Ellie is picking up signs I hadn't realized she'd even been paying attention to, so the whole sign language thing is going well. (I asked her what a picture at Grandma's house was of, and she signed 'tree', a word I hadn't realized she'd learned yet.) I'm especially pleased because she now verbally says "More", "All done," and "Ball" while she signs them -- all words we've been trying to get her to say forever, and now she acts like it's no big deal to toss them around all willy nilly while signing. (Her speech is suddenly increasing -- which is great, as she hadn't said a new word in months before this -- now all the sudden she's saying several new things a week. She's gonna progress right out of the Early Intervention program right around the time we get her all set up! :-) Her meeting with her new speech therapist is for not next Tuesday, but the Tuesday after.)
Ellie will watch about one "Signing Time" video a day or so, (although this last few days we haven't had any, as I'd accidentally put CDs on hold at the library, and not DVDs.) She doesn't actually act all that interested, walking away and wandering back during the video, but then throughout the day, she'll run up to the computer and point and say, "Leah! Leah!" and then smile and walk away. (Leah is the little girl on "Signing Time", and Ellie's favorite part of the videos is the theme song where they sing, "It's signing time with Alex and Leah," and Ellie sings "LEAH!" loudly at the end of the sentence each time they say it. Leah has become her word for the videos, the theme song and sign language in general.)
The other cool bi-product of Ellie's new "Signing Time" regimen, is that Annie is fascinated by it, and can't get enough. She's always asking us, "How do you say that in Spanish? OH! I mean sign language?" (Daddy's beloved Spanish has definitely taken a back seat to this new foreign language in our home). She's using dozens of signs, and is always happily showing them to her little sister. I now find I'm checking videos out from the library more for Annie than Ellie, most recently putting the ABC video on hold, a video I think will hold little interest for Ellie, but will fascinate Annie, who's always trying to perfect her signing form.
So, in short: "Signing Time," good.
6 comments:
That is great news and so much fun. I am guessing you'll start Signing Time with the new one when the time comes? We should do it together!
That is awesome! I'm glad Ellie is expanding her vocab and that Annie is so excited about signing.
I love those girls! Smart little whipper snappers
That's awesome. I think Sign Language is so underrated for many.
I taught both Lauren and Evan sign language as babies and they were singing away before they even turned 1, and they really never threw any major fits because they were always understood. I am a big believer in sign language. There is a lot of debate about how teaching your little ones sigh can delay speech, but I have found the opposite to be true. I love that she is signing and talking. It is amazing how much their little minds pick up on things.
We've only done "baby signs" but we've loved it. Way to go Annie and Ellie and Mommy!
Post a Comment