Saturday, January 24, 2009

Sign Language

First off I have to say . . . I have been enjoying just reading all of your posts, Marianne. But, I will take your little nudge to post again and go with it.
Seriously, I always enjoy parenting ideas, and you have some great ones. I, on the other hand, feel like a non-swimmer in the deep end of a pool with no life guard, and so many out there are such great swimmers. Parenting is such a trial and error experience. It is much harder than I ever imagined, but there are so many resources out there to help, so much information out there to fill this world-wide-web thing to the brim. The trouble is sifting through it all and deciding what to hang on to and what to let go. Anyway, I am glad you started this blog to share what works for you. I hope other mothers find this blog, then give and take. I think that is the most important thing to remember:

Find what works for you and your family and go with it.

Just because your mother/sister/aunt/friend/inlaw/bff says it works and is the hottest thing since sunburn doesn't mean it will be the best choice for you. Ya know? So take advice from EVERYONE. Just because you take it doesn't mean you have to use it. :) You can tweak it until it is a custom fit for your family.
Wow. Just slap me and tell me to stop rambling already... I know you are all wondering why this post is titled "Sign Language" and I haven't even mentioned it. Oops.

And now, for the real info, not just the babble spilling out of my head.


SIGN LANGUAGE
First, a little background- When KTOM was working with Corban a few years back we were advised to use/learn/teach sign in our home to encourage his communication skills. To this day Corban loves sign language, though now his vocabulary is quite extensive. He loves the Signing Time DVDs and if I had the money I would buy them all. We used to rent them from the library constantly. They made it so easy to build a basic vocabulary in ASL.
I was searching online for ideas since I am the mildly crazy (hey-you-older-kids-aren't-singing-I-already-know-what-a-dork-I-am-stop-looking-at-me-like-that) Singing Time Lady in my ward. I love using sign language to keep the kids attention and help them memorize. Well, I found these little jewels hiding right under my nose- HYMNS and Children's Songbook. They are ASL videos of select songs. Even if I don't teach the entire song I can use certain words to help prompt the kids. Other ASL resources from the LDS church.

Other resources I use- (Both have videos to show you how to do different signs.)

2 comments:

Heather Tew said...

I used sign language with my son. Oh my goodness, I was sure relieved we could finally communicate. A lot of frustration was eliminated after that. I plan to use it with my daughter but I will start a lot earlier. I have started using it already and she is only 5 months. Hopefully she picks up on it soon.

Marianne said...

Wow! Thanks Rachael! I used sign language a little with N, but didn't stick with it. I've been trying harder with C, and she's already picked up a couple things. This was wonderful information you shared. And I loved what you said about my blog because that's EXACTLY what I wanted it to be- a place where we can share what works fo us and maybe it can help someone else. Feel free to post more stuff anytime. Thanks!