| 21:36:58 |
suebattel |
Hi there. Just dropping in.
Haven't participated in one of these before. |
| 21:37:51 |
WeeHands |
that's okay - very quiet tonight.
this time is slotted for a signing babies chat |
| 21:38:23 |
WeeHands |
i'm sara, owner of WeeHands - we
teach parents to sign with their babies |
| 21:38:46 |
suebattel |
Great. I sign with my 2-year-old.
Have done so since she was 5 months. |
| 21:39:06 |
WeeHands |
awesome! what area of the world
are you in? |
| 21:39:14 |
suebattel |
Michigan |
| 21:39:19 |
suebattel |
I just discovered today yet
another great reason to sign. |
| 21:39:25 |
WeeHands |
what's that? |
| 21:39:40 |
suebattel |
I caught a bug and lost my voice
yesterday. It's been great to be able to sign to my daughter and
hsuband! |
| 21:39:57 |
suebattel |
Of course she ignored me when I
told her she didn't need to get into her Halloween candy. |
| 21:40:05 |
suebattel |
How long have you been teaching? |
| 21:40:13 |
WeeHands |
that's cute! |
| 21:40:36 |
WeeHands |
i've been teaching parents with
children with special needs to sign since about 1997 |
| 21:40:53 |
WeeHands |
I've been teaching parents to
sign with their babies since 2001 |
| 21:41:00 |
suebattel |
Wonderful. |
| 21:41:18 |
WeeHands |
i'm mom to a 4 year old and a 23
month old. she'll be two next week, but i don't even want to
think about it! |
| 21:41:21 |
suebattel |
I've been asked to give 3
workshops so far. People just hear about my signing and are
interested. |
| 21:41:29 |
WeeHands |
where in michigan are you from? |
| 21:41:32 |
WeeHands |
hi ellie! |
| 21:41:35 |
suebattel |
Does the 4-year-old still sign? |
| 21:41:41 |
ellie |
hi sara |
| 21:41:51 |
suebattel |
Northern Michigan-between
Traverse City and Grand Rapids |
| 21:41:53 |
suebattel |
Hi Ellie. |
| 21:41:55 |
ellie |
hi suebattel |
| 21:42:07 |
ellie |
not very busy in here tonight |
| 21:42:19 |
WeeHands |
he does very rarely - we use it
most when i'm on the phone and he wants to talk and to say I
love you" when we are separated by a window or space" |
| 21:42:47 |
WeeHands |
sue I grew up in sault ste marie
ontario so i'm very fond of those from michigan! |
| 21:42:48 |
suebattel |
I see. |
| 21:43:02 |
suebattel |
Great! |
| 21:43:13 |
suebattel |
Where are you from, Ellie? |
| 21:43:20 |
WeeHands |
not busy tonite at all, i've been
signed on since 9 but we've just started chatting |
| 21:43:21 |
ellie |
london ontario canada |
| 21:43:40 |
ellie |
how old are your kids sue |
| 21:43:52 |
WeeHands |
and i'm just east of toronto now
- in a little village called brooklin. so we aren't that far
from each other! |
| 21:43:57 |
suebattel |
I'm originally from a small town
near Port Huron, Michigan, so I think you're not too far across
the Blue Water Bridge. |
| 21:44:05 |
suebattel |
I have 1 daughter, age 2 (27
months) |
| 21:44:29 |
ellie |
my daughter will be 2 in january
and my boy is 4 years old |
| 21:44:41 |
WeeHands |
my brother and sister in law live
in sarnia! he works at the blue water bridge! |
| 21:44:48 |
suebattel |
She's very verbal, and talked
early, but we're continuing with the sign so our family can
learn ASL together. Maybe we won't be as fluent as some, but it
will be an almost" second language for us." |
| 21:44:51 |
suebattel |
Cool! |
| 21:44:55 |
suebattel |
Small world. |
| 21:45:09 |
suebattel |
Do both of your kids sign? |
| 21:45:15 |
WeeHands |
ellie i can't believe how close
our kiddies are - even the same 4 year old boy and almost 2 year
