Scarlette's Growing Up

Thank you to everyone who posted well wishes for Scarlette's little hands, she is healed perfectly now and thank goodness, she managed to get away without any permanent damage or scarring.

In Australia, Baby Sign Language is not as prevalent as it is in America, Canada and Europe. Toddler Interpreter are doing their bit to raise awareness and momentum is growing, however I wish that it wasn't such a mystery here.

Next week we are sending Scarlette to day care for two days a week to give her some variety.
I know that she will be the first toddler that they have had in their care that knows and uses Baby Sign Language.

She has such a big personality, and for her age, her language skills and comprehension are unbelievable so I am confident that it will take no time at all for her to teach them. As a back up of course we have provided them with a copy of our Baby Sign Language Book and Chart and we will be doing some classes with them as well.

Scarlette is 22 months old and this is the most fabulous age for baby sign language. She uses it daily along with the words, it has been a blessing. Sometimes I just wouldn't be able to understand that her little word that sounds more like 'phfsstd' is actually 'finished' if it weren't for the little hands signing 'finished' that help me work it out.

The most adorable signs are those when we are out and about. Yesterday we were at a friends place who currently has a new litter of kittens and Scarlette knows as soon as we get there and furiously signs for 'pussy cat' while 'meowing' all the way to the front door. I wish I could capture all of these precious moments on film so I could treasure this age for ever.

By far the most useful and most used baby sign is 'more'. Scarlette uses this for everything. We might be playing a game with her and she asks for more, this one she knows both the word and the sign and uses them together. She will often ask for more juice, more milk or more apple too, putting both signs together with the words as best as she can. When we are out playing on the swings, she signs more to ask for us to push her higher...she is a bit of a dare devil.

Come on Australia, join in the baby sign language movement and enjoy these precious times with your little ones, just as we are!

3 Steps to Signing Expectations

Here are three steps that help me sign with my children or children that are in my care^_^. When I am able to sign what is to come next, the child and I are both able to feel more secure in striving for the expectation at hand.

1. List daily routines
2. Choose Three Signs for each routine
3. Don't be afraid to add signs to those routines

While thinking of the routines that occur daily with your child, also think of "what is to be expected." This will help you recognize routines. Then go from there in choosing three signs that correlate with the routine. If another sign comes to mind, welcome it, and keep signing away.

For example, as I watched my 1 year old niece yesterday, I was not sure which signs she has learned over the past six months. I was given the direction to lay her down with a sippy cup to have her drink milk before laying her down to sleep.

I decided to sign three different signs to help her focus on the goal- which was to drink most of her milk before retiring to nap time.

The three signs were "drink, milk, sleep" as I would say, "Drink your milk, then we'll go to sleep." I said this a number of times, and then all of the sudden, she let go of one of the sides of the sipper cup (with the handles) and began signing milk as she observed her own hand opening and closing.


A way that another sign could have been involved is after she drank her milk, I could have encouraged the goal by signing and saying, "You drank your milk, now we're going to go to sleep" and adding "let's go get your blanket," signing blanket.


And if by chance the expectation at hand isn't met, well, you know that at least you met your own expectation of signing with your child.^_^

Written by Shawna Tran

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

Sign Language Helps Children to be Effective Communicators

In this day and age when so many of our children are overexposed to television, video games, computers and cell phones, children run the risk of never developing the ability to be effective communicators. Sign language encourages children to make eye contact, to be aware of subtle facial expressions, and bodily gestures and to be better listeners - all important elements to effective and successful communication. By teaching your children sign language, you are giving them the gift of effective communication while at the same time having tons of fun.

The benefits of signing are endless. Sign language can enhance the bond between parent and child, and promote early communication. By teaching your baby sign language you are empowering your child with a means with which to communicate his thoughts. A baby’s brain is ready for language much earlier than the vocal chords are ready to speak. In other words, a baby understands and can communicate his needs and desires if you provide him with a mode of communication that is not reliant on vocal chords. Sign language empowers babies to express their feelings and needs, therefore reducing frustration and promoting comprehension, which leads to a much happier and respectful relationship between parent and child.

SignShine Fun Party! Pictures and Videos

The SignShine  party at the Hollywood Pump Station was a huge success! Veteran mommy and daddy

signers and fresh faces alike gathered together for fun and learning with their
babies. Everyone shared
their signing stories over cookies and refreshments. We were all very
excited to learn that some of the babies that had been in the classes previously
were already starting
to sign! The class got started with signing
songs, and Etel showed everyone how to incorporate signing into
parenting techniques. She answered questions and talked about the benefits
of signing. After some interactive games, we had the raffle! A few of
the lucky parents were very excited to win baby books, discounts, and videos!
It was a fun and exciting day for both old and new members of the
SignShine family!

Thank you for being an important part of SignShine Family!

Let the Sign Shine,
etel Etel Leit, M.S. Founder &Owner www.SignShine.com  Publisher    www.BabySignShine.com

Scarlette's Little Hands

It has been a little while since I have contributed to our wonderful Baby Sign Language Glog but the past months have been rather traumatic.

In an attempt to get away for a long weekend in the mountains, we stayed at a log cabin up at the Bunyas. The lovely hosts had already started the wood fired heater in the cabin so the atmosphere was perfect when we arrived.

Unfortunately, wood fired heaters and small children do not make for a relaxing weekend away...

After 7 hours of trying to keep little hands well away from the heat, the thing we feared the worst happened. Innocently, Scarlette tripped over her own feet and landed with both hands on the heater. I didn't see it happen but Ian did and he raced her straight to the tap and we spent the next 3 hours with her hands under icy cold water. There is no worse moment for a parent than when you can't take away the pain of your little one.

The nearest hosptial was 40 minutes drive away so we wanted to make sure she was more comfortable before we made the trip. A rather large dose of paracetamol and she finally fell asleep in the car.

The hospital staff were amazing, Scarlette slept through the bandaging and woke 4 hours later amused at her new little paddles - they had put casts on her hands.

Children are so resilient. The trauma took us days to recover from while she was off discovering how to use these new appendages to explore the world around her. She didn't once get frustrated with the casts...she could bang louder on the window, still play with her toys and bless her, she still used her little casts to sign to us.

So, 6 weeks on now and she is perfectly healed. Many trips to the burns clinic and the first aide that we were able to administer to her prevented permanent damage or the need for skin grafts.

Here is a photo of our little angel baby signing 'I love you' - even with her little casts on....We love you too Scarlette.

Merely Observing

Upon walking into the room upon where new baby brother is sleeping, sister of the age of two merely signs “sleep.”

No other words are spoken, but it is apparent that she is aware of her baby brother and she is taking into account that she should be quiet because he’s sleeping.

Learning to observe the world around us and express ourselves is a gift.

Through the power of signing with our children, we’re giving them another means of expressing themselves in their own creative ways.

Just as much as two year old sister is observing the world around her, two month old brother is too.

This is a great opportunity to begin signing with my littlest one (when he's starting to react to the world around him). I enjoy beginning my signing journey with each child by choosing three signs to sign at a time.

Please look out for my next entry where I will explain how I go about choosing these three signs at a time.

written by Shawna Tran