I’ll admit it. I’m a groupie for a children’s sign language video. My son is too. We love Signing Time!
For the uninitiated, Signing Time is a series of DVDs that teaches ASL (American Sign Language) to kids. We got our first when Noah was 9 months old. Now he’s 2 ½ and we have 15 volumes. I’m starting to think we have a bit of an obsession.
But what’s not to like? Thanks to Alex, Leah and Rachel, the Signing Time stars (and our television friends), Noah knows a second language. (Well, technically you could call it his first language, since he was signing before he was talking.) The videos are fun to watch, they’re educational (with a whole host of other benefits), and they have great songs (example) that both of us can enjoy in the car!
We started with signing when Noah was little. It was the trendy thing to do, and why not? If I could get him to communicate before he could speak, it was worth a try. Now, I don’t know why everyone doesn’t sign with their babies. When Noah was 15 months old, and barely talking (mama, dada, a few animal sounds – not too useful for every day conversation), he could tell me when he was hungry and what he wanted to eat, and he could even tell me when he was tired and wanted to sleep! We’d have whole conversations in Sign. When he was 17 months old, we were at target, and as we were checking out, there was a massive tantrum going on a few aisles over. Lots of crying. Noah looked at me and signed “baby”. Then, “baby cry” Then, he thought for a minute, and signed “milk”. Yes, Noah, you’re right, crying babies need milk. A few seconds later, the kid was still crying, and Noah looked at me, signed “cry” again, and then, vehemently, with both hands, signed “milk”. As if to say, “Come on, why isn’t someone getting that baby milk?!”
As if that wasn’t cool enough, we got to know the Signing Time “family” through their online forum and weekly chat. Most Signing Time fans know that when Leah was 14 months old, they found out she was deaf. But what many don’t know is that when Leah was 3, her mom, Rachel, was pregnant with her little sister, Lucy. Lucy had spina bifida and had in-utero surgery to correct it. Then, she was born prematurely and now has cerebral palsy as a result. When Lucy was 2, her doctors said if she didn’t start communicating soon, she’d also be labeled mentally retarded. Shortly after that, Lucy started signing. If not for Leah, Lucy may have never started speaking.
But perhaps the best part of Signing Time is the way that they make you feel like you belong in their little signing family. Through the forums and chats, the fun contests they have, their “handy” crafts, and the way Rachel tours the country to see and perform for her fans, the Signing Time team goes out of their way to welcome their fans and keep them signing. They even invite their fans to be in their videos!
Emschwar
