Story Time and Benefits of Signing

So I decided we would attend story time at the library this morning and it was a lot of fun. Free fun in this economy is a plus! Additionally, spending some time at the library made me think even more about the benefits of signing with babies and toddlers. It is no secret that I am passionate about signing.

One of the moms noticed that I was signing to Eliza during the program and asked if I did it because Eliza needed it or if I just did it for fun. Her daughter receives speech services and signing was recommend to help reduce frustration. I explained that I just did it for fun and that it really has become a part of our everyday lives. I can't imagine not signing at this point.

Another mom commented on Eliza's vocabulary and once again I explained that I believe signing is at least partially responsible for her success. Eliza probably has about 200 words- probably more- at this point. She is putting more and more words together in different ways everyday. She is a total chatterbox and picks words up quickly and easily. She is extremely confident when it comes to expressing herself. I can't help but attribute her success to ASL.

When you sign with a child you are increasing his/her vocabulary. For example, if you read Brown Bear with your baby you may only say bear, duck, horse etc. one time. If you are reading and signing you will probably say each word three- four times. Not all people learn the same way. I am NOT an auditory learner. You child may be a visual, spatial or tactile learner. If this is the case then signing will empower your baby to communicate and make sense of their world.

It frustrates me endlessly when I hear people say that children who are taught to sign will be lazy when it comes to speaking. This is so untrue! Signing reinforces the use of verbal language. Signing is not some trendy thing to do with your baby. It is a valuable tool in helping your little one communicate. Kids are like sponges and can soak up so much information before age 5 it is unreal. Signing is a fun way (you can sign with songs, finger plays, games, storybooks, audio books) to take advantage of their sponge brains.

I am tempted to volunteer at the library to teach a signing class. I am not sure if they would even want me to volunteer but I feel the need to share this with other moms. It is fun and a great way to bond with your child and I strongly urge you to SIGN WITH YOUR BABY or TODDLER! I haven't had much luck with my baby signs class biz yet-,mainly because I can't seem to find a location. However, I am willing to hold small in home classes. If you are interested in a class (and live in Jersey) please let me know.

This was posted on YouTube yesterday. It is one of E's favorite songs. Laure Berg is the founder of My Smart Hands and is one smart momma!

Eliza Signing Update

Recently Eliza has started making her baby dolls and stuffed animals use sign language. It must have been about a month or two ago that Eliza pointed to her baby doll's hand and said E. The doll's hand is scrunched up to look like the ASL letter E and she believes the baby is signing that letter. I NEVER would have made this connection. She also wants me to make her toddler sized Elmo sign things like read, play, dad, and book. This can get tricky because Elmo only has four finger. However, it is really very cute.

Seeing her make her dolls sign made me step back and think WOW- she must really view signing as an important part of communication. It also makes me excited that she will sign to her little brother or sister. She still signs quite often (although there is a decrease in signing as she talks more) and and tries to say almost every word she signs.

I have lost track of how many signs she knows. There is a different count for receptive and expressive signs. Sometime she surprises me with a signs I didn't even realize she knew. For example, when we went to the beach she was ecstatic. She kept signing the word sand and saying sand, sand, sand. In quite a few of the beach pics you can see her signing the word sand. I had forgotten she even knew this sign.

Here she is signing sand!

The other day we were listening to her favorite CD, Elmo at the Ochestra and she heard the word "ready". She immediately signed the word ready to me. I am often amazed that all of these signs are stored in her brain even though she doesn't use them regularly.

I know this is not the greatest video but if I try to capture her with the regular video camera she is constantly pulling at it so she can see herself. I am prompting grin the video but she normally does it without any encouragement.

While writing this post I decided to print out the Signing Time Progress Charts to try and figure out what she does and doesn't know. I will try to update later.

Silly Pizza!

I am dedicating this video to Rose! She is way better than me at Silly Pizza! I only mess up a handful of times in this one...take number 597. You can tell Eliza finds me enthralling by how she watches me the entire time. HAHAHA

and much thanks to my darling husband who loves to point out how Fab I look in all my videos.

Alphabet Fun!

Lori reminded me I need to take more video of Eliza. I have been a huge slacker in this department. Pete and I made a little video of E this morning. She seems to pick up more of the alphabet each day.

Enjoy!

A New Venture!

I have blabbed on here plenty about how I dig signing with kids and babies! So now I have made the jump and I will hopefully be teaching a baby signs class very soon! I still have a lot of things I need to get together but I am psyched to share my love of signing.

