The spring conference season has started and it's a
fun one! This season WeeHands Instructors have been presenting to
Head Start organizations in Atlanta,
Georgia and Miramar,
Florida. My own road
trip plans include:
Road trip #1: travelling to the Massachusetts Association for the Education of Young
Children Annual conference held March 16-17, 2012
in Westford,
Massachusetts. The theme for this conference
is "Our Link to the Future" and I presented on the topics of
language development, using sign language with young children and
behaviour difficulties. I was also very lucky because Ford Canada lent me this shiny red Focus to take
me to Massachusetts! I'd never
driven a car that talked to me...it was great
company!
The MassAEYC was an incredibly well organized
conference and I met so many amazing and inspiring educators as
well as area businesses. I don't think I spoke with one person who
was unfamiliar with the idea of using sign language with young
children! So many of the staff from different centres shared
that they were teaching their children sign language...as well as
Spanish and Mandarin! Amazing! One of the highlights of
my trip to Massachusetts had to be actually meeting face to face
with one our fantastic WeeHands Instructors, Courtney
Koumjian. Courtney has been teaching with
WeeHands for over four years and it was wonderful to meet and catch
up in person! Courtney and all the other
super friendly faces I met...you made my trip!
What's next? This week, I'm on my way to Grand
Rapids, Michigan for the the Michigan
Association for the Education of Young Children annual
conference. I'll also be speaking there about
language development as well as on multilingual classrooms.
After this conference, I'll be coming back to Toronto to
speak at theHolland Bloorview Children's Centre to speak with their
volunteers on Saturday March 31st.
That's it for March and now onto
April! Road trip
#3: I'll be travelling on Wednesday April 18th
to go to the New
York State Association for the Education of Young
Children annual conference held
in Buffalo, NY. I'll also be
speaking there about language development . Road trip #4: travelling on
Wednesday April 25th to go to the Indiana Early Childhood Conference annual
conference held in Indianapolis, Indiana. I'll also
be speaking there about language development. Lots more pictures and
stories to follow!
There are many good qualities to this video
such as the video involves cartoon characters as well as a real
person. It involved real people more than the cartoons but if a
child’s attention started to wonder that’s when the
cartoons came back on screen. This video had a lot of children
making the signs themselves to show how easy it is for children to
make signs. I found that this particular video seemed to be for
more of an older audience and I think this because the signs where
performed by older toddlers.
I liked how the chapters of the video where broken
down into groups of objects, so I could find signs that I was
looking for, such as the food category where the actress was
wearing a bib and teaching food as well as drink signs. I really
enjoyed how there was a signing review at the end of the video so I
could test myself on the signs that this video had taught me. I
learned a lot of new signs from this video as well as a few new
songs that I think are very catchy and where easy to
learn.
Something I have never seen on a signing video was
having a Frequently Asked Questions part in the video, such as why
the actress’s fingers are colour coded and getting the answer
to your question. Another thing I haven’t seen in signing
videos was bloopers at the end of it, which showed me that even
professionals can make mistakes with their signs and signing
takes practice.
Jessica Green is an Early Childhood Educator
and is currently enrolled in the Communicative Disorders Assistant
program at Durham College in Oshawa, Ontario.
Here is this week's
free "Sign of the
Week"
poster!
This week's sign is NIGHT. Show
this sign to your baby when it gets dark out and at bedtime. Sign
NIGHT, as well, when reading books, like "Goodnight
Moon"!
Click on the mini-poster image below to
download your poster...and don't forget to share it with
friends!
What a great resource to keep on hand! I found this book
easy to read, well organized and full of useful tips and
suggestions. I also found the book to be very respectful of
the Deaf culture and felt the authors achieved their goal of making
the reader aware of the importance of knowing some Deaf history. I
thought the following statement really sums up the whole idea of
cultural respect, “One of the most meaningful ways to show
respect to Deaf culture as a hearing person using sign language
with hearing students is to use true ASL and use it
correctly.”
I have run into many parents who chose to teach their young
babies sign or are interested in sign but have pieced together some
fragments and made up signs altogether. Both of these groups
had no knowledge of Deaf culture, or how insulting they could
potentially be coming across. It was almost as if they felt
this language existed solely for their babies’ benefit and
could not see beyond that. I also liked that the author mentioned
the use of “sign names” and how it should be
discouraged.
