2 Year old Brandon Counting to 10
Tuesday, October 7th, 2008Brandon cracks me up. I laugh at my son everyday, I think he’s one of the funniest people I know. I’m going to start putting more videos of him on so that you can enjoy him like I do.
Posts Tagged ‘baby sign language dvd’
Brandon talking about his Shoes
Sunday, October 5th, 2008Sign language has helped me understand Brandon a lot more. He talks a lot, but sometimes he’s a little hard to understand. When he first started talking if I couldn’t understand what he was saying, I would just ask him to sign it to me. He was a lot less frustrated because I could actually understand what he was trying to say since he knew how to sign it to me. Sign language helps different kids in different ways, but from personal experience it has definitely helped both of my kids in the areas they needed most.
Andrea Ploehn, co-founder www.signing4baby.com
Annie Teaching Color Signs
Sunday, October 5th, 2008Blue, Brown, Red, Pink, Purple, White, Orange, Yellow, Green, Black
Sign Language Makes Me Cool!
Thursday, October 2nd, 2008My daughter Annie is 4 years old, (but she acts like she’s 16, I think it’s a girl thing). Anyway, since I’ve been recording her a little bit teaching some signs, she feels so cool. We visited my parents this weekend and one day I walked in the room where Annie was teaching my mom some sign language. My mom was praising her on how smart she was and that she couldn’t believe how many signs Annie knew. Later that day Annie said, “when we get home I think maybe I’ll do a little class and teach the kids in the neighborhood some signs”. I absolutely love the confidence signing has given my daughter. It’s something special that people give her admiration for… Annie didn’t say it in these words, but you can see it in her eyes, she’s thinking… Sign Language makes me cool!
I’m so glad that I’ve given her extra confidence in life… sign language has been an absolute gift.
Andrea Ploehn, www.signing4baby.com
My Kids and the van Ghost
Thursday, October 2nd, 2008Here’s Annie and Brandon with the van ghost.
Baby Sign Language Research
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008Over the last two decades there has been numerous research conducted around the topic of baby sign language. Below is a list of studies/research/articles on baby sign language that highlight the various benefits of using baby sign language in your home or childcare centre.
Using Sign Language With Hearing Children (Babies, Pre-School & Primary aged Children)
Acredolo & Goodwyn:
Acredolo & Goodwyn conducted over twenty years of research on the benefits of using simple hand movements with pre-verbal babies. Below is a link to their three main studies:
| Susan Goodwyn, Linda Acredolo, and Catherine Brown (2000). Impact of symbolic gesturing on early language development. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 24 (2), pp. 81-103. Article – Impact of Symbolic Gesturing on early language development |
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| Acredolo, L. P., & Goodwyn, S.W. (July 2000). The long-term impact of symbolic gesturing during infancy on IQ at age 8. Paper presented at the meetings of the International Society for Infant Studies, Brighton, UK. Article – The long-term impact of symbolic gesturing during infancy on IQ at age 8 |
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| Brie Moore, Linda Acredolo, & Susan Goodwyn (April 2001). Symbolic gesturing and joint attention: Partners in facilitating verbal development. Paper presented at the Biennial Meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development. Article – Symbolic gesturing and joint attention |
Marilyn Daniels:
Dr. Marilyn Daniels, a professor of communication arts and sciences at Penn State University, is a distinguished researcher and a recognized authority of studying the benefits of teaching sign language to children in preschool through sixth grade. Below are a list of her studies, books and journal entries:
| “ASL as a Possible Factor in the Acquisition of English for Hearing Children,” Sign Language Studies, 1993, Vol. 78, pp. 23-29. | |
| “The Effect of Sign Language on Hearing Children’s Language Development,” Communication Education, 1994, Vol. 43:4, pp. 291-298. | |
| “Words More Powerful Than Sound,” Sign Language Studies, 1994, Vol. 83, pp. 155-166. | |
| “Nonverbal Language and Manual Speech,” The Speech Communication Annual, 1994, Vol. 8, p. 51-60. | |
| “Seeing Language: The Effect Overtime of Sign Language on Vocabulary Development in Early Childhood Education,” Child Study Journal, 1996, Vol. 26:3, pp. 193-208. | |
| “Previously Masked Concepts: The Communicative Role of Language in Deaf and Hearing Cultures,” Ohio Speech Journal, 1996, Vol. 34, pp. 1-15. | |
| “Bilingual, Bimodel Education for Hearing Kindergarten Students,” Sign Language Studies, 1996, Vol. 90, pp. 25-37. | |
| “Teacher Enrichment of Prekindergarten Curriculum with Sign Language,” Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 1997, Vol. 12:1, pp. 27-33. | |
