Before having kids I was an avid Super Nanny fan. Now that I have 3 children of my own, I find that what she may suggest to a family may not always work for everyone and I can hardly stand to take advice from someone who is not themselves a parent. To say the least, I don’t bother watching these days.

There is one tip though that seems to be weaved into every episode (or at least the ones I’ve caught). When talking to your child, get down at eye level with them. Eye contact is super important in delivering a message and seeing that it is received. Too often parents forget to do this and wonder why their child hasn’t done what was asked of them. I was also advised by a preschool teacher that a physical touch such as a hand on a shoulder, in addition to eye contact is important for boys. I’m not sure of the science behind it, but from my own experience in when I remember to use my “parenting tools” it is definitely effective. The trick really is practicing the technique often enough that it just becomes habit. We’re still working on it and my oldest is 6!

What is funny is my children even know that fostering eye contact is a great way to get their message delivered. There are times I’m busy typing away at the computer and my daughter, Amberly, is hungry for an after school snack. I’ll tell her to give me 5 minutes to wrap up and she’s often times come into the office to remind me that she’s hungry. She taps me on the shoulder, (the automatic response is to stop and look at the person) and then she signs EAT while reminding me that she is hungry. I suppose from signing with my kids and facilitating that eye contact while communicating a non verbal language, it taught them inherently to get eye contact to deliver important messages. It makes me really happy when I see this result instead of a tantrum about “Mom, you forgot you were going to get me a snack!” (which I won’t lie, has sometimes been the case).

Obviously, it is necessary to have eye contact to effectively introduce a sign to your child. Some situations that present themselves may make it difficult to retrieve you toddler’s attention. One such example is visiting a WATER FOUNTAIN. Most toddlers are in awe of water fountains and can’t take their eyes off it. Ideally you’d want to sign WATER FOUNTAIN before you get anywhere near it, before they are totally mesmerized by it. Having signed it a few times before going to visit a water fountain though can curiously prompt them to then look at you as you say it while standing at the water fountain and they then will look to you to check out the sign they recall you demonstrated just a few minutes before. I’ve used this technique several times and more often than not it has worked. I encourage you to make a trip to a nearby water fountain and practice this technique. Luckily, Amberly agreed to let me take this video of her demonstrating the sign. Check back and let me know how it went!

Do you sing “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” or “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” to your little one? Most of us do because we can easily remember those lullabies from our childhood quite easily.

Babies respond well to music and especially soft melodies like these because they are calming and the world around them can be a bit much to take in. Simply giving your child’s brain a new direction of focus can alleviate the stress a baby feels from their environment.

As parents we need all kinds of tools at our disposal to get through those rough patches of a baby’s crying fits. Singing can be one of the easiest tools to utilize, and for parents who have been SIGNING together with singing, they report a quicker response of calm in comforting their baby.

I first discovered this with my first baby, Amberly.  She was what is lovingly referred to as a high needs baby (as opposed to high maintenance baby) and she was also very alert, meaning she had a hard time tuning things out and would become over stimulated. By singing and signing to her I found I could focus her attention on one thing, the song. There is something about the tactile experience of the movement associated with the songs that probably made a deeper imprint in your brain.

As a new mom I didn’t know a lot of lullabies, but I knew the ABCs and Itsy Bitsy Spider and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star just fine… so I sang and signed those… a lot! It seemed to make sense that since I was already signing with her to be able to communicate with Grandma (my mom is deaf) that I would use ASL rather than gestures.

There’s one reason I love a rainy day – the chance to sing and sign Itsy Bitsy Spider with the kids, both at home and in my classes! Enjoy this video demonstration – remember – few of us are born with star quality voices, but our kiddos enjoy it so sing and sign away!

We’ve had an unusually warm winter here in San Diego. In fact some days I’ve seen many Facebook posts bragging with photos of the temperature gauge in their car or an app from their smart phone… and lots of spontaneous beach days! Ah, the beach, a place full of adventure and endless sand for little ones. Many adults dread going to the beach because of the sand… but children can play in it for hours! Have you sat at a park and watched a baby who’s placed in the sandbox for the first time? Their curiosity of course leads them to put it straight in their mouth most of the time. And one handful is usually not enough! These moments are not only precious moments to sit and take in, but they offer as incredible learning opportunities for little ones. It seems that when a novel experience presents itself, a key (we’ll call it curiosity) unlocks the gateway to learning. Immediately their brain becomes thirsty for knowledge. These are the experiences I most loved in teaching my children a new sign. SAND is perhaps the epitome of this example.