Here is my page at My Smart Hands!

Please check it out and let me know- What do ya think?

Sign Language Update

I decided to pick up some Signing Time videos for E. I know I promised not to let her watch TV but I LOVE these videos and I am hoping they help E and I to improve our signing. Has anyone used them? I have been signing with her for about 6 months and she does sign here and there but she is quite selective about when and where she will sign.

The words she can sign so far are listed below. Some she only does once in a while- like mouse. Some she does a zillion times a day liker butterfly and cat. There is no rhyme or reason to her signing. I try very hard to sign all day long but I am still learning signs myself. Several words I have been signing for months and months and she just doesn't do- like duck, mom, dad, and many many more. Anyhoo, here is the list.

1. eat
   
2. more
   
3. milk
   
4. baby
   
5. ball
   
6. bath
   
7. bear
   
8. bed
   
9. brush (hair)
   
10. butterfly
    
11. cat
    
12. dog
    
13. all done
    
14. fish
    
15. flower
    
16. hat
    
17. help (non-ASL)
    
18. milk
    
19. monkey
    
20. light
    
21. moon
    
22. mouse
    
23. bee
    
24. music
    
25. shoes
    
26. toothbrush
    
27. up
    

Here is a snippet of the video I found on YouTube!

My Amazing E- Amazing to Me

Lately I have been marveling at the intelligence of my daughter. I don't mean to say is she above average- I am just saying that I didn't realize how smart she would be at just 13 months. She amazes me every single day. As a teacher I rejoiced in seeing my students make connections and grow. The feelings I have when I see Eliza making new connections surpasses the feelings I had as a teacher beyond my wildest dreams.

I spend most of my time watching her in awe. She truly amazes me every single day. When people ask me if I enjoy being home I answer with a confident, "YES!" At this point I cannot imagine being anywhere else. I am so blessed to witness her growing and learning.

She is starting to use more baby signs. She walks over to her high chair and signs eat. It is seriously the most adorable thing ever. She also signs ball, cat and sometimes help. Her expanding vocabulary continues to enthrall me. Although she isn't talking, I am becoming aware of how many words she actually knows. When we play with her alphabet blocks she is able to recognize the pictures. It astonishes me that if I ask her to show me the butterfly she can look at all the blocks and hand me the butterfly. The other day we were listening to a CD and the song 5 little monkeys started playing and Eliza went to her book basket and brought me the 5 little monkeys book. I just wish I could get into her mind to see what was happening!

I am also intrigued by how she is using her toys. I love to see how she puts her blocks in her train and then pushes the train along. How she bangs everything together to see what sounds it will make. She will play peek-a-boo with just about anything that will play back- including our cats. I admire how she pulls the couch cushions off of the couch to use them as a stool to climb onto the couch.

She fills me with joy and I fall in love with her over and over again each and every day. I can't even express how thankful I am to be home with her. I am truly blessed.

Tasty Tuesday & Randomness

Pete made me an awesome dinner on Sunday night. So in honor of Tasty Tuesday here is a LINK to the recipe. It is called Pasta Della California and it is YUMMY!

Here are some pics from our weekend. We attended a surprise party for Dana's BF's 30th Birthday!

MY GIRLS!




Do I really want her to talk?

So I believe Eliza is now saying the word done. I might be crazy but when she doesn't want to eat anymore she says what sounds a lot like done in the cutest little baby voice ever. I think she just wants to get out of her high chair and knows I always say "all done" before she gets out. Now when I ask and sign, "Do you want more or are you all done?" she always replies done. I am onto her little game now and know she just wants to go play. haha I'll try to get her on hidden camera if I can.

Today I am headed to this zoo! with Rose and Alessia. I love the zoo so I am STOKED!

Don't forget to enter my Giveaway!

Baby Signs Breakthrough!

I have been working on teaching Eliza baby signs. For the longest time she didn't show any sign of catching on. Then all of a sudden while we were on vacation she started doing the sign for baby all the time. It really is the cutest most sweetest thing in the whole world. Here is a video of a song I sing to her when she eats. Please understand I am a horrible singer. That is why I only sing to babies and small children. They are truly the Paula Abduls of the world.



Now she is also panting for dog and occasionally does the sign for more when eating- although it sometimes ends up more like a clap. I have decided she only does signs that are fun for her to do. If it doesn't make her laugh it isn't worth her time.