old girl |
| 21:45:27 |
WeeHands |
that's great sue! |
| 21:45:32 |
ellie |
yup we should meet up some time |
| 21:45:55 |
suebattel |
Ellie, how did you get into
signing? |
| 21:46:07 |
ellie |
i took a class last year in
london |
| 21:46:07 |
suebattel |
Sara, did you start as an ASL
interpreter then? |
| 21:46:22 |
WeeHands |
my two year old signs as she
speaks often - it's very natural to her. she's also half italian
so talking with your hands comes very naturally! :) |
| 21:47:00 |
suebattel |
How cute. |
| 21:47:25 |
ellie |
how many signs does your daughter
know sue |
| 21:47:25 |
WeeHands |
so sue i'm a communicative
disorders assistant. i've worked for the past 10+ years with
individuals with down syndrome, autism etc. mainly all who were
nonverbal so we used sign as one way for them to communicate |
| 21:47:55 |
suebattel |
I see. |
| 21:48:27 |
suebattel |
I haven't tracked how many signs
Addy knows in a long time. I remember when she was 15 months she
knew 30 signs, so I guess it's something much more than that by
now. |
| 21:48:55 |
ellie |
cool |
| 21:49:38 |
suebattel |
We're learning together. I think
we have mastered the alphabet and numbers 1-10 (meaning she can
repeat it if we do it, not initiate them). And now I'd like to
learn some of the signs that fill out the language -- when,
what, together, around, etc. |
| 21:49:41 |
WeeHands |
why did you start signing sue? |
| 21:50:19 |
suebattel |
Honestly, not for the right
reasons. Mothering magazine published my article about signing
with toddlers and I had to admit in the lead why I started
signing. |
| 21:50:53 |
suebattel |
I thought it sounded trendy and
like it would help make Addy more intelligent. Not that those
are bad reasons because any reason is probably fine, but I've
discovered it's about SO much more. |
| 21:51:29 |
WeeHands |
how long ago was that article
published? |
| 21:51:34 |
suebattel |
What got you interested in the
baby signing, Ellie and SAra? |
| 21:52:02 |
ellie |
curiosity but i have always been
interested in signing since highschool |
| 21:52:23 |
WeeHands |
it doesn't seem like it was very
long ago but if it got you started it must have been almost a
year ago (?) |
| 21:52:56 |
suebattel |
The article was in this
July/August issue. In the lead I wrote about my initial thoughts
in retrospect. |
| 21:53:07 |
WeeHands |
curiosity here too - my B.A. is
in linguistics and I was just curious about ASL so I started
taking courses in University |
| 21:53:16 |
suebattel |
Wow, that's neat. |
| 21:53:53 |
ellie |
I love telling everyone about the
value of sign with toddlers and babies |
| 21:53:54 |
suebattel |
Seems like a lot of signing
parents come from linguistics or special education. I'm a
writer, so any language is interesting to me (though I only know
English). |
| 21:54:11 |
suebattel |
Ellie, do a lot of people ask you
about it once they know you sign? |
| 21:54:20 |
ellie |
yes and how. |
| 21:54:32 |
ellie |
i think a lot of people are
curious about the whole thing |
| 21:54:42 |
WeeHands |
I knew about the benefits of
signing with those who were nonverbal from my work with adults
and children with special needs - I experimented a bit with my
son and he amazed me by signing back at 9 months. At about that
time I found Joseph Garcia's Sign. . |
| 21:54:46 |
ellie |
and i am proud and excited when
they ask questions |
| 21:54:54 |
suebattel |
:) |
| 21:55:04 |
WeeHands |
with your Baby program and voila.