In chapter 5 of “Sign to Learn”, I was happy to
discover the authors supporting the idea of using letter sounds in
place of their name while teaching literacy through games and sign.
I have tried to implement this technique at home with my own
children and it was nice to see this strategy being reinforced in
such a well written book.
I thought the idea, in chapter 6 under the heading
“Effectively Redirect Behavior”, regarding how
personalized sign language can be between two people another very
good reason to use this approach. “It is just between you and
the child” - I found this to be so true when my daughters
were little. I could easily and privately gain their
attention and either makes a request, let them know we would be
leaving soon or remind them about manners, without being beside
them or signaling them out among the other children playing. If the
message was a warning or stern reminder about a behavior they were
exhibiting, I feel the kids responded and internalized the whole
experience more positively than when I would reprimand them out
loud in front of others. Just as we would respond better to a
private conversation from a superior than being signaled out in
front of the entire office staff.
I really enjoyed the authors including suggestions throughout
the book on ways to implement their ideas. How and when to
use Deaf volunteers, incorporating signs into everyday tasks as a
way to reinforce (who is wearing [sign] red? you may get your
[sign] jacket) and activity ideas. Having not flipped through the
book prior to reading, I was thrilled when I got to chapter 7 and
realized they had included whole lesson plan ideas! The addition of
these extra materials, theme ideas as well as songs and signs truly
makes this book a keeper that can be used over and over.
Learning to read does not happen in one day. It
involves a long process of learning over many years. The best time
for children to start learning to read is when they are very young.
Studies have shown that children, who learn sign language at a
young age, become better readers and start reading
earlier.
Hands On Literacy by Trish Peterson offers
families great tips to making a more literacy-enriched home. Every
parent wants their children to be interested in books, however it
is easy to make some common mistakes without knowing that your
overwhelming your young child. Here is a list of some quick tips to
making your home a more accessible reading environment.
Make sure books are age appropriate: Be aware
of the books around your house. Read them through yourself. Just
because it looks like a children’s book, it’s not
always the case. Focus on pages with minimal words and lots of
pictures.
Separate books from toys: Your child needs to
learn books are not toys. Keep them separate from toy areas or
rooms. Keeping them in their room is a good idea, making the
bedroom a place to be calm and available to curl up with a good
book.
Make reading a part of your daily routine:
Make it a priority to read with your child at least once a
day. When starting, don’t choose long books. Keep it short
and simple to keep your child engaged. If they are losing interest,
end the book short.
Don’t overwhelm your child: Keep a
basket in the child’s room with 5 books. One should be their
favorite, and the others should be changed every couple of weeks.
That way your child doesn’t become overwhelmed by too many
choices and can be excited about the new arrivals!
Be a good role model: It is easy to become
wrapped up in a world of technology and screens, but it’s
important for us all to unplug and unwind. Your child is always
watching. Be conscious of reading and writing in front of your
child. If they see you enjoying a book, they’ll want to do
the same.
Peterson’s engaging book also provides detailed
activities and games for specific age groups that promote literacy
while incorporating sign. These activities focus on children ranges
2 through 5 years. Along with the activities are milestones that
are usually met at each age group. The activities focus on meeting
these milestones and advancing to more challenging
ones.
Literacy enriches children’s lives in countless
ways. Reading helps all aspects of communication and opens a world
of imagination for your child. Armed with Peterson’s great
activities and helpful tips for shaping your home, your young child
will be reading and enjoying the world of literacy in no
time!
I put this video on our TV. while my 4 year old was playing
quietly in the family room with some toys. I was curious what her
reaction to the Baby Signing Time - Let’s Be Friends video
might be and did not want to influence her in any way so I said
nothing to her before I put it on. As soon as she saw the little
babies and young children in the video, she dropped what she was
doing and stood in front of the TV! She began trying to sing along
and mimic their actions. She was mesmerized!
