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Date: 4/29/2008 5:55:00 PM
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Author:
Lindsey
(ln92089@rochester.rr.com)
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Subject:Teaching ASL Early
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Hi everyone,
I'm doing a research paper on parents and how they are teaching their children American Sign Language at an early age. I was wondering what you thought about it, if you were doing so with your own children, and if it affects their learning process and communication
Thanks!
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Date: 5/7/2008 10:26:00 AM
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Author:
Julie M.
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Subject:Teaching ASL Early
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We feared our premature twins would struggle with language delay when, at almost 12 months, neither of them had really attempted speech; babbling was very rare. We started teaching them signs for certain things: milk, more, please, thank you. At almost 2 1/2 now, the twins are within the language levels of their peers, but one of them still continues to sign some of her requests. We have to remind her to "use her words" when people who may not understand are around, but we still encourage the signs and have started teaching more. The kids have a video that teaches ASL and they love it. We hope to keep ASL a part of their language learningg since we only use it at home and they're not exposed to it in preschool.
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Date: 5/7/2008 10:34:00 AM
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Author:
Howie
(fishbear1@yahoo.com)
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Subject:Teaching ASL Early
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Hi - Long time reader, 1st time poster...
My wife and I have been learning signs with out daughter since she was about 6 months old I think. We started taking "Finger Babble" classes once a week with other toddlers with a great teacher in our town. http://www.fingerbabble.com/ is the site.
In addition to those classes, we watch "Signing Time" on PBS and we all enjoy that program. http://www.signingtime.com/
Out daughter Ryan, now 20 months, is signing and speaking many words at the same time. It's been great fun for us to learn and communicate better with our daughter. I would absolutely recommend to any parent. I was a skeptic at first, but am now a believer. It's a great thing any way you slice it. Learning another language gives such a broad perspective on the world around us.
Feel free to email me if you have specific questions I might be able to help you with.
Thanks!
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Date: 5/12/2008 11:45:00 AM
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Author:
Linda Arocho
(happyhands12302@aol.com)
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Subject:We sign!
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I have a family child care and part of our every day activities is signing! We do it with everything! The children have more skills at communicating with each other (I have a broad range of children) and with me as well. Plus it's really cool to have our "secret language" which some people do understand and some people don't. The children love to meet someone who doesn't know any and teach them! Such a boost to self-esteem!
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Date: 5/18/2008 6:24:00 PM
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Author:
Valerie
(vyerks@hotmail.com)
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Subject:ASL
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I think that every school should teach children some basic ASL it is much easier to learn than any other foregin language. I have a son that is deaf I have asked his school to use sign language while having verbal communication when he had his hearing aids. They fail to teach him any. Later we found out that he was not gaining any sound from the aids. He has recently been implanted and things are great. I still feel strongly about sign language. If more people were open to learn it I do believe that it could change the world. Just think if everyone knew some sign we could talk to eachother without so much hassle to learn language after language.
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Date: 5/16/2008 8:51:00 AM
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Author:
Lisa
(littlelisa17@hotmail.com)
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Subject:Baby Sign
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I began teaching my son signs at about 4 months of age. I taught signs that mostly pertained to mealtime ("eat", "drink", "milk", "more", "all done"). He is now 22 months old and has a limited vocabulary, but uses his signs to help communicate his needs. I've recently started introducing new signs such as "help" and "hurt" because he seems to be getting frustrated at his lack of verbal skills. I showed him the sign for "help" ONE time and he's been doing it on his own!
I LOVE using ASL for infants and toddlers. I teach a parent-toddler class once a week and each class I show the children a different sign that pertains to our theme of the day.
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Date: 5/16/2008 8:23:00 PM
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Author:
Laurie
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Subject:ASL
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Hello,
I introduced ASL when my son was 6 months of age. I started the moment he grunted for more food at the kitchen table. We signed ASL until he was 4 years old. My son is now 10 and my daughter is 5, and we still practice ASL each day. I received my CLAD in ASL and attend socials with deaf friends in town.
Do I feel it is a benefit to teach children ASL? Yes I do. We were not aware of an issue in my son's ear that delayed some speech. We started communicating as a family when he was 6 months old. In 1997, signing was not cool. It was looked down upon and not something parents did with their children. My husband and I felt the benefit of communicating with our son over the whispering behind the backs was a "no-brainer".
:-)
Laurie Teague
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Date: 5/17/2008 6:17:00 PM
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Author:
beth nimeh
(b1twin@comcast.net)
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Subject:asl to daughter
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Hi I began teaching my daughter about 20 months asl i used a book form the libray she was already talking. I took and 6 week mommy and mee class at the libray, however we already knew most of the signs. we also used the signing time Dvd series which is wonderful I recomment to everyone I know. I wish i would keep teaching my daughter more signd I would eventualy like to be fluent in asl. Feel free to contact me with any questions. I taught a baby sing class and our local Gymboree play and music.
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Date: 5/20/2008 7:20:00 PM
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Author:
Tina
(goofchick@wi.rr.com)
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Subject:Teaching ASL Early
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A lot of things have already been mentioned here - but I wanted to point out a few other developmental areas that I feeling teaching ASL to younger children helps.
