You can see the brain wheels turning as older babies and toddlers try to communicate…  as they try to tell an older sibling or adult what they need or want.  You can also see the dazed look on the parent’s face as they try so hard to understand.  Amazingly, older siblings can be impressive interpreters.  But they are not always available.

Baby Sign Language has been around for awhile in many different forms.   Indeed for hearing babies and toddlers that have no developmental issues, providing an option for a peaceful way to communicate their needs and wants.

Kindermusik International teamed up with Signing Smart, who put a lot of research into the best methods for parents to use to help set up positive situations in which their child WANTS to use signs to communicate.  And they established methods for helping children.  The result is Kindermusik Sign and Sing, specifically designed for children from 6 – 36 months along with a parent or significant care provider (a grandparent, aunt, or even a nanny).

At InTune Studios, we are now offering the Sign and Sing program, which is offered on Tuesday mornings at 11:30 am.,  directly following a 10:30 Kindermusik Our Time class, both taught by Tiffany Stokes – the director of InTune Studios, a licensed Kindermusik Educator, and a sister to a sibling with hearing impairments.  

 This is a research-proven program based on methods shown to speed language development in hearing children, ease frustration, and enhance long-term learning abilities.

To attend a Free Demo Class, contact Debbie:  musiconnx@att.net  or check out the schedules for the Free Demo and the full semester on the Music Connections Website .

At Home Materials include:

•  one Family Activity Guide – providing plenty of ideas for activities for parents and children to learn and play with at home
  • one DVD glossary showing 60 signs – WATCH the signs being made by adults & children
  • one set of clip-on flashcards that feature both children and adults using family-friendly American Sign Language signs.

  SESSION B (Advanced)
  

  This session reviews the first three Keys to Signing Smart Success^™ and provides an in-depth look at the final and fourth Key. New concepts such as in and out, up and down, big and little, tall and short will be explored with more songs and animal-themed activities.

   At Home Materials are included with both classes.

  Find out more on: Sign and Sing – Some Questions Answered :  Holly Lesnick does an excellent job of answering the questions:  Will using sign language delay the speech of normally speaking children?  Or will it enhance their language development?

  Here is a bit of research on the particular program we offer (Sign and Sing) which was developed by Signing Smart:  Compared to developmental norms, Signing Smart children have enriched language and communication skills:
  • While the average 8 month old will have no spoken words, the average Signing Smart child will have 5 signs and 1 word.
  • While the average 12 month old will have 3-5 spoken words, the average Signing Smart child will have 25 signs and 16 words
  • At 18 months, the average child will have 10-50 spoken words. In contrast, the average Signing Smart child will have 79 signs and 105 words.
  • In addition, a majority of Signing Smart children begin combining signs and words or signs and signs together to form little sentences at 11-14 months. Compare this to non-signers, who do not begin to combine words into short sentences (e.g., “Da-da car”) until 20 months old on average!

  These results indicate that ASL signs, used in combination with Signing Smart strategies, facilitate both overall communicative abilities as well as spoken language skills in hearing infants and toddlers.

How do you to communicate with your child?   Do you easily understand what your growing child wants and needs through listening to his sounds and watching his actions?  If so, congratulations, you are a very observant parent, who listens to their child without the need for words or ASL signs.  I KNOW parents like this.  I also KNOW parents who are challenged to understand the garble that their child is so intently trying to share.  AND, those who deal with major tantrums because their child is frustrated with his or her inability to communicate.