I really liked how well this video was made. The
incorporation of songs and upbeat music to continually show each
sign being made by children helped to keep her interest. The
rapid screen change from child to child, who each performed the
target sign, kept my daughter engaged and allowed her plenty of
opportunity to practice positioning her fingers until she could be
successful. This video claims to be geared toward children 3
months to 3 years. My 4 year old loves anything to do with
real babies so this video spoke straight to her. What I found
even more amazing than my younger daughters total participation and
interest in the video was the interest my 10 year old daughter
showed! She had been playing on the computer but decided to
join us by the TV when she saw us having fun. She enjoyed
encouraging her little sister and poking fun at the songs.
Even though she thought she was acting appropriately
“cool” she was sitting there, watching the 45 min.
video and taking in all the signs.
The narrator, “Rachel,” came across as animated,
enthusiastic and warm. We all had to laugh out loud when the
food section of the video began and Rachel was wearing a big white
bib!
Overall, I found this video to be two thumbs up!! The pace of
the signs being presented was good. There were multiple
opportunities to practice each sign along with other children
demonstrating them and the vocabulary choices blended well
together. It was a fun way to spend some time together with
two of my daughters in the afternoon and a chance to see what we
could remember in the evening over dinner. It was time well
spent.
Whether its new parents, caregivers or
educators, we all are itching to know
what’s going on in infant’s minds. Now more than
ever it’s easy to get a snapshot into the meaning behind
those laughs, cries or babbles.Sign with your
babyby Dr. Joseph Garcia provides viewers
with information, motivation, tips, tricks and everything in
between to communicating with your infant before they can
speak. Through teaching sign language to children, they are
able to communicate their needs and wants before the muscles used
for speech can catch up to their always-learning minds.
This ability to communicate with adults eases caregiver
anxiety about knowing why the child is crying, while offering
immediate gratification and rewards in mutual
understanding.
The instructional DVD allows viewers to
know when’s best to start signing, what signs to start
with, when to introduce new signs. It also followed families
and their journeys and experiences of signing with their young
children and the successes they’ve experienced. The DVD
left me feeling motivated and confident in introducing sign
language to infants. The package also comes with a book which
further investigates the countless benefits signing with infants
brings to families and educators. The book gives deeper
insight into:
·Understanding
the infant’s perspective
·Answers
common questions and concern
·Being
aware of various types of gazes and how to effectively
incorporate sign
·Vocabulary guide of
100+ signs
As the package states, it is never too late to start signing;
sign language can facilitate language at any age. Imagine what
a great feeling it would be to see your child crying, and be
able to immediately give them a bandaid and a hug because your
child was able to sign “hurt” over his/her knee.
Sign with your baby makes this idea possible and easy! With
patience, repetition and love yourchild could be asking for "more
juice" before he/she can even say mom!
Just received this praise for one of our Instructors
classes:
Remember me?! Austin and I attended 3 of your classes from
spring to summer ;) I just wanted to write and let you know
that Austin is signing away and is so good at it. Because he uses
sign language it makes my day to day life easier. He can let
me know when he is hungry and what he wants to eat or drink....and
also when he needs help and regularly signs please and thank you.
I get all sorts of compliments from friends and family often.
When is the next age class for him? I believe it's a
while away (4 years old or so? He is 20 months now). I also wanted
to let you know that I'm pregnant (due May) and I will be coming to
class with our new baby.
Congratulations Michelle! Your classes are
wonderful!
To find out more about Michelle's WeeHands baby sign language
classes in Edmonton, Alberta see her webpage below:
Road trip #1: travelling to the Massachusetts Association for the Education of Young
Children Annual conference held March 16-17, 2012
in Westford,
Massachusetts. The theme for this conference
is "Our Link to the Future" and I presented on the topics of
language development, using sign language with young children and
behaviour difficulties. I was also very lucky because Ford Canada lent me this shiny red Focus to take
me to Massachusetts! I'd never
driven a car that talked to me...it was great
company!
The MassAEYC was an incredibly well organized
conference and I met so many amazing and inspiring educators as
well as area businesses. I don't think I spoke with one person who
was unfamiliar with the idea of using sign language with young
children! So many of the staff from different centres shared
that they were teaching their children sign language...as well as
Spanish and Mandarin! Amazing!
” by Kristen
Dennis and Tressa Azpiri