Signing Time Testimonial

I have mentioned before that Ally has been using Sign Language as a way of communicating with us. She is almost 20 months old and does not have a very large speaking vocabulary. When she was much younger, maybe 6 or 7 months old, I started using signs with her. Past experience with speech issues with Jessica taught me that babies and toddlers could pick up signs much faster and communicate much earlier than kids who don't know signs. In fact, kids often use their own signs to communicate, such as pointing. Anyway, I decided to start signing with Ally at an earlier age than I did with Jessica and, darn it all...Ally signed her first sign at 9 months old!!! She signed "more" when she wanted some more food! We were soooo excited! So now she is 20 months old and only says about 5 words with her voice but she uses at least 30 different signs to communicate with us!!!

Part of that is due to my limited knowledge of sign I learned from family members and from a class I took in college. More of it is due to a show we watch on a PBS station here in Philly, called Signing Time. It's a wonderful show geared towards toddlers and kids (great for beginning parents too!) that teaches them signs for all kinds of things! Every show is a different theme! It's a great show! It's the only show Ally will watch! When I turn it on, she gets so excited within the first 2 seconds! It's also been very good for the older girls. They can communicate with their baby sister without the help of mom. Courtney has become a very proficient finger speller, thanks to a segment they do called "ABC Time". She practices non-stop, spelling every thing she can think of.

My regret about my Sign Language education, is that it wasn't extensive enough or early enough in my life or in the life of my very special family member who needed more of us to learn it! If that makes any sense. I hope that my kids will be able to utilize this valuable skill!

I have a link in the list that is the Signing Time blog. There is a great video of the creator's daughter leaving a tribute to her mom! Check it out! Also there is a website... www.signingtime.com

Thanks for reading my commercial!