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Signing With Babies Chat #43, with Sarah Bingham of WeeHands
( www.weehands.com )
10/6/05

9 mamas in attendance

15:05:57 WeeHands OFFICIAL START OF THE SIGNING WITH BABY CHAT! WELCOME! MY NAME IS SARA FROM WEEHANDS AND I AM YOUR HOSTESS TODAY! THIS CHAT IS TRANSCRIPTED AND POSTED ON THE SUNDAY FOLLOWING THIS CHAT...PLEASE KEEP THAT IN MIND WHEN POSTING TO THIS CHAT. THANK YOU! :)
15:08:57 WeeHands hi there!
15:10:04 ourwiefamily oh good ... glad to see everyone!
15:10:24 WeeHands we should officially always start this chat at 4:10!!
15:10:37 WeeHands how is everyone!?
15:11:28 ourwiefamily Maria had her first birthday this past weekend so we gave her the Baby Signing Time set
15:11:38 WeeHands what a perfect gift!
15:11:50 ourwiefamily Surprisingly enough, though, she doesn't seem as interested in it as her 2yo brother.
15:11:59 WeeHands :)
15:12:10 WeeHands what does he think of them?
15:12:33 ourwiefamily He likes them ... not as well as the original six, I don't think ... but he was thrilled to have some new ones to watch.
15:13:26 ourwiefamily My 11 yo commented on the couple new signs he learned from it too.
15:13:51 Pauline Good evening!
15:13:51 WeeHands i think they are a great addition to the ST DVDs
15:14:01 ourwiefamily I've been trying some of the suggestions to coax Maria to sign.  One day, she signed more" and then she would clap for herself and say Yeah!"
15:14:09 WeeHands the songs are great and have a more focused vocabulary for wee babes
15:14:13 ourwiefamily But now she won't sign more" again (sigh)"
15:14:39 WeeHands what do you mean ourwiefamily ?
15:15:11 ourwiefamily well, that one time she figured it out and got a very positive response from us and was so proud so she kept doing it when appropriate during that snack.
15:15:16 ourwiefamily She did it a couple other times that day
15:15:43 ourwiefamily but then later that day and the days since then, she won't use the sign.  We say, you want more?" and sign it but she won't sign it back again"
15:15:56 ourwiefamily so I do exactly what I did the first day but now she won't respond to it
15:16:09 ourwiefamily She did skip right to clapping and saying yeah" though, lol"
15:16:28 WeeHands when did she first sign it?
15:16:39 ourwiefamily while eating a snack
15:17:29 WeeHands how long ago?