I can distinctly remember the first time Kyle got to sit in the shade under a slide and enjoy the cool sand all around him. It dawned on me that I wasn’t sure of the sign for SAND and I turned to my husband thinking I’d lost one of these teachable moments. Instead he gave a quick response and said, “It probably looks something like how you sift sand through your hands.” Well, that was good enough for the moment to not be wasted and it looked vaguely familiar when he showed me his sign. I grew up in Minnesota, and although my mom is deaf, I just couldn’t picture the sign in my mind. I figured the least we could do is show Kyle the sign and if we needed to correct ourselves later, kids are quick studies and could easily adapt. Kyle was indeed curious about my going on and on about the sand and showing him the sign as well as playing with the sand through my fingers. He was not yet at the stage where he’s copy a sign after seeing it just one time, but I could see the wheels turning in his head.

While we have yet to make a winter’s run on the beach, we did recently go to Sea World where I took advantage of the bright scenery by their sand box to take a little video to teach you the sign for SAND. What other novel outdoor experience would unlock the gateway to learning a new sign for your baby?

The first time I heard the book read at a toddler story time, I fell in love with My Many Colored Days. The way the colors and animals give children a connection to the meaning of the feelings described on each of the pages is simple yet profound. It is seemingly written for that tender toddler age.

As a baby steps (no pun intended) into toddlerhood they have a full range of emotions to grapple with, partly in relation to their reach towards independence. Another part of that is the attempt at effective communication that is often times cute and often times frustrating. Consider for a moment a baby who has graduated the world of cruising and now toddles towards things they want. Sometimes those things are off limits as we protect our baby from danger. Yet, from their perspective, the other walking people seem to have full reign and few limits. A whole new world is open to them, yet invisible boundaries still limit them. On the flip side, exhilaration abounds at all the new achievements toddlers experience; in part due the novelty of being able to do something they once could not do. So often times the feelings are felt in a big way.

Just as babies are not born with all of their teeth and teething seems an unfair painful experience, toddlers must undergo a lot of trial and error as they progress in their verbal language journey. And so baby sign language has been a tool of choice for the modern day parent. I knew right away that I would utilize this lesser known book of Dr. Seuss’ in my Sign, Play & Learn classes as a tool to show parents how a book can connect the dots for complex ideas such as feelings.

Here I share with you a reading and signing of My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss. Let me know which of the signs you plan to show your baby/toddler.

It is no secret that babies get a kick out of seeing animals and hearing the unique sounds they make. This is probably why there are so many children’s books that incorporate animals; babies and toddlers are engaged by them easily!  One of the classics is Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle.

In this video I’m capitalizing on the rhythm and cadence of this prose to introduce the signs for each animal and its color. This particular version of the book is great because as the story progresses to introduce the next animal, there is a peek-a-boo window that shows the next animal.

Babies and toddlers in the Signing Story Time program I have all over San Diego have been prompted to sign along, especially when we make the sound of the corresponding animal as a group. Being silly is a great way to get your child to imitate you, and that’s exactly what we want them to do when we are teaching them new signs.

Many of the parents in our classes have shared with me that they will read the book at home alongside this video as an additional way to practice their signs at home. Practicing your signing through reading books is a wonderful way to grow your child’s interest in books and it also enhances their language acquisition. Try it out with your little one and let me know if they enjoy it!

While my children are very little it seems they can be easily amazed by the same things again year after year as the fall season brings exciting adventures with it. A number of family fall activities have become traditions that once were novelties, and both bring about a sense of joy and connection. Those fuzzy warm feelings have provided the perfect setting for signing opportunities. One of our favorites has been taking the kids to Julian, CA to go apple picking.

I remember quite clearly the first time we took my daughter who had just turned 2 years old and son who was just about 6 months old to go apple picking. Walking down rows of trees that bore a fruit she was quite familiar with was all a novelty to her. First she was pointing out the apples on the ground, and then I lifted her up to a branch with an apple ripe for the picking. She reached right out for it and harvested her very first apple. At that age they still put things in their mouth without much warning, especially if that item is food. We broke the rules and let her eat the apple right then and there; luckily this orchard is certified organic. At this age she was saying apple with great ease, but I wanted to see if she remembered the sign for APPLE, which she did! After apple picking we went to the Apple Days Festival where kids could dance, ride a tractor, bounce in a jumpy house and feast on apple treats. We next ventured into town to grab a slice of warm apple pie! One of the best parts about this playgroup excursion was watching them all experience a bench swing and tossing leaves up in the air over and over again. Two more great signing opportunities: SWING and LEAVES. Mom’s Pies Etc had given our family the perfect way to end the apple picking day. This past weekend the boys had their very first experience of picking apples at the very same orchard. It will certainly be an activity we look forward to again for years to come.

We’d missed the apple season a couple of years in a row, having 3 kids and planning an hour long drive up a windy highway can be fairly daunting. Leading up to this recent visit, my daughter retold parts of the story that I’ve just shared with you here. She literally had just turned two when we had been the last time, and now at six years old she could remember. I credit this to teaching her sign language. Memories are formed when children have language to articulate and store those memories. Sign language probably more so because it is then a visual imprint on the mind of their experience.

