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Signing With Babies Chat #20, with Sarah Bingham of WeeHands
( www.weehands.com )
2/17/05

7 mamas in attendance

21:10:29 bonellen hi
21:10:53 joanned hi there
21:11:09 joanned are you a signing mom?
21:11:11 bonellen this is signing babies chat?
21:11:29 bonellen yes. mom to 15 month old spencer. you?
21:11:55 joanned yes - Richard is 9 months old and signing
21:12:18 bonellen fabulous! that is about when spencer started signign back to us.
21:12:50 joanned Wonderful - How much is he signing now?
21:13:08 bonellen lots! right after he turned one they just started exploding
21:13:24 bonellen he signs some, and speaks some too.
21:13:41 joanned did you know sign before he was born?
21:14:08 bonellen i got Baby Signs" from my cousin as a baby gift. she used it with her kids (now 5 & 7) and thought it was great"
21:14:16 bonellen that was my intro to signing
21:14:19 bonellen what are richard's favorite signs?
21:14:55 joanned right now he's only signing milk but understands many more
21:15:23 bonellen yes. spencer did seem to understand lots.
21:15:27 joanned I find it helps him with transition ie. diaper change, saying bye bye to toys etc.
21:15:55 bonellen milk, more, eat, all done are good ones to start with - because you use them so often, for many situations
21:16:50 bonellen how did you get into signing with richard?
21:17:04 joanned I've actually been signing to Richard since he was born - I've been an ASL signer for over 10 years now as I have a Deaf family member
21:17:34 eilidh I'm just gonna jump right in...I'm teaching my 10mos baby girl, Willow to sign. Nothing yet....but I'm not giving up!
21:17:55 eilidh I have an older daughter who I taught to sign....so this is signer #2
21:17:56 joanned Sorry, Richard just woke up.....by back in a minute I hope
21:18:16 brooke i have a 7 month old who's still a bit young, but we plan to teach
21:18:29 bonellen hi eilidh. hi brooke
21:18:40 eilidh That's great, Brooke.  Your first baby?
21:19:40 bonellen eilidh - how did you get started signing with your older daughter
21:19:50 brooke yes, he's our first (and in my lap) ;)
21:19:55 brooke yes, he's our first (and in my lap) ;)
21:20:18 eilidh I started when she was born.....and was kinda hot and cold.....but she signed her first sign at 10mos old...it was fish....and after that she learned signs very quickly!
21:20:56 eilidh It's amazing how once they grasp the concept  of signing, they can really take off!  They can learn a lot of signs.
21:21:12 bonellen my son spencer started signing back to use around 9/10 months of age... and right after his birthday they just kept tumbling out
21:21:26 bonellen (he's 14 1/2 months now and going stong!)
21:21:57 eilidh My older daughter has such great speach....so much more advanced than any of her peers....and I know it's because of her early language development via signing.
21:22:44 bonellen that's great to hear! spencer seems to be a bit ahead of the other kids in his class in language (but he was a bit behind in walking)
21:23:14 eilidh My second doesn't seem to be as quick as my first....but I'm hanging in there.
21:23:36 bonellen does your daughter sign to him too?
21:24:22 eilidh My older daughter signs some....but her primary means of communciation is speach....she signs for fun, when I sign signing songs, or when I sign.
21:24:43 signingminionmaker hi everyone!
21:24:44 eilidh meant to say when I ask her to sign...sorry.
21:24:54 eilidh Hi signingminionmaker
21:24:56 bonellen was it sad when she stopped?
21:25:04 bonellen hi minionmaker
21:25:07 signingminionmaker what are we talking about?
21:25:18 eilidh Nah....it's wasn't like to just stopped....it's slowly trickled down.....
21:25:39 eilidh but the other day....
