February 5, 2010

Signing Day Friday


Welcome to the first edition of Signing Day Friday.  It's probably a really cheesy title, but that's all I could come up with today.  I'm not feeling overly creative.  If you have a better idea, please let me know ;)

Anyway, I've been discussing Sign Language with a lot of our family and friends lately.  After talking to his therapists, we have decided that since Carter has a lot of different factors against him in the area of speech (cleft, hearing loss), we are going to be teaching him to sign.  We've actually started this process the week he came home.  We've been using some basic signs for things that he does every day such as milk and sleep.  My very kind cousins sent us the Signing Time Baby DVDs and the kids (and I) have been watching those a lot.  They are EXCELLENT!  I thought they would be kind of low-budget, but they are really well made. If you want to check them out, here they are on Amazon:

I decided to help everyone learn the signs that Carter will be hopefully using, I'll start posting some every Friday.  I think it will be a lot of fun!

So, here we go.  The first one that we use daily is Milk.  This one is really easy.  Just open and close your hand to pretend like you're squeezing an utter of a cow.
The other one we use daily is Sleep.  This one is pretty easy too.  I think of it as pulling Carter's eyes closed.  We actually do this on his face by recommendation of his therapist.
Finally, let's start on the alphabet too.  Here's the letter "A".  Sometimes names and things are spelled out in sign language, so it's good to learn the alphabet.


14 comments:

Allison said...

One of my friends sells the signing time dvd's and I think she has her own website too.

Anyway, good luck! Jenna only mastered 2 signs and then I just kind of gave up with her.

Sandi said...

That's great Heather! I learned the alphabet a long time ago. We also did sign language with all 3 of our kiddos before they could talk. It was a huge help with communication before they were good at verbalizing their needs .

Kristina said...

Hi there!! I saw your comment on my site and I am stoked to see the sign language Friday!
I am a professional sign language interpreter in NY!
I am going to link up and follow!
Your little man is so gorgeous. Seriously!

i am so glad I found your site.

stacey said...

so cool!
we taught rowan a few signs when she was a baby. her speech was delayed and it was such a great help!

stephanie h said...

That is soo cool!

I learned the ABC's in sign language when I was kid b/c we couldn't talk on the school bus. So, my friend and I learned the abc's so we could "talk" on the bus. LOL

Knowledge Safari said...

Great post! I look forward to seeing how it goes for you!

ANewKindOfPerfect said...

What a great idea for a post! :)

Tiffany said...

What a great idea! There was a girl in my class that couldn't hear so our whole class learned sign language....and I still remember a lot of it!

Queen Bee said...

I think it would be great if all kids were taught sign language so they could communicate with kids who can not hear/speak. I look forward to learning the signs with you!

http://whendidmyhairturngray.blogspot.com/

Kelli said...

I LOVE the idea!! We use some basic ones a lot right now as well like milk, eat, Mommy & Daddy...I'm not convinced yet, but coincidentally just prior to getting his bottle, Colin is starting to make the sign (not sure if he's waving though...lol).

Colette S said...

Thes are very good. I have had them on my amazon wishlist for a long time. I wanted to teach my children sign too because I love the language.

Have fun with it. It's really exciting to have your own language.

Visiting from SITS also. Enjoy your weekend.

pinkebody said...

I've started teaching Ella some basic signs as well. I was so excited when she told me she wanted to nurse the other day, by doing the sign for milk!!

http://pinkebody.blogspot.com/

Laurel said...

That's an awesome idea!! The only sign Sienna ever learned was "more" :) I just taught Sienna "milk". I can't wait for this every Friday!

Chrissy said...

I LOVE sign language. I've known all the "letters" since I was about 9....and I have always wanted to take a sign language class. :)