Does your family have a favorite fall activity? Have you created a signing opportunity out of seasonal activities or family traditions? Share them by leaving a comment below.

Babies generally begin pointing around 6 to 9 months of age, coincidentally the time they are ready to begin the adventure of eating solids. In fact the act of pointing is one of the indicators to look for in determining if your baby is truly ready for solids. Pointing is one of baby’s first forms of communicating. In the beginning it is adorable and parents as well as caregivers ask questions to find out what baby is pointing at to find out their interests. Sometimes baby will also point at things they want. Why pointing isn’t always effective is because of the long arduous process of trying to find out each and every time what it is they want. When they’re pointing it is generally something they can’t get their hands on immediately and they need help to obtain it. Parents get up and go over to the general vicinity of where baby is pointing and begin picking up objects, “is this what you want?” item after item being picked up and put down with your baby growing frustrated in not being understood.

Often pointing and the excitement around pointing diminish after a couple short months because of its inconsistent results and ineffectiveness. Yet, it is clear that babies have the desire to “point out” things they are interested in, just for the pure joy of communicating, not so much because they want the item. This is when I encourage parents to take advantage of pointing for the beauty of baby sign language, the act of just bonding with their child where there is not a need to be met, but rather your child steering two way conversations.

Birds and airplanes are two great examples of having this ripe opportunity available. It is something that has caught your child’s attention, which they merely want to talk about. More often than not this situation arises when you are enjoying time outside, where you have the time and tendency to connect. It is clear the child doesn’t want the bird or airplane, but rather enjoys the interesting sound it makes or the fact that it is in the sky, where not everything else can go…. Amazing that those babies are in fact making these distinctions this young!

Take advantage of this time and talk about the “birds” or “airplanes” flying high above, how interesting the sound is that they make, or their color, or how many there are…. Each situation is unique and provides various possibilities. The key point (no pun intended) is to have a dialogue with your baby, letting them know you take interest in their observation of the world around them. The tip I specifically share in the Sign, Play & Learn classes is this “Every time your baby points, take it to mean – I want to know what that’s called” and provide not just the name of the item, but also the sign. Babies want to be heard and valued, when we provide them the tool for being better understood with signs that associated with their “interests” instead of focusing so much on the common signs of “eat”, “more”, “all done” and “please”, a child will not only respond more readily, and by that I mean learn and demonstrate the sign, but they will feel good about being understood, well responded to and loved!

With each child I’ve learned a little more about parenting than I knew before, I guess they refer to that as earning your stripes. Sometimes your first child gets a little more attention just by the sheer one on one interaction they are blessed with and moms often report feeling guilty when they’re just not able to do “everything” with the second baby. I had an epiphany in thinking about this topic of feelings and my experience in signing with all three of my children. What we lack in one-on-one attention with a second or third or more babies we make up for in our rooted knowledge of how to care for our children.

Amberly, my first, was at least a year before I began demonstrating the feeling signs with her. I often took note of all the “things” she was interested in as a baby since I knew that approximately 70% of baby’s first words are nouns. Then, came along Kyle. He had the luxury of seeing signs demonstrated towards him as well as towards Amberly, they’re just 17 months apart so we were still teaching Amberly lots of new signs in Kyle’s first year of life (and then it dwindled because when Kyle started walking he was into everything and I could barely keep up with just taking care of a 2 year old and a 1 year old!). There were times when I’d specifically be showing a sign to Amberly and then take a second to turn and show Kyle as well. On a side note, what was really fun is having Amberly be a little assistant teacher and reinforce the sign for Kyle!

As you might already know two year olds tend to express their feelings in a big way – both the happy and not-so-happy feelings. As they develop, these feelings are new for them and the not recognizing those feelings going on inside are part of what lead to tantrums. Knowing some of this, I would take care in showing Amberly the feelings signs as it helped to identify them for her. What I didn’t expect was that these feelings signs would be equally important to my 10 month old.

Our practice was for my husband and I to take turns each night putting one of the children to sleep. After getting pajamas on and brushing teeth, I would sign and say “I love you” to Amberly. One night as I did this, Kyle held his little hand up in the L shape, waved it back and forth and said his little version of “I love you”! I was so excited to hear and see his ability to connect this feeling with our practice of saying good night. I quickly had him turn to dad and tell him “I love you”. It was so cute. What I did next is what any excited mother would do, turned to my husband and expecting him to read my “look”  and coached him to tell Kyle to say “I love you” to me. My eyes had been opened to see that even babies pick up on those feelings and understand them.