21:25:45 eilidh I took her to dance class
21:25:55 eilidh and they have a window for the parents to look in
21:26:18 eilidh and she and all the other girls were h olding  hands as t hey sad down
21:26:26 eilidh sat...I mean
21:26:32 eilidh she looked up at me
21:26:38 eilidh and saw me looking at her
21:26:59 eilidh and made a fist....and with her other hand peeled up the fingers....needed to sign I love you
21:27:10 eilidh my heart mealted
21:27:21 bonellen awwwww
21:27:32 signingminionmaker That just brought tears to my eyes
21:27:42 eilidh It brought tears to me too
21:27:46 eilidh they grow so fast
21:27:50 bonellen how old is she
21:27:58 eilidh she'll be 3 in April
21:28:01 signingminionmaker Did anyone elses know what she was doing?
21:28:44 signingminionmaker eilidh I wasn't here for the first part of the talk-why did she have to peel up her fingers?  If you don't mind me asking.
21:28:49 eilidh I don't know....I signed it back to her (I felt like we doing the the Wonder Twins---Unite" ritual...ya know the one?  I was a little self conscious...but no one said anything"
21:29:37 signingminionmaker just a kid thing?
21:30:03 eilidh The I love you sign can be a little tricky....thumb, pointer and pinky sticking up.....so she peels each finger up to get it right (I think it's terribly cute to see her do that!)
21:30:20 signingminionmaker That would be.
21:30:54 signingminionmaker I have a funny story
21:31:04 bonellen i don't think spencer has that dexterity to sign  ilove you just yet
21:31:08 bonellen let's hear the story!
21:31:23 signingminionmaker tonight my mother in law comes and gets the triplets ready for bed so I can get a little break.
21:31:57 signingminionmaker that's Thurs. nights.  anyways.  She's singing songs and using all the signs she can remember.
21:32:43 signingminionmaker I was cleaning up the kitchen after the girls supper and she starts screaming SHE SIGNING I LOVE YOU!!!!  SHES SIGNING I LOVE YOU!!!"
21:33:09 bonellen awwwww
21:33:32 signingminionmaker So I come running out of the kitchen and mom's leaned over Jordan changing her bum.  She signed I love you she says, I signed it to her and she signed it back as a wave.
21:33:56 signingminionmaker So she tried and tried to get her to do it and Jordan finally responds
21:34:20 signingminionmaker Nana is so proud of herself because Jordan signed I love you to her first
21:34:26 bonellen how special
21:34:37 bonellen your trips are 2, right?
21:34:40 signingminionmaker Sadly Jordan was actually signing all done cause Nana had finished changing her butt
21:34:53 signingminionmaker I didn't have the heart to tell nana
21:35:15 signingminionmaker Actually they are 19 months
21:36:41 signingminionmaker okay maybe not that funny, you kind of had to be there
21:36:56 BabySignsKelly Hello Everyone!  I'm late - but better late than never!
21:37:02 bonellen hi kelly
21:37:13 signingminionmaker hi kelly
21:37:30 signingminionmaker Is Sara going to make it this evening?
21:38:45 BabySignsKelly How is everyone this evening - anything special you're chatting about?
21:39:23 bonellen hi kelly. talking about signing 'i love you'
21:39:44 signingminionmaker But it was really all done after a butt change
21:39:55 bonellen i think that's funny
21:39:59 signingminionmaker all done""
21:40:06 BabySignsKelly My twins and I used to sign that through the window at day-care when I would leave them in the morning!
21:40:23 signingminionmaker twins neat!  i have triplets
21:40:43 BabySignsKelly God Bless You!  I can barely handle twins couldn't imagine triplets!
21:40:57 signingminionmaker bonellen how is spencer by the way?
21:41:11 signingminionmaker Kelly it's not that much different i'm sure.
21:41:21 bonellen he's doing great. learned the word and sign 'flower' this week. (got some for valentine's day)
21:41:31 bonellen now he sees 'flowers' EVERYWHERE
21:41:34 BabySignsKelly Probably not - you would just rise to the occasion - just like I did with twins
21:41:35 signingminionmaker awesome!!
21:41:48 BabySignsKelly Isn't that cool when they learn a new sign!
