{"id":411,"date":"2012-04-10T11:12:42","date_gmt":"2012-04-10T15:12:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mayahoodblog.com\/?p=411"},"modified":"2012-04-20T21:57:48","modified_gmt":"2012-04-21T01:57:48","slug":"communicating-through-baby-sign-language-plus-a-course-giveaway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mayahoodblog.com\/communicating-through-baby-sign-language-plus-a-course-giveaway\/","title":{"rendered":"Communicating through Baby Sign Language – plus a Course Giveaway! Winner selected: Katie"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thanks to everyone who entered our contest.\u00a0 The winner has been selected!\u00a0 Katie <\/strong>from Toronto.\u00a0 CONGRATULATIONS! <\/strong>(Please e-mail me at mayay@rogers.com<\/a> for details on how to claim your price).<\/p>\n

I can’t remember what made me want to take baby sign language<\/a>\u00a0classes, but I was intrigued\u00a0and jumped at the opportunity when Kyle was around 8 months old.\u00a0 I signed up for a class taught by Sharon Isaacs Weisz\u00a0(who I also went to high-school with) through the WeeHands program\u00a0(http:\/\/www.weehands.com\/profile.php?id=94<\/a>).\"\"<\/a>\u00a0 Sharon is a Private Speech-Language Pathologist for\u00a0children and adults in GTA\u00a0and York Region, owner of Toronto Speech Therapy,\u00a0 WeeHands\u00a0instructor and proud mommy of a successful WeeHands\u00a0graduate!\u00a0 Sharon has graciously offered one lucky winner a free baby sign language course through WeeHands (see details for entering contest below).\u00a0 You can also find out more information about her services\u00a0on her website:\u00a0www.torontospeechtherapy.ca<\/a><\/p>\n

When I first signed up for my signing class, I hadn’t heard yet about all of the benefits of signing with your baby<\/a>.\u00a0 In fact, I was just looking for another activity to do with Kyle.\u00a0 As it turns out, the class was more for the parents than the child.<\/p>\n

The class was taught at the Central Eglinton Community Centre which had a perfect indoor play area and mats for the babies to play \/ hang-out on while the moms learned how to sign.\u00a0 In our first class, we learned the ABC’s of (American) sign language.\"\"<\/a>\u00a0 Probably not something that you will use with your baby, but good \/ nice to know either way.\u00a0 To be honest, I loved going home and showing off<\/del>\u00a0practicing in front\u00a0of my husband.\u00a0 Most of the lessons were taught through songs.\u00a0 The first songs we learned how to sign along to was called the “hello song”, which we did at the beginning of each class and the “goodbye song” which we did at the end of each class.\u00a0 We also learned how to sing the “ABC” song while singing and a few basic\u00a0(yet all important) signs such as: milk, more, and eat.\u00a0 Yes, it was a lot to take in for the first class, but it’s amazing how fast and quickly you pick up the signs.<\/p>\n

Of course, to make it work, you have homework<\/del> to practice these signs at home with your baby.\u00a0 According to Sharon, you have to repeat each sign at least 15 times a day in order for your little one to pick it up.\u00a0 For starters, I focused on more, milk and eat.\u00a0 The words\u00a0that will probably help reduce Kyle’s frustrations the most.\u00a0\u00a0For us, it took almost 2 months until Kyle started to sign.\u00a0 \"\"<\/a>It did take a while, and I can see why some people may give-up on signing but my advice is to hang in there.\u00a0 There is nothing more amazing or rewarding than seeing your child sign for the first time.\u00a0 It’s also a good idea to teach others who will be spending time with your child some of the basic signs.\u00a0 Both my parents and John’s parents were very keen on learning the signs so they could also communicate with Kyle.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Kyle signing "more" (10 1\/2 months)<\/p><\/div>\n

Kyle’s first sign was “more”.\u00a0 At first, he only signed\u00a0more\u00a0for food.\u00a0 But now, he signs it for\u00a0EVERYTHING!! (more trucks, more planes, more animals, more books… you get the picture).\u00a0 My favourite memory of Kyle signing is when he’d wake up in the mornings, he’d lie in my arms and without opening his eyes, he’d reach his hand up and sign for milk.\u00a0 It\u00a0really was the funniest and cutest\u00a0thing ever.\u00a0 Now, at 18 months, Kyle still signs.\u00a0 Kyle\u00a0uses about 20 signs including: sleep, more, water, eat, milk, juice, all-done, airplane, cheese, peas, and Cheerios.\u00a0His current favourite signs include airplane, ice-cream and sticker (which he made up himself).<\/p>\n

The WeeHands classes are broken down into the following subjects each week:<\/p>\n

Week 1 – signs to start with<\/p>\n

week 2 – food signs<\/p>\n

week 3 – family signs<\/p>\n

week 4 – animal signs<\/p>\n

week 5 – manners and support signs<\/p>\n

week 6 – toy and play signs<\/p>\n

week 7 – outside signs<\/p>\n

week 8 – clothing and routine signs<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

After finishing the course (yes, we received a graduating diploma), I started to read up on the benefits of signing.\u00a0 Here are just a few in bullet points (sources: WeeHands guide and Superbaby<\/em> by dr. Jenn Berman<\/a>).<\/p>\n