Teaching My Baby Sign Language

It’s late at night and your baby refuses to stop bawling and go to sleep. You know your baby wants something but you just can’t figure out what. After hours of tears and screams, your exhausted baby finally drifts off to sleep, leaving you frustrated and feeling guilty about causing him so much sorrow. How many times have you encountered this scenario?

Babies cry largely because they want their needs to be met. Problem is baby can’t tell you what he wants so he will keep crying until you meet his need. However, teaching your baby sign language can help you communicate with your baby and minimize tears.

What is baby sign language?

Speech is a very complicated process and requires breath regulation, control of vocal chords, etc. That is why children do not begin talking until after they are a year old. Even then, most children are capable of speaking only a few words. Baby sign language gives your baby a non-verbal outlet to express thoughts and needs.

Aren’t babies too young to be taught sign language?

Critics of baby sign language claim that babies are too young to learn communication. But if you think about it, almost every baby can wave goodbye in response to a person leaving. So a baby can communicate as long as he knows how. Teaching your baby sign language has an additional benefit. The American Academy of Pediatrics has conducted research, which monitored the verbal skills of children who were taught sign language as babies. The results were that these children’s verbal skills were more developed than those who were not taught to sign.

When should I start teaching my baby sign language?

You can introduce your baby to sign language from 6 months. Remember that most babies develop the ability to sign only after 8 months so don’t worry if your baby cannot sign back yet. If you are unsure how to teach your baby, there are plenty of baby sign language classes available. Here, a professional can guide you on the best way to teach your baby to sign.

Paul Banas is a founder of GreatDad.com. He writes articles on pregnancy care, baby names, toilet training, parenting tips and many more topics related to dads.

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Baby Fingers | Delivering Effective Sign Language Classes For Parents In New York & Beyond

Baby Fingers offers a unique program in New York using Sign Language and Music Classes. With a combination of American Sign Language and music, we have developed a program to help build stronger communication between parents and their children all the while enhancing language skills and motivating speech development. This program was developed for hearing children and hearing parennts. However, children of all needs and abilities are welcome in our program.

Music enhances language development, spatial reasoning skills, socialization, and motivation to communicate. Signing is rhythmic as is music, and the combination provides a natural means by which to practice and interact. Both signing and music aid in the ability to keep a steady beat; this skill has been linked to improved reading performance.

Based on considerable research, Baby Fingers is designed to promote family communication while enhancing motivation to speak, increasing IQ, improving vocabulary and literacy skills, decreasing frustration, refining motor coordination and spatial reasoning skills. Sessions are year round; we offer “mommy & me” sign language, Music for Babies, Parties, Adult ASL, & more.

Baby/Toddler ASL (also known as “Mommy & Me” classes) teaches you American Sign Language through songs and play with other parents and babies or toddlers. You can go home each week with new vocabulary and new tunes to enhance communication between you and your child. Whether you intend to incorporate sign language in your life for the long term or simply during this pre-verbal/developing verbal time, watch in awe as your baby or toddler discovers the world of language.

Creative Play & Sign Classes (aka: Drama Sign) offer an opportunity for preschool and kindergarten children (ages two through six) to participate in an engaging, stimulating class designed to meet their developmental stages. Through games, stories, movement to music, and dramatic play, sign language is taught to encourage self expression, improve speech and language, facilitate socialization, and further develop literacy skills.

Music for Babies focuses on nurturing the bond between parent and child through music. Activities include singing, movement to music, musical play and reading books, which aid the baby’s visual and auditory tracking, and language development. This course is primarily for newborns through toddlers.

Baby Fingers Sign & Stretch: Baby (newborn-Crawling) or Toddler (walkers to age 2) is a unique class focuses on creative learning for caregivers and children in movement, song, yoga and sign language. Through many different modalities, parents and caregivers will gain a greater understanding of their baby’s or toddler’s amazing physical development, as well as tools to enhance language and communication. Walkers will be introduced to thematic units, tying together yoga poses with ASL vocabulary.

Adult ASL: Our weekend and evening adult sign language program is taught by a Deaf teacher of ASL. Classes are designed for teens (15 yrs or older) and adults interested in beginning their study of sign language, or refining their skills. Private tutoring is also available.

Kids ASL: Looking for a sign language teacher for your school aged child and his/her friends? Our qualified staff will teach your children, ages 5 – 18, in the comfort of your own home or school. Private tutoring is also available.

Guitar Lessons: If you or your child is interested in learning to play guitar or refining current skills, Mike is ready to teach! An accomplished young musician, Mike is proficient on guitar, banjo, and mandolin. In addition to these string instruments, Mike can teach beginning piano and percussion, as well as voice and music theory.