21:42:16 bonellen we just taught 'sniff, sniff' - but he sniffs in and out, kinda gross!
21:42:21 signingminionmaker It really is.  But I think my Zoe is a little confused about the sign for eat.  She uses it constantly
21:42:32 BabySignsKelly :(  Mine don't sign much anymore and I just totally miss it!
21:43:03 signingminionmaker Oh no, that's what eilidh was telling us too.
21:43:05 BabySignsKelly hee hee - my twins did a very similar thing - it was quite an exagerated sniff!
21:43:22 bonellen kelly - i just got my ICI kit this week!
21:43:39 BabySignsKelly Congratulations!!!  Are you thrilled with the material?
21:43:55 bonellen thanks. still pouring through it all
21:43:56 signingminionmaker what's ICI?
21:44:09 BabySignsKelly Independent Certified Instructor
21:44:19 bonellen to teach Baby Signs programs
21:44:22 signingminionmaker oh, for baby signs.
21:44:39 signingminionmaker Congrats.  I just became  Sign2Me Presenter
21:44:47 bonellen excellent!
21:44:51 BabySignsKelly Congratulations!  That's very exciting!
21:45:13 signingminionmaker Right back at you.  Early communication is totally exciting
21:45:40 bonellen spencer LOVES the signing bear!
21:45:56 signingminionmaker tell me more about this signing bear
21:45:57 BabySignsKelly Did you know there is a change to the Parent Workshop Kit?  There is now a DVD that comes with it that has a 100 word dictionary of signs modelled - it is excellent!
21:46:08 bonellen cool.
21:46:17 bonellen it's a GIANT bear wearing a sweater...
21:46:20 BabySignsKelly You can either watch them straight through or just look up one word!
21:46:33 BabySignsKelly BeeBo is his name!
21:46:41 signingminionmaker yes?  yes?
21:46:46 bonellen and you put your hands in the sweater from the back... and into these bright yellow gloves
21:47:03 signingminionmaker I totally want one!!!
21:47:14 bonellen i can sell one to you ;)
21:47:34 BabySignsKelly They are almost a florescent yellow - children are incredibly attracted to the hands - which is great because then they really see you doing the signs!
21:47:37 bonellen spencer LOCKS in on the hands as the bear talks to him
21:47:40 signingminionmaker really?
21:47:55 signingminionmaker interesting?
21:48:07 signingminionmaker Would I be like you first sale?
21:48:13 bonellen yep!
21:48:15 BabySignsKelly You can see a picture of him on www.babysigns.com
21:48:37 BabySignsKelly If you are doing any classes with children, he is just a must have!
21:48:44 signingminionmaker brb baby crying.
21:48:49 bonellen ok, good to know!
21:49:19 BabySignsKelly Ellen (it is Ellen?)  Where are you located?
21:49:35 bonellen Bonnie
21:49:41 bonellen in Houston, TX
21:49:43 BabySignsKelly sorry !!!
21:49:59 BabySignsKelly That's awesome!  You will have a great big city to attack!
21:50:16 bonellen you're kelly d., right?
21:50:24 BabySignsKelly Yes I am
21:50:47 BabySignsKelly I'm up in cold Vermont!
21:51:05 bonellen no doubt! nice & warm here!
21:51:15 BabySignsKelly ok - no rubbing it in!
21:51:22 signingminionmaker hey Bonnie how much for shipping and handling in really cold -26 Ontario Canada?
21:51:43 bonellen 10% (right, kelly?)
21:52:13 BabySignsKelly Yes - that is normally what I would charge, but you might want to really check to see what the shipping charges would be to Canada
21:52:31 BabySignsKelly I usually charge 10% in USA
21:52:54 bonellen minionmaker - can you email me at bonellen@aol.com so i have your address and i'll get all the details for you tomorrow?
21:53:06 BabySignsKelly Ontario is really -26 right now!?!?!
21:53:16 signingminionmaker Well I have to say that I am very interested.  Have to see if I can fit it into my budget.  But I'll definintely email you and get all the info.
