Tag Archives: How to

Make It Fun To Learn!

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Give that baby your undivided attention and set a playful tone.  Your baby will see that you are focusing on him/her and will try to play with you.  Their eyes light up and they get excited.  Mama or Dada is playing with me!  Use signs that he/she is motivated to learn.  If you are playing with a ball, use the sign ball and give/take the ball between each other.  Do the same with other toys or even a stuffed doll.  Use every day objects or foods that are around you.  It makes a difference when you take the time and make it fun.  Sets the foundation for future learning and engages your child in social interactions.

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When can I start teaching my baby sign language?

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Start as early as you can!  I started with all three of my kids when they started moving their eyes towards me and responding to my voice.  With my latest baby, I started signing at three months old.  The first sign I did was milk since I was breast feeding her.  I would sign milk and then nurse her.  I signed it before every feeding.   But start teaching your baby signs when you think he or she is ready, even if they are not ready to sign back yet.  Simple signs such as milk, eat, nap.

Babies usually learn to sign before they learn to talk.  Get started as early as you can.  Once your baby can sign his or her needs to you, communicating becomes easier.  Talking to your baby while signing also encourages him or her to talk with their voice as well as their hands.

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4 Tips On How To Engage Your Child

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Here are several tips to help keep your child or children engaged in learning sign language.

  1. Set an theme for your week.  Think up a theme you would like to practice.  For example, for the last two weeks, I discussed that we were working on colors.  I would find books with color themes and have them identify pictures by using signs.  If you don’t have any of those type of books, you can check them out at your local library.  I use the library immensely when focusing on more specific themes such as ocean life, objects around the home, etc.
  2. Make it interesting.  Like I said above, use books in your teachings.  Also a popular resource is online videos.  You can find many videos on different signs that you can practice yourself and then sign to your kids.  Here is an example of one resource that I use:  ASLSearch.com.   I like using this website with the older kids.  It is easy to set up flash cards or quizzes to practice or test their skill level.  Giving them some screen time daily to practice will help improve their skills.
  3. Get down to their level.  Be creative and engaging by being with them while they are learning.  Sitting with them reading and signing words from a book.  Other examples using the color theme would be sit at the table, draw pictures together and identify the colors you are using through signing.  Get down on the floor and play with color related objects or toys.  Make a game out of it.  A common game I use is I SPY with my eye a “pink” something and have them search for that object.  Use specific signs related to the theme you are working on.
  4. Focus on one thing at a time.  Children can feel overwhelmed with many things going on at the same time.   I find that doing one thing on Monday, then another on Tuesday and so forth through the week keeps it interesting and creative.   

If you don’t have a lot of experience with signing, it can be quite intimidating to try to get the children engaged in an activity, and actually keep their attention for more than five seconds so you can teach them something. These are normal fears, but the best thing you can do is relax – if you are having fun, the kids are having fun!  Relax and be yourself.  Be in the moment with your children.

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How to start signing ASL

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If you are showing interest in learning sign language but not sure how to begin, I have included some basic tips for you to get started.

Start out with the ABC’s.  It is the same in American Sign Language as it is in the English Language that you start learning the structure of the language by beginning with the alphabet.  I recommend that you start by watching online videos of letters in the alphabet.  By watching and observing the placement of fingers and the hand shape in each letter, it will assist you visually in generating the sign on your hand.

Use your dominant hand as the one to make the hand shape.  Practice in front of a mirror.  Make each letter with your hand and observe what it looks like from your perspective and also from the viewer’s perspective (through the mirror).  Focus on the hand shape and how your fingers are placed.  As you move from letter to letter, don’t bounce your hand.  It can become tiring to a person trying to read your signs.  A good tip is to start practicing with your arm resting on the table or holding your elbow up on the dominant hand.  Once you feel like you transition smoothly from one letter to the next, go ahead and stop holding the elbow or resting it on the table.

It is important to have patience in learning each letter.  It is ok to replay each letter on video until you feel comfortable with your finger and hand placement.  When you become comfortable with your fingerspelling, practice and practice and practice!  Everything around us has a word associated with it.  For example, if you see a BALL, fingerspell B-A-L-L.  The more you practice, the easier it gets to spell those letters into words.  Always keep practicing finger spelling.  In ASL, it is the foundation of the language.   It will help you become more comfortable using your hands and fingers while you transition into learning signs and using facial and body expressions to carry on conversations.

 

 

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