Please, do not manipulate her hands to form the right sign. Keep demonstrating the correct formation, encouraging your child to sign, and the right hand shape will come with time. This is one of the reasons that it is important to sign ASL so everyone will sign the same way without modifying the sign by their needs.
By accepting your child’s approximations, and encouraging her to keep signing, you will reduce her level of frustration. Consistency is the key. If you use the ASL version repeatedly, your child will eventually follow your lead and sign that version.

Let the Sign Shine!
etel

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

Communication! Whew!!

I was on the subway the other day when I saw a former client of mine, someone who had taken Baby Fingers classes for quite some time, when her baby was 3 - 15 months old.   He is jsut over 2 yrs old now.  

He was crying so hard, he could hardly breathe, let alone talk to his mom, and she couldn't figure out if he was scared, hurt, or something else.  Suddenly she reminded him to sign to her and he did! He signed "Friend-Stop!"  

We departed the train at the same time, so I was able to say hello and marvel at their conversation.  She further explained to me that they had passed the subway stop where her son's best play group friend lives and he desparately wanted to go play!!  

Fortunately, he wasn't hurt, but to our babies and toddlers, when things don't go their way- and especially if they can't communicate that to you- it certainly feels like an emergency.  I can still  remember the relief I felt when my children were signing before they were talking-- and once they were talking, the sign still helped to clarify their speech or gave them an outlet when the speech just couldn't.  

Communication!  Whew!!

www.mybabyfingers.com 

Commuincation and Resources

Communication is Key!

As people we are always looking to improve communication with our partners, our colleagues, friends and family.  As parents, we turn our focus to communication with our children.  

Incorporating sign language can be that key, opening up many new doors to language and speech.  

But once you learn some signs, how do you remember what they are---and to actually use them??  Join a class!  Take a webinar!  Watch a DVD!  Carry around a book!  

Baby Fingers offers classes around the NYC metro area, webinars for families around the globe, DVDs and a colorful board book series.  There are 5 books in our series--Baby Fingers: Teaching Your Baby to Sign--focusing on Greetings, Feelings, Routines, Favorite Things, and basic "need" based signs.  They are inexpensive and beautifully done thanks to Sterling Publishing, and they are small enough to fit into a diaper bag or purse.  It is convenient for you to have a resource at your fingertips--literally!--and fun for your little one to look at the color photos of other babies, toddlers, and preschoolers signing in these books.  

And it doesn't have to stop there.  Our Sign Language for Kids book offers ASL for school age children who would like to start learning or continue the process.  It's also a colorful dictionary of signs and tips for kids of all ages.  Next fall look for our ABC book!  Since signing with your baby helps to promote literacy skills, it's always great to have books around!

Commuincation is key and resources are plentiful.  I hope your journey through sign is as engaging and rewarding as mine has been with my own children.  You can read my story and find our resources at www.mybabyfingers.com.

Happy Signing!  :)

How did it all start?

In the late 1980’s, Joseph Garcia, a student at the University of Alaska, became fascinated with sign language. While there were no deaf people in his family, he thought that learning how to sign would be interesting – and he began to study it seriously. Once he had a solid grasp of American Sign Language (ASL), Garcia made a number of friends in the deaf community. This resulted in an observation that changed his life – and the lives of many to come. What Joseph Garcia noticed was that the hearing babies of his deaf friends were on their way to becoming sign language “experts” at around 9 months of age. Yet the 9-month old babies of his hearing friends were not communicating much at all. The difference intrigued Garcia so much that he made it the subject of his Master’s thesis.

Why was it possible, he asked, for deaf babies of that age to communicate by gesturing… but hearing babies of the same age unable to communicate at all?

And if deaf parents could communicate with their hearing babies, would there be any benefit to teaching sign language to the hearing children of hearing parents? Using his infant sons as “test subjects,” Garcia was able to demonstrate the positive effects of signing with hearing babies in his thesis. Eventually, it evolved into his popular program, “Sign With Your Baby.” We’ll discuss the benefits of his program later in this module.

http://www.babysignshine.com/history.shtml

Let the Sign Shine!
etel


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

Amazing video - Signing Story Time -- one year later! Must see

Click here to watch: Signing Story Time Part II: One year later, Zoe 5 and Dylan 2 1/2 are signing to each other. Zoe reads a card, signs it to Dylan and he signs it back to her and says it to her out loud!! Truely Amazing!

Did you enjoy it? Signing is not only for the deaf - Feel Free to Forward to everyone!
The joys of Baby Sign Language!
Visit www.SignShine.com for more information


Thank you for being an important part of SignShine Family!
Questions? Interesting stories to share? Email me at: etel@SignShine.com

It's Time to Shine!
etel

More every day signing games to play

I have been focussing my blogs on Signing games to play with our babies. They are very simple things everyone can do, no matter how busy we are!

This next game is one which my daughter loved as she was getting older. It helps to reinforce knowledge of phonemes (the sound of individual letters) and the fingerspelling – building a solid foundation to recognise graphemes (the written letter) at an early age.

When you are on long car journeys, or on the way to the supermarket, play the ‘I SPY’ game…with fingerspelling!

This may take a while for your child to learn particularly if she has never played it before.

You start of by saying: “I spy with my little eye something beginning with ‘t-t-t’” (Signing the letter “t”)

If she doesn’t understand the game, say: “T-T-TREE” starts with a “T” (SIGNING “T”)

Find another thing beginning with the same letter.

Try other letters as well – this game can be played endlessly!

Your child will eventually learn to listen to the first sound of the words she knows – and she will learn the corresponding sign as well.

Take a look at this clip to see my daughter reading – at 2 ½ years of age!

http://www.sign2learn.signingbabies.co.uk/