| Sign Language Advantage. Sign Language Studies. Vol.2:1, 2001, pp.5-19. Sign Education: A Communication Tool for Young Learners. Speech Communication Association of Pennsylvania Annual. Vol.LVII, 2001, pp.77-95. |
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| Reading Signs: A Way to Promote Early Childhood Literacy. Communication Teacher. Vol. 16:2, 2002, pp.32-38. | |
| Using A Signed Language as a Second Language for Kindergarten Students. Child Study Journal. Vol.33:1, 2003, 2003, pp. 53-70. | |
| Happy Hands: The Effect of ASL on Hearing Children’s Literacy. Reading Research and Instruction. Vol. 44:1 Fall 2004, pp.86-100. | |
| Deaf President Now and American Sign Language: Seeing Rhetoric. Pennsylvania Communication Association Annual. 2005, (in press). | |
| The Silent Signs of Learning: ASL in a Special Needs Class. Child Study Journal. 2005, (in press). | |
| Daniels, M. (2001). Dancing with Words: Signing for Hearing Children’s Literacy. Westport, Connecticut: Bergin and Garvey. |
Other Researchers & Articles:
| Wilson, R., Teague, J., and Teague, M. (1985). The Use of Signing and Fingerspelling to Improve Spelling Performance with Hearing Children. Reading Psychology, 4, 267-273. | |
| Hafer, J. (1986). Signing For Reading Success. Washington D.C.: Clerc Books, Gallaudet University Press. | |
| Koehler, L., and Loyd, L. (September 1986). Using Fingerspelling/Manual Signs to Facilitate Reading and Spelling. Biennial Conference of the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication. (4′th Cardiff Wales). | |
| “The Effect of Singing Paired with Signing on Receptive Vocabulary Skills of Elementary ESL Students”, Heather A. Schunk, Journal of Music Therapy: Vol. 36, No 2, pp. 110-124. | |
| Sign Language: The Best Second Language? By Steve Kokette | |
| Hearing Students, Sign Language, and Music: A Valuable Combination By Steve Kokette | |
| “Sign, Baby, Sign!” by Kristin Snoddon, Article in World Federation of Deaf News, May 2000, pp. 16-17. http://www.handspeak.com/tour/kids/index.php?kids=signbabysign |
Using Sign Language With Children Who Have Reading Disabilities:
| Vernon, M., Coley, J., Hafer, J., and Dubois, J. (April 1980). Using Sign Language to Remediate Severe Reading Problems. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 13, 215-218. | |
| Blackburn, D., Vonvillian, J., and Ashby, R. (January 1984). Manual Communication as an Alternative Mode of Language Instruction for Children with Severe Reading Disabilities. Language, Speech and Hearing Services in Schools, 15, 22-31. | |
| Carney, J., Cioffi, G., and Raymond, W. (Spring 1985). Using Sign Language For Teaching Sight Words. Teaching Exceptional Children. 214-217. | |
| Sensenig, L., Topf, B., and Mazeika, E. (June 1989). Sign Language Facilitation of Reading with Students Classified as Trainable Mentally Handicapped. Education and Training of the Mentally Retarded, 121-125. |
Time for Learning
Sunday, September 28th, 2008Fall is always busy, but there is excitement when school begins and we get to learn so many new things. My students at school are learning ASL and they love to sign songs in our class. Signing songs is a good way to help them remember new signs and have fun with the music. Don’t be afraid to dance around, sing, and sign! Your kids will love it! I was dancing around and signing songs just this past week in front of 60 students! If you have some children’s songs on CD, listen to them, pick out the signs you know and use them. Don’t worry about signing everything, make it simple and you will have a great time.
Deborah Parrish M.S.
Ben is a Bundle of Joy!
Saturday, September 27th, 2008Ben has been such a fun baby. He’s also been extremely patient… which is good because his siblings love to play with him. Being a mom is awesome!
Learn Sign Language with Annie: Animals!
Thursday, September 25th, 2008Here is my cute 4 year old Annie teaching sign language.
Marilyn Danials Research shows that preschoolers who sign score higher
Wednesday, September 24th, 2008Marilyn Daniels
Marilyn Daniels found that preschoolers who were taught sign language scored significantly higher on the Peabody Vocabulary Test when compared to preschoolers who did not learn sign language. Daniels concluded that a preschooler’s vocabulary can be improved if words are presented visually and kinesthetically as well as verbally.
You can learn more about the research conducted by Marilyn Daniels in the following articles and books:
Daniels, M. (1994). The Effects of Sign Language on Hearing Children’s Language Development. Communication Education, October, v43 n4, p291(8).
Daniels, M. (1996). Seeing Language: The Effect Over Time of Sign Language on Vocabulary Development in Early Childhood Education. Child Study Journal, 26, 193-208.
Daniels, Marilyn, Dancing with Words: Signing for Hearing Children’s Literacy. Bergin & Garvey, October 2000. ISBN: 0897897927