. I knew what I had to do! |
| 21:55:12 |
suebattel |
Great! |
| 21:55:37 |
ellie |
I started with baby signs and
realized that asl was a better fit for us |
| 21:55:42 |
suebattel |
I found Garcia's, too. I told my
mother that's what Addy wanted for her first Christmas gift. Did
you use a particular program Ellie? |
| 21:55:48 |
suebattel |
Good for you. |
| 21:55:52 |
WeeHands |
did you take classes in London
Ellie? |
| 21:56:15 |
suebattel |
I'm glad to see that Baby Signs
is moving closer to ASL signs, but Garcia's focus on ASL was the
reason I chose it. |
| 21:56:19 |
ellie |
yes i used the joseph garcia
program there is a instructor in london |
| 21:56:49 |
ellie |
I believe you know her sara. |
| 21:56:56 |
ellie |
shannon |
| 21:57:02 |
suebattel |
When we moved to this town a year
ago we met a nice family in our church. Their 6-y-o son is deaf
and uses ASL. I think it's wonderful that I can communicate with
him. |
| 21:57:02 |
WeeHands |
yep she's great! |
| 21:57:15 |
WeeHands |
i think that's great sue! |
| 21:58:20 |
WeeHands |
have you taken any classes Sue? |
| 21:58:41 |
suebattel |
No, I haven't. |
| 21:58:49 |
suebattel |
I'd love to, but there aren't any
in my area. |
| 21:59:15 |
ellie |
you'll just have to come to
toronto and learn from wee hands right sara |
| 21:59:15 |
suebattel |
I just read everything I can. |
| 21:59:24 |
suebattel |
Yep! Sounds like a road trip to
me. |
| 21:59:53 |
ellie |
i have a cute story |
| 21:59:59 |
WeeHands |
tell us! |
| 22:00:06 |
ellie |
my son and i were working on our
letter to santa tonight |
| 22:00:16 |
ellie |
and then he wanted to write a
letter for emily |
| 22:00:26 |
ellie |
and in the letter he asked santa
to bring his sister |
| 22:00:45 |
ellie |
sign language books and the
signing time 4 dvd |
| 22:00:48 |
ellie |
thought that was cute |
| 22:01:00 |
suebattel |
Awww! |
| 22:01:07 |
suebattel |
I love the Signing Time DVDs. |
| 22:01:21 |
ellie |
we all do to |
| 22:01:22 |
suebattel |
My daughter sings Alex and Leah!"
(kids on the videos)" |
| 22:01:35 |
WeeHands |
that is so cute! |
| 22:01:37 |
ellie |
emily signs signing time with the
song |
| 22:01:50 |
WeeHands |
i can't wait to get the new dvds! |
| 22:01:57 |
ellie |
you don't have them yet |
| 22:02:03 |
ellie |
are they available |
| 22:02:33 |
suebattel |
Wow, I didn't know there were new
ones coming. Can't wait. |
| 22:02:41 |
ellie |
4,5 and 6 |
| 22:02:45 |
WeeHands |
volumes 4-6 are out soon.
signingtime.com and signingstore.ca are taking pre-orders for
them |
| 22:02:50 |
ellie |
leah has really grown up |
| 22:03:19 |
ellie |
you can down load a song off of
the signing time site |
| 22:03:30 |
WeeHands |
it's funny cuz i don't want to
see them grow up (a little) - just like i don't want my kids to
grow up - it's all going so quickly! |
| 22:03:42 |
ellie |
you said it. |
| 22:03:58 |
ellie |
enjoy it while you can |
| 22:04:01 |
WeeHands |
sue, the closest presenters to
you are in bay city and around the ann arbor area |
| 22:04:39 |
suebattel |
Really? I have relatives around
Bay City and could make it there. Do I check on sign2me.com? |
| 22:05:45 |
WeeHands |
Katherine Maciejewski Telephone:
(989) 893-9288 Katherine Maciejewski Telephone: (989) 893-9288 |
| 22:05:55 |
WeeHands |
oops sorry about the double info! |
| 22:06:06 |
WeeHands |
http://www.sign2me.com/profile.php?ID=99 |
| 22:07:11 |
WeeHands |
it looks like she offers one time
2 - 3 hour workshops as well |
| 22:07:38 |
ellie |
ok I think it's time for me to
go. ER is on. Talk to you soon see you next week hopefully |
| 22:07:40 |
suebattel |
Thanks! |
| 22:07:47 |
suebattel |
Me too. Thanks for the chat. |
| 22:07:55 |
WeeHands |
See you next week! |
| 22:08:17 |
WeeHands |
Take care Sue! :) |
| 22:08:25 |
suebattel |
Bye |