In My Opinion and with my experience... We use Signing Time series of DVD's and we watch it once a day. Children are not forced to participate, but they get very excited about Signing Time and their new abilities that they want to watch it. I incorporate signs into everything we do on a daily basis ALL the time. I show examples of the sign, I speak the sign, I show them how to spell the sign.
Cognitive - Babies exposed to this from 6 months on really became more cognitively aware at an earlier age than other toddlers who have not been exposed
Language - Babies exposed to this from 6 months on spoke sooner and had larger vocabularies than other toddlers who had not been exposed
Social, self-esteem and confidence - The children love to jump on the couch, share a blanket and watch Signing Time together. They sing and dance to the songs and when someone learns and uses a new sign, everyone comes over to see how they did it and gives them praise.
Togetherness - Several of my parents also use Signing Time at home and incorporate the signs they learn into their family life. This reinforces what they are learning here. They have something that they do together as a family, something new they are all learning, and creates bonding time.
Fine Motor Skills - In order to do most of the signs, it requires a certain dexterity with your fingers. Babies and young toddlers don't yet have this. For this reason, signs are usually different in the beginning but close too. For instance, Bird is two fingers opening and closing like a beak under your chin. 20 month old does it in the air near her face with three of her fingers. We work on the correct way and she will get it the more fine tuned her skilled get.
Large motor skills - obviously using arms and hands to develop the muscles. But the songs and dancing in Signing Time encourages children to get up and move, move, more...
I run a home daycare and have a 20 month old daughter. We started our daughter with Baby Einstein's first signs at 7 months. Awful! Boring. A friend of mine turned me onto Signing Time and it has been wonderful! Our daughter (not hearing impaired) says 150 words and understands these words (she actually speaks more words "Parrotting" but I dont think she understands what they are, and she signs about 90 signs regularly. Typically she will sign and say the word. When I started daycare, I decided to incorporate that into our daily schedule. The kids who are exposed to it at home as well, are learning at amazing rates. The children whose parents aren't as into it, still learn but a bit slower.
I love ASL and Signing Time and only wished I had known it growing up.
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Date: 5/16/2008 6:35:00 PM
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Author:
Amy
(allen.renfrow@verizon.net)
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Subject:ASL for babies/toddlers
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I am a speech-language pathologist who works with children ages birth through 3 years. I use ASL with these kids every day. I absolutely believe that using ASL or any form of signing helps language development. I recommend this to all parents!!
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Date: 5/19/2008 7:52:00 AM
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Author:
Ms. Bonnie
(bconstantin@tampabay.rr.com)
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Subject:Teaching ASL early
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I have been a ECE professional for over 22 years, currently a director in a teen parenting center. When my son a young infant I started teaching him simple signs and as he became older we taught him more and more eventually using sentences. We always "used our words" and signed as well. He enjoyed having our own language that we could use when he didn't want others to "hear". Everyone thought he was such a great child, what they didn;t know was that I ws telling him to sit down and be quiet with signs. At 14-yo, he still remembers some signs, mainly one-word retorts such as "boring".
As a child care professional, we use sign in our center teaching the children simple words, starting in the young infant room. We have found that children of teen-parents generally have some communication delays and ASL helps the children communicate their needs to us and their peers. We have found decreases in frustration levels and biting among the 1's and 2's.
I would definitely recommend all parents and caregivers learning some simple signs and working with their young children. It opens up a new word for the children, one with less frustration and more opportunities.
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Date: 5/19/2008 9:12:00 AM
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Author:
Michele Drska
(mdrska@stpaulmuskego.org)
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Subject:ASL
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We have been signing with our Pre-K children for years with our music. We added the signing of the alphabet to our curriculum, too. The children love it and it actually helps them with letter recognition. We are learning that some of the simple command signs also help with classroom management.
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Date: 5/20/2008 7:05:00 PM
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Author:
Jill Larson
(jillosns@aol.com)
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Subject:Teaching ASL Early
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I have a preschool in Maine and we have been teaching ASL to the children for the last 7 years. We love it and the children are learning letters, colors, numbers, songs and more. They love signing a song without even saying any words. I slao have one little boy who for some reason finds it easier to remember letters when I show him the sighn rather than seeing the letter on paper. When he comes across a letter he does not know, if I sign it it often helps him remember the letter name.
We have also taught the children words from the Dolch word list (sight words). They learned a new word each week.
It is fun for the children as well as for the staff.
Jill
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Date: 5/23/2008 6:27:00 AM
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Author:
Amanda F.
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Subject:Sign Language
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I bought some baby signing time dvds for my daughter after she was born, and started putting them on for her when she was just maybe 6 months old. And she loved it, she would always watch it. By the time she was almost a year old she was starting to do some of the signs. Then by the time she was about 15 months she could do probably 30 different signs! I don't know if it helped her to talk earlier or not, but she talked pretty early too. And now, she's two and a half, and she is just the smartest little thing you've ever seen! We've really slacked off on learning new sign language, but we are going to try to get back into it soon. I think sign language for babies and kids is a great thing! Everyone thought I was silly, (my mother-in-law and all my friends) but my mom thought it was a great idea. And I was SOOO glad when she started signing because then they were all amazed. A baby that can do sign language!! (I wasn't silly after all!) I would recommend it to EVERYONE!
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