Family and School Workshops includes an “Introduction to American Sign Language,” from numbers, to the alphabet, to full sentences; you can learn the basics of ASL in a fun and creative environment. Soon you’ll be able to sign words about your family, pets, and home; things at school; days of the week; colors, sports, and more! Learn to communicate with deaf friends, or have private conversations with anyone anywhere. Join us for ASL through songs, games, and interactive learning!

For more information about Baby Fingers and our classes, please visit our website or call us directly at 212-874-5978.

Baby Fingers LLC, founded by Lora Heller, Board Certified and Licensed Music Therapist with a M.Sc. in Special Education/Deaf Education, specializing in music mediated sign language instruction. For more information, visit MyBabyFingers.com

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Epworth to offer American Sign Language class

Epworth to offer American Sign Language class
Epworth United Methodist Church in Rehoboth Beach will offer an American Sign Language class from 6 to 8 p.m., beginning Tuesday, April 13, for a six-week session meeting Tuesday and Thursday evenings. The cost will be $50, paid at the first session; the instructor will be Susan Morriset.

Read more on Cape Gazette

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Do you know of any good video programs that teach american sign language?

Do you know of any good video programs that teach american sign language? I can’t learn sign by reading a book on how to do it, I do better to actually see it done. I was going to take an ASL course at the local community college, but they don’t offer it anymore. Any ideas?
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Baby Sign Language Online

Imagine your baby is crying, but despite not talking yet he or she can effectively communicate to you exactly why! Hungry? Need a diaper change? By learning baby sign language online, you can speak with your baby NOW instead of later!

Teaching babies sign language is a lot easier than you’d ever imagine it to be. Your child may not be able to talk yet, but believe me, he or she has been trying to communicate with you since the day they opened their eyes. Why wait a year or more for your child to begin speaking, only to still not fully understand what they’re trying to say? Sign language and baby communication through these manual cues can not only help you ‘speak’ to you child, but can also provide a special bond that you and your newborn will share always. Establishing such a close-knit experience so early in life can make you both happier, as your baby will know exactly how to tell you what he or she wants, and you’ll be able to let your baby know things you otherwise would have no way of showing them.

In recent years, many parents have learned baby sign language online, through books, with charts or even videos. Maybe you even know a mom or dad who already uses this type of communication with their child, and you’ve seen how fantastic the results can be. Perhaps you’ve been afraid that it wouldn’t work for your son or daughter, or maybe it was too hard or expensive to have to learn. Maybe you even thought such communication required special sign language and baby schools. Whatever the case, you need to throw those notions aside and realize something: anyone can do it. Any baby can do it. In just minutes you can be learning baby sign language online, and not only learning it but teaching it to your child and using it to speak your needs back and forth from within the comfort of your own baby nursery.

And in addition to the bond you’ll share, studies have proven that babies who learn to speak with their hands have enjoyed developmental advantages over others who have not. Your child will begin communication at a much younger stage, making it easier for him or her when they finally do begin to speak. As they learn to interact with their surroundings they will learn how to become more dependent upon themselves, something that will carry over into the early stages of childhood and give your son or daughter a jump start on educational paths, developing motor skills, and a host of other benefits.

Sign Language for Babies and Beyond is an incredible system that allows you to instantly communicate with your child. This downloadable resource includes written materials, a baby sign language chart with over 250 individual words and actions, and even video resources that you can use to teach you and your newborn how to speak one-on-one. Just some of the proven benefits:

* Understand how signing with your child can help develop verbal communication faster than just waiting around for your child to speak.

* Read about early brain development, and how teaching babies sign language can actually be linked to higher IQ’s during childhood and beyond.

* Find out which other benefits your son or daughter will enjoy, including accelerated reading skills much earlier before and during school.

* Reduce your baby’s frustration, tantrums, and crying – because he or she will be able to communicate their needs with you!

Open the door to this unique bonding experience with your child. Allow your infant to enjoy a much more stimulated environment and understand you a lot better after you spend just a few short minutes learning baby sign language online. Join thousands of other moms and dads who have already used this system to guide their children into the world of speaking through the use of hand signals and visual cues. Check it out, and give your baby’s childhood a jump start!

Check out Sign Language for Babies and Beyond to begin downloading these great resources right now! And for beautiful gifts, bedding, and nursery decor, check out The Frog and the Princess Baby Boutique!

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Baby Fingers: Teaching Babies To Speak Through Sign Language

Teaching babies sign language can help them to start speaking at an earlier age, according to ongoing research being conducted by Ohio State University and the University of California at Davis. Studies conducted at both universities also indicate that sign language can help babies develop stronger verbal skills in the long run. This has also been complimented by research that children who have begun to express themselves verbally can learn speech more effectively through song.

Based on these findings, Lora Heller has established a unique school for babies in New York. Known as Baby Fingers, the school has been successfully helping babies develop stronger verbal communication skills through the teaching of sign language in combination with music. The effectiveness of this approach to teaching lies in the fact that sign language and music share a certain rhythmic quality. In other words, both require the learner to keep a steady beat. In addition, while teaching sign language can help babies develop basic communication, singing songs can help them solidify their vocabulary after they begin to communicate verbally.

