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!
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Questions? Interesting stories to share? Email me at: etel@SignShine.com

It's Time to Shine!
etel

Signing in Bilingual Homes: ASL is the Common Bond

Are you fortunate enough to know more than one language? Feeling a little confused about how to teach your child your native language? Do you slip back into English because you fear your little one won’t understand you otherwise? Do you struggle between the desire to give your child the gift of a second language and the concern that your personal communication and connection will suffer? Well, you’re not alone. I hear over and over again from bilingual parents that it’s easier just to speak English with their kids because that’s the “norm” among other parents and the kids’ friends. But what a gift they would be missing out on.

Our home happens to be quad lingual. You’re probably wondering how we get through the day! We have figured out how to make it work for us. My first language is Hebrew, while my husband and children are Americans and the extended family knows about one word in Hebrew – Shalom. Our wonderful nanny is a native Spanish speaker and we have always encouraged her to share her language with us. I knew early in my first pregnancy that I wanted my children to benefit from all these languages, but until I discovered signing, I wasn’t sure how to integrate so many different vocabularies without causing confusion in our home.




Signing became a common language for everyone in our household. Whether my husband was offering our daughter some milk or her nanny handed her a cup of leche or I poured her chalav, we all used the same ASL sign to describe it. In this way, it was easy for my kids to learn new words in all the languages, because the sign was always the same and it became the common bond.

Signing as a multiple-language tool is a wonderful way to demonstrate to our children the similarities among people and races all over the world. In this way, signing encourages tolerance. Signing is a way to make the unknown familiar, and teaches our kids the most important skills in the world: understanding and compassion.

Regardless of how many languages are spoken in your home, teaching your child ASL is a proven way to begin to hardwire yet another skill – the ability to learn other languages. We have long known that it is easier to learn a second language as a small child, while the pathways of the brain are still being mapped. Studies now suggest that a child who has learned a second language (including sign language) early in life has an easier time learning additional languages as they age, because their brains already understands the process. Signing can be your child’s “gateway” second language. It’s the gift that’s bound to enrich your child’s life tremendously!

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


Let the Sign Shine!
etel


Etel Leit, M.S.
Founder & Owner http://www.signshine.com/
Publisher http://www.babysignshine.com/
310.613.3900 etel@SignShine.com

For the Love of Books

For the Love of Books....

We have always signed as we read to our children.  It was so exciting to see, as they grew, their involvement in reading increase.  Beginning with expressing their desire to read, with the sign for "book," to making a request for a specific book with a sign for "jump" or "dog" or something to describe the book of choice... to eventually taking books off the shelves themselves and independently "reading out loud" as they signed what they saw from page to page.  

Our children's love for books has continued to grow.  They are active readers, in school and for pleasure.  Now and then, if they struggle with the pronounciation or the meaning of a new word while reading, finger spelling it or signing it provides a concrete visual tool for them to more easily grasp and remember the new word.  

Some Favorites:   Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton; Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumbs a Dr. Suess Book; Goodnight Moon and The Very Hungry Caterpillar, two classics for kids; and also the Baby Fingers: Teaching Your Baby to Sign Board Book Series.  My children especially love the first one, as they are in it!

I hope your family can share our love for books!

www.mybabyfingers.com