This was my cue to start showing Kyle the sign for “nap”. What mom wouldn’t want a little help in that department? He was still taking 2 naps a day so I’d take a second to ask him if he was tired then follow up with signing “nap” and it only took a few days before he was responding! Babies understand far more than we give them credit for, and they will follow instructions in sign but not always use it themselves. That is, until a situation calls for it. Our family came down with a horrible cold, I’m convinced the kids and I ended up with a sinus infection. Life can be a little hairy in any house where everyone is sick. I was doing my best to keep everyone happy and rested. As I held Kyle on my hip while he was crying, I was standing jostling him and doing my best to help Amberly with a toy. Kyle knew I wasn’t getting the point and said out loud “Mama” and when I turned to look at him, he signed NAP! I couldn’t believe it! It wasn’t anywhere near his typical morning nap time, but it dawned on me that with his not feeling well and not sleeping well at night that he was tired far earlier. After acknowledging what he said I went straight over to the cd player to put in his lullaby cd, set up on the couch and nursed him off to sleep. It was the best feeling in the world to have him be able to give me a clear message, especially while he was feeling sick and be able to appropriately respond to his needs. Never underestimate the power of communication, it comes up in the times you least expect it.

Have you experienced something similar, whether an epiphany about parenting or being marveled at your baby’s ability to comprehend something even though they are so young? Share your story with me.

Children and water, it’s just a natural fit. Summer has ended and I’m thinking about how much the kids enjoyed various water play activities from filling up the water table, playing on the slip n’ slide, turning on the sprinkler, going to the pool, and splashing around at our favorite theme park, Legoland CA a bunch of times. It might be the sole reason we enjoy summer so much, well, that and the fact that there’s no homework to monitor.

Water is one of those signs that I encourage parents to add to their signing vocabulary early because it offers plenty of natural contexts to repeat and reinforce the sign. Just think for a moment all the points in the day that you or your child interacts with water. It’s quite a bit when you think about cooking, cleaning, drinking, washing hands, taking a bath or shower, then add in the summer fun activities and you’ve doubled your child’s exposure to the sign for water in context.

I’m going to ask you to run a mock scientific experiment in your mind’s eye, with the example of signing WATER in specific contexts.

Baby A is being shown the sign for WATER each time she drinks from a sippy cup.

Baby B is being shown the sign for WATER each time the faucet is turned on or a pitcher filled up or hands being washed or bath being drawn PLUS every time baby splashes, or goes to the pool, or plays in water in general.

Will Baby A or Baby B pick up the sign faster? The answer is easy. Baby B would certainly be the one inclined to begin signing WATER faster given everything else is equal.

Having fun is something we can easily forget as new parents, there certainly is plenty to do and care for and the rollercoaster ride of adding a family member can keep our mind pretty occupied. When kids are busy playing, they are having fun, but more importantly when kids are busy playing, they are also busy learning!

What signs do you have the most fun with in communicating with your baby?

Although when we think about the word nourishment we think of food, it is really about one’s entire well-being. Here is one online definition “The substances necessary for growth, health, and good condition.”

Our actions and our words are another form of nourishment. Specifically, signing will nourish a child’s brain. Research shows children who signed as a baby tend to have higher IQs, have a higher aptitude for learning, and excel in communication. Because this visual language is so easy to learn, children are excited to learn, when they are excited to learn they then want to learn more. Building up one’s confidence in learning empowers a child to communicate well, try new things and leaves them with a feeling of fulfillment.

Books are another great way to nourish a baby’s brain, so why not sign as you read to your little one? The following tips can be applied to reading and signing, coupled together you’ll feed your baby’s hungry brain.

1. Repetition. Children benefit from reading the same book again and again as they become familiar with sequencing, they love being able to predict what comes next in the story and being correct. Signing a word over and over again helps a baby pick up the meaning of the sign, much the way we repeat words when using parantese with babies (the high pitched sing song repetition of words caregivers use when speaking to babies).

2. Establish a routine. Reading a book before bed or naptime is a great way for a baby to wind down. Once you’ve begun signing in the context of reading books, or any other situation, continue to do so and your child will pick the signs up quickly.

3. Make it fun. If your toddler wants to flip through the pages quickly to find their favorite page, go ahead and spend time talking about what interests them most. Try signing when you’re laughing and playing, your baby takes note of what you’re doing and is encouraged to chime in.

4. Encourage participation. Pointing, page turning, and talking about the book, not just the written words are all great ways for a baby to begin the lifelong love of reading. Asking your baby to show you the sign is great practice to build up to initiating conversation.

5. Be creative. When you find new ways to tell the same story it not only keeps your child engaged, it keeps you engaged as well. A novel game is one of the greatest signing opportunities. One of our favorites is This Little Piggy, signing pig each time you wiggle each little toe, and of course making a great pig snort or squeal!