As a result of these similarities, teaching music and sign language, in combination, can help babies and children below five develop spatial reasoning and socialisation skills while encouraging them to communicate better.

It was her background in music therapy and deaf education that made Heller aware of the potential benefits of using both to help babies develop the ability to communicate before learning to speak. So far, her methods of teaching have produced results not only in babies, but also in deaf children and children with deaf parents. They have also helped bridge the communication gap between English-speaking children and their parents with a first language other than English.

In addition, children with behavioural issues and a lack of ability to communicate in times of distress have been able to overcome their limitations due to the teaching of music alongside sign language.
Parents are encouraged to enrol their babies before the completion of their first year; preferably at four to six months, though toddlers and preschoolers still benefit from the program. It is also recommended that parents learn to sign, as this can enhance the bond between parents and children; babies often enjoy watching and responding to sign language. As a result, teaching parents sign language can lead to early learning and long-term retention, on the part of babies, of this system of communication. In addition, parents who know sign language can effectively use it to teach their babies social skills and manage behavioural issues.

Baby Fingers uses American Sign Language [ASL] as its medium of instruction. The advantages of using ASL is the fact that it has its own grammar and syntax and is the standardised sign language used for teaching and sharing knowledge. Teaching babies through ASL will, therefore give them a solid foundation in a sign language that is universally recognised and can be easily used outside their classes at Baby Fingers. In addition to center based classes around the NYC-metro area, Webinars are available to families that do not live near the Baby Fingers neighborhoods.  Families across the globe can learn to sign along with Lora Heller right from the comfort of their own home computer.

For more information on the benefits of teaching babies sign language, visit MyBabyFingers.

Baby Fingers LLC, founded by Lora Heller, Board Certified and Licensed Music Therapist with a M.Sc. in Special Education/Deaf Education, specializing in music mediated sign language instruction. For more information, visit www.MyBabyFingers.com.

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Where can i take ASL classes in new york city?

A friend and I are interested in learning ASL (we’ve both taken it in the past and want to continue it). Laguardia CC offers it on Saturdays and Wednesdays. The first day of classes, however are a conflict for us; that first Saturday we have a conference to attend, and the Wednesday section isnt condusive to our work schedule.

I’ve been looking at different college websites but im not getting any results. Where else can we look for an intro ASL course to take in NYC?
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Why Sign Language Interpreting is so Satisfying

A sign language is something which is used as a means of communication between people who are hard of hearing or deaf and cannot speak. They use hand signals, facial expressions, gestures, etc to effectively communicate with each other or with people of other nationalities or regions.

Sometimes, people who are not disabled also use sign languages. For example in instances where they cannot talk aloud such as in places of religious worship, in hospitals, in public libraries, in a recording studio or during hunting, people resort to using sign languages.

Sign languages have a set of rules just as any other language. These rules include the grammar. Sign languages vary depending on the area and country. Every area and every country have sign language interpreting professionals who help the handicapped communicate without difficulty.

Sign language interpreting is a noble profession which is also satisfying. A deaf person may need the help of these interpreters when they have to communicate with people from another region or nation. As the sign languages vary from place to place, they seek the services of interpreters who are proficient with both the languages.

For sign language interpreting, you have to be thorough in your language. You must be trained in two or more languages. It is very important for an interpreter to be accurate in conveying the meaning or at least as accurate as possible. In order to do this, it is a good idea to spend some time with both of them and familiarize with their respective languages before the actual meeting takes place.

During the sign language interpreting, you can instruct both of them to go a little slow, and give a comfortable gap between two sentences or phrases to enable better understanding and conveying of message.

Sign language interpreting enables the person handicapped to effectively communicate in his or her native language which ensure fluency of thoughts. Interpreting services are also extensively used in courts where a person who is deaf has to defend himself. The sign language interpreter is a very necessary bridge between the handicapped and the judge and lawyers present.

Interpreting can be taken up as a hobby or even a full time profession which gives you a sense of great satisfaction. Helping the hearing and speech impaired effectively communicate during the process of their day to day activities is a very noble thing to do. You can either take this up as a part time activity or even as a profession.

Sign language interpreting is an ideal thing to do for retired people who are good at languages. They can learn two or three sign languages and offer their valuable time and service to the less fortunate hearing and speech impaired people.

These languages are usually taught at the schools for the deaf and dumb. One can obtain information about these courses in these institutions. By learning these languages and helping the less fortunate you have the satisfaction of guiding their steps forward in life.

Muna wa Wanjiru Has Been Researching and Reporting on Sign Language for Years. For More Information on Sign Language Interpreting, Visit His Site at SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETINGI Will Also Highly Appreciate Your Views On Sign Language Interpreting At My Blog here

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