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Thursday, March 29, 2007
Ok, this signing thing is bloody brilliant. If you haven't tried it yet and you've got little ones, get thee to Amazon.com and buy up some books and videos.Elnora now knows the signs for...
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Sleep
Eat
Drink
Ball
Baby
Bird
Cat
She's learning new ones every day. She's also started two conversations out of the blue. One was while we were at a restaurant. She got our attention and then signed "baby" and pointed. We looked, and sure enough, a couple was sitting a few tables over with a very small baby. So we talked to her about the baby for a bit and reinforced the sign. (yay!)
Then a few days ago, I was doing online seminars. The first day, I locked myself in the guest room while my mom played with the kids. Apparently, mom told Elnora that I was sleeping. The next day, when I went back there again, Elnora went to my mom and said "Ma" then signed "sleep" and pointed to the room.
Even better is that she's also picking up words. In the last week or two she's added several. She's even started echoing "Amen" after we pray at night. LOL. Last night when Greg was reading to her, she repeated "A", "B", "C", "D", and "E." (then she got distracted, lol.) I think there's something to the idea that as they learn that communication gets things faster than "uhhhhh" and "ehhh!" sounds, that they're motivated to learn more.
If you're considering trying it yourself, I liked the books that I bought from Amazon, especially Signing Smart
but I've really been impressed with the Signing Time videos. We've got Signing Times Vol. 1 and Signing Times Vol. 3 right now from the library and Elnora watches one of them each day. I think I may break down and buy the series since we'll use it with Emmitt too. Ha! As I wrote this, she just picked up "shoes" and "socks."
This is going to be fun!
Labels: Baby Sign Language
Signing Time is now on public television, we record them on our DVR. You may save yourself some $$, instead of buying the series of videos you can watch them free! Check this out to see if they're on in your area: http://www.signingtime.com/a9/Public-Television/article_info.html Though I have to say that the DVD's are better we have 1-6, the songs are more creative and they're just better put together than the weekly show. Plus my daughter (17months) loves them and has picked up 40+ signs from them.
I signed with my daughter and it was great. We didn't do too many signs, mostly "eat", "more","milk" and stuff in that vein. It was a great bridge between verbal and non and really helped with her frustration level. We plan to do the same with our new daughter when she is old enough. Good luck!
volumes 4 and 6 of signing timeare my favorite (i own vol. 1-9). feelings, actions words like run and swing, colors, fruits and vegetables, family.
love, love, love!
i am hoping we get volumes 10-13 for DS birthday.
the commenter formerly known as E
I just ordered a CD of songs and some flashcards from http://www.sign2me.com
I'll bring the CD to the Lactivist Party if I like it. It is encouraging that it is working so well for Elnora. 7-9 months is supposed to be the ideal time to start so it will be neat to see how Emmitt and my son Ian are doing by the end of the summer.
smooches, thank you so much, I had no idea. I have the first DVD but didn't want to pay for more. I'll be recording the weekly show and checking my library for more DVDs!
I loved baby signing and it was a life saver here when Small declined to bother with speech. He's now nearly 4 and has forgotten all his signs as he never stops talking ;) but for a couple of years, signs were our only method of communicating.
I'm glad it's going so well for Nora with signing. The Signing Smart research always said that the older kids pick it up really, really fast. And now when Emmitt is ready you'll be a pro! :)
You can get the DVDs 1-13 and the CDS with the music from 1-12 all together in a set from the Signing Time site for $254.96.
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