Saturday, November 23, 2013

Signing Time Holiday Sales

Our family started watching Signing Time when Ben was 18 months old.  We had one DVD and I would put Ben in the playpen and turn it on every day while I was getting ready for work.  Within two weeks he learned his first sign.  Luckily it was almost Christmas time, so we put Signing Time on Ben's Christmas (and Birthday) list to help build our library.  It took 3 years, but we finally got the whole set.  Even as we got more videos, I made sure that Ben watched the same video for at least a week so the signs could really sink in.

Right before he turned 3 we realized, quite by accident, that Ben had learned to sight read from watching the videos.  He was recently tested at school (he is in Kindergarten) and is sight reading at a 3rd grade level, mostly because he can read almost every word taught in the Signing Time program and many of those words are more complex words.

Signing Time made teaching sign language so easy because we were able use the DVD's to turn down time, (like when I was showering, making dinner, or driving) into learning time.  Plus the fun songs made it easy to incorporate sign into our daily routine.

Signing Time just announce their Black Friday / Cyber Monday sales .  They even have a Pre-Turkey Tuesday sale.  These DVD's only go on sale a couple days a year, so this is a good time to think about Holiday gifts and take a look at what they have to offer.  This is also the only time of year you can get a discount on their books and flashcards which are great tools for helping to incorporate sign into your daily routine.    Click on any of the links above or the ABC Signing Kids logo on the right side of the page to find out more. 

You can also sign up for my November Giveaway and try to win a free Signing Time DVD and a Barefoot Sing A Long Book by completing the Rafflecopter form below.

Friday, November 22, 2013

Ben and I were on TV!

A few weeks back, I met 10/11 News reporter Bridget Fargen at a dinner meeting.   We ended up sitting next to each other, and during the dinner we talked about our families and backgrounds.  I was excited to hear that she knew ASL, and had taken it through high school and college.  She was equally excited that I am teaching sign language vocabulary to babies and children in the community. 

A few weeks later she called and asked if I would be interested in doing a story about how using how beneficial it is to teach sign language to babies and young children.  Of course, I said YES!  She came out and spent over and hour with Ben and I talking about sign language and how it has helped Ben to communicate and ultimately read.  Ben was not the most cooperative that day, as he had just gotten home off the bus and was tired, and was not getting any attention, so he kept making noise most of the time I was trying to talk.  But they did get the a clip of me explaining how we accidentally figured out he could read.  

I also directed her to Ben's Speech Pathologist, Staci who is quoted in the report.  The are a few other local Mom's in the report with their babies.  I showed it to Ben this morning and he was excited to see us on the screen and was excited to see Staci too, since we stopped going to her in August when school started.  

If you would like to check out the finished report, click HERE .