21:53:32 signingminionmaker yes.  it is very cold!!!
21:53:42 bonellen 26 sounds warm for canada in february, no?
21:54:15 signingminionmaker -26.  I don't know the conversion.  Way below 0
21:54:36 BabySignsKelly ok guys I have a baby crying now - I will probably go for the evening - everyone have a great week!
21:55:00 bonellen oh.
21:55:02 bonellen that's COLD
21:55:33 signingminionmaker yeah.  It kind of sucks
21:56:05 bonellen i joined a signing babies playgroup here in houston... we're going to the park on saturday  :?
21:56:32 signingminionmaker it's really cool that you're getting right into the baby signs.  Good for you!!
21:57:06 bonellen i know this sounds so cliche, but it's just been so great for us and i want to help expose others to it too
21:57:31 bonellen because it is SOOO wonderful to have a baby that signs 'help' instead of sitting there pointing and grunting
21:58:34 signingminionmaker I am totally thanking Debra Messing right now, cause of her little signing talks on national tv, I actually registered someone today for more information regarding my classes and workshops.  It is so great.  I totally agree.  I want to share signing with
21:58:50 signingminionmaker everyone.
21:58:58 bonellen awesome! (just watched will & grace!)
21:59:13 signingminionmaker oh, i forgot that was on
21:59:20 joanned hi again - my Richard just fell back asleep
21:59:24 signingminionmaker I got sucked into survivor
21:59:36 bonellen actually, i'm going to sign off here now... catch up with my sweetie & ER.
21:59:48 bonellen i'll email you tomorrow minionmaker!
21:59:52 joanned signingminionmaker - where abouts are you in Ontario?
21:59:56 bonellen goodnight everyone. catch you next week!
22:00:06 signingminionmaker right, your show.  Have a good one.  I'll right you tonight.  I'm in Guelph
22:00:18 signingminionmaker write
22:00:21 bonellen ;)
22:00:53 eilidh sorry....I had a phone call....hope I didn't miss too much
22:01:07 signingminionmaker Are you in Ontario joannned?
22:01:08 joanned I'm in Markham
22:01:30 signingminionmaker Hey, that's what like an hour away?
22:01:41 joanned yep
22:01:53 signingminionmaker How old are your kids?
22:02:03 signingminionmaker eilidh where are you?
22:02:13 joanned I have a 9 month old boy Richard
22:02:36 signingminionmaker I have 19 month old triplet girls
22:02:40 eilidh Im in Southern CA"
22:02:55 signingminionmaker My nephew lives in LA
22:03:09 signingminionmaker My sister and family used to live in Sierra Madre
22:03:13 eilidh I'm about 45min away from LA
22:03:36 joanned Signingminionmaker - are you with WeeHands too?
22:03:42 eilidh in Orange County (near Disneyland)  :D
22:03:43 signingminionmaker Working on it.
22:04:01 signingminionmaker I know where you are eilidh
22:04:04 joanned Well then, Welcome
22:04:11 eilidh Great!
22:04:24 eilidh I saw something above about a bear....what was that about?
22:04:36 signingminionmaker Gosh, I miss california.  Thanks joanned.  I'm asuming you're with weehands?
22:04:44 joanned yep
22:04:54 signingminionmaker Baby signs has this bear that you put your hands/arms through to sign with.
22:05:06 eilidh oh really.
22:05:15 eilidh does anyone have one?  is it good?
22:05:19 signingminionmaker I totally want one.  My girls love bears!!!
22:05:31 joanned I know someone with the Bear that you guys were discussing and unfortunately, it fell apart
22:05:36 signingminionmaker bonellen is selling them.  Well I'd be her first sale
22:05:51 signingminionmaker It fell apart?
22:06:03 joanned You can easily make one
22:06:06 eilidh ewwww....did they call the company for a replacement?
22:06:18 signingminionmaker huh?
22:06:44 signingminionmaker me time to make anything?
22:07:02 joanned All you need to do is buy a bear or a doll and attach a pair of gloves to the end of the arms
22:07:31 signingminionmaker yes and then what, just empty out the arms?
22:07:43 joanned I've found that there are cheap dolls that are stuffed and have long arms at Wal-Mart
22:07:55 eilidh how would you do the special finger signs...seems like real hands are needed to make the actual sign
22:08:32 signingminionmaker you'd empty out the arms and slide your own arms/hands through.  Is that what you're getting at joanned
22:08:49 signingminionmaker hmmmm.
22:09:07 joanned You can either cut off the hands or take out just the stuffing of the paws of a bear...and then sew on the gloves
22:09:17 eilidh I'm not that crafty!  I'd rather just buy it....and if it fell apart I'd call the company for a replacement.
22:09:32 eilidh but that's me. :)
22:09:44 signingminionmaker i'm still thinking about California and smiling.  Yeah i'm pretty lazy but I guess it would matter how much they are.
22:10:13 joanned California does sound pretty good right now
22:10:14 eilidh do any of you teach classes or subscribe to a certain company's way of signing?
22:10:28 signingminionmaker Sign2Me
22:10:39 signingminionmaker and hopefully Weehands
22:10:43 joanned I actually stayed in Orange county 2 years ago for about 2 weeks and loved it
22:10:58 eilidh is Weehands different from Sign2Me?
22:11:04 signingminionmaker eilidh I think you may be getting some visitors
22:11:12 joanned yes, I also teach for WeeHands and teach ASL Signs
22:11:29 signingminionmaker I think you could think of Weehands as kind of a subsidiary of Sign2Me
22:11:30 eilidh What's Wee-Hands?
22:12:01 signingminionmaker Sara, who usually runs this chat owns this little but growing fast business
22:12:20 signingminionmaker And we are sub contractors
22:12:32 joanned Sara founded WeeHands and all of her instructors are Sign2Me Presenters....or are on their way to becoming Presenters
22:12:52 signingminionmaker So, tell me joanned do you absolutely love it?
22:13:04 eilidh cool.  I bet that's fun.  How much did it cost you to become an instructor?
22:13:10 joanned yes I do!!!
22:13:22 eilidh and what did you have to do?  Take special training or something?
22:13:44 signingminionmaker It really costs nothing but you do have to fulfill certain requirements and have a passions for ASL
22:14:12 eilidh do you have to  make up your own classes, or do they give you stuff to teach?
22:14:18 joanned Nothing - didn't cost me a penny to become an instructor........I've already known how to sign ASL for over 10 years now as I have a Deaf family member
22:14:21 signingminionmaker They provide alot of online support and orientations, and an exam to become level one certified.
22:15:32 eilidh but what do you teach?  do you just wing it?
22:15:34 signingminionmaker You actually have a choice about curriculum, they do have a package or you could use their archives for ideas.  There are products that you must pay for and offer to your participants but they are so awesome.
22:15:38 joanned Sara has developed a wonderful curriculum and all I have to do is show up and teach it - I love it.......I don't have to even deal with registrations
22:16:00 signingminionmaker Really, Sara does your registration
22:16:10 eilidh Wow, that sounds like a sweet deal.
22:16:32 signingminionmaker I am so very excited about it.
22:16:37 joanned yep......I hate dealing with the money aspect........so it works well for me
22:16:38 eilidh Do you  make a lot of money at it?
22:17:19 signingminionmaker If you're great at PR and have a virgin area, you could.
22:17:42 signingminionmaker But strangely it really isn't about the money.
22:17:49 eilidh What about competition.....what if the area isn't so virgin?
22:17:51 joanned I will say that the more that you advertise your classes then the more participants you will obviously have in your class
22:18:08 signingminionmaker research research research.
22:18:11 eilidh but advertising often times costs money....
22:18:17 signingminionmaker Find an edge
22:18:31 signingminionmaker promote yourself by doing free things everywhere
22:18:54 eilidh don't other signing companies have teachers too....do you run into competition?  does that ever pose itself as a problem?
22:19:01 signingminionmaker libraries, womens groups, churches
22:19:08 signingminionmaker I have none.
22:19:34 signingminionmaker I have one woman teaching kindersigns adult workshops but she's on maternity leave and will be busy for awhile.
22:20:16 signingminionmaker It's pretty new in Canada
22:21:04 eilidh kindersigns?  man, I'm in the dark!  I'd heard about Baby Signs and have seen a little on Smart Signing but hadn't heard about kindersigns.
22:21:28 signingminionmaker Just another organization.
22:21:42 joanned You have to know ASL to teach - we have a bit of an edge over other sign programs because we are using a real language that can ultimately, help more people become integrated....ie...Deaf, Non-Verbal and Hearing children and adults.....So many benefit
22:21:55 signingminionmaker Smart Signing or rather wideyedlearning used to be Sign2Me Presenters.
22:22:25 eilidh what happened?  why did they leave?
22:23:05 signingminionmaker I'm assuming to steal ideas and make money.  Tee hee.  I really don't know.  They were just ready to make a move on their own.  It happens
22:23:21 eilidh Sure....I suppose it does.
22:23:36 joanned I have no idea why.......maybe they wanted to be original?
22:23:42 eilidh Have you seen their teaching materials?  I wonder how  much they stole!  Tee hee!
22:23:42 signingminionmaker And they have a fabulous program, i've been in contact with several of their people and they really love the curriculum
22:23:53 joanned I figure why change such a wonderful thing
22:24:19 signingminionmaker So you're happy with Sara's curriculum.  Is it easy to teach?
22:24:27 eilidh Right....if something is working, it shouldn't need to be changed!  What's that saying, if it aint broke, don't fix it!
22:25:14 joanned I long for the day when people will be able to sign to my sister who is Deaf without needing for me to always be present in order for her to have a conversation
22:25:54 signingminionmaker well, I'm working on it.  I'd love to talk with your sister.  I'd be pretty slow.
22:25:55 eilidh If it's ok to ask......how do you make your moeny?  Is it from selling the books/materials with the classes.....or do you get a teaching fee?  Can  you be more specific (trying to ask what you make---without asking you how much you make---cause that would
22:26:00 eilidh be tacky! :P
22:26:43 joanned When I saw Sara's wonderful program, I told myself to not reinvent the wheel
22:27:15 signingminionmaker It depends on how many people are registered for your program.  Depends on whether there is competition and their pricing.  Sara gets a cut but does so much work to provide you with as joanned just said the wheel.
22:28:05 eilidh She's in Canada...right?  How does it work in the US?  Would there be someone like Sara to give me a wheel?
22:28:07 signingminionmaker Gosh, I hope Sara doesn't mind us talking business on this forum.  People print this up and stuff.  Should we go to MSN or something?
22:28:45 eilidh oh sorry....this chat can get printed up?
22:28:55 eilidh don't mean to ask personal questions like that
22:29:03 signingminionmaker There are Presenters all over and the organization is growing.  I'd go straight to Sign2Me to find out.
22:29:14 eilidh Ok.  Will do.
22:29:23 signingminionmaker I don't mind eilidh.
22:29:33 joanned Yeah, that's probably best
22:29:57 signingminionmaker so, let's MSN.  Need online names.
22:30:21 joanned We're not giving up trade secrets.....we're just saying how wonderful WeeHands is
22:30:36 joanned sorry, I don't have MSN hooked up
22:30:41 eilidh Actually, I've gotta give my girls a bath....arg.
22:30:47 signingminionmaker True, I just don't want to say anything inappropriate.
22:30:58 signingminionmaker But WEEHANDS ROCKS!!!
22:31:02 eilidh but it was great chatting with you all!
22:31:10 joanned No problem eilidh.....Thanks for the chat
22:31:18 signingminionmaker Hey anytime.  It was great meeting you.
22:31:21 eilidh Thanks for your insight!  You both are very impressive!
22:31:34 eilidh Have a great Friday!
22:31:37 eilidh Night.

 

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