Learning Together - Sign Language

I never learned sign language. I knew bits and pieces, because in middle school it was the cool thing for girls to do, learn sign language and "secretly" talk to each other in class. We thought we were so cool using out fingers to sign to someone across the room that the boy next to us smelled really bad, or Sarah in the third row is a total witch with a b. I knew the basics. I knew a few swear words. That was it.

Well now that I have a kid I have a new interest in signing. I've seen all the commercials and infomercials about how it will make my kid so much more intelligent, and able to tell me what's wrong long before she can talk. I'm probably starting this whole process much later than I should have, but it's never too late right?

As an extreme beginner to the world of signing I opted to buy a ton of books and some videos. Kirsten enjoys the books. I got her a few from Amazon that were priced well and the pictures looked really colorful and fun. I bought a "Itsy Bitsy Spider Sign and Sing" book that has been a big hit (book by Annie Kubler). I also ordered her videos, which sat unopened until this weekend. I will tackle this project! My kid will be signing, "milk" and "ball" and "more" before I even know it.

Well it turns out that when you know nothing about teaching a kid something you know even less about, its a challenge.

We are starting with DVDs called Signing Time: Volume 1, My First Signs and Playtime Signs and so far Kirsten enjoys them. The woman who does the signs and kids in the video are cute and fun. The DVDs remind me of Baby Einstein movies. Lots of repeated images and words. Which I suppose is really the only way to teach a child sign language. Just as we do with animal sounds... show and tell, show and tell. I really enjoy that it is very kid centered. Lots of kids doing signs, showing an image, being silly. I was worried it would mostly be "This is how we sign ball.... This is how we sign milk...." and bore her.

So far we have stuck to the first video, which is basic signs. She shows some interest, and I play along with the video too. I try to have on hand as many of the objects as they are showing in the video. Her favorite word right now is "ball" so I am trying to focus on words she is very familiar with.

No sign of any signs from her yet, but really its only been two days. I may look for some flash cards to help us too.

I really look forward to sharing how this is going. It has been a really fun process learning along with her. I don't expect us to ever be experts, or be able to sign conversations to one another. My ultimate goal is just to have some basics down. The hardest part so far is figuring out how to go from "learning time" and "use in real life" time. Its easy to put on the video and sign away with it, or use the books as guides for a few minutes a day. But I think the true test is if I can make it a habit to use the signs throughout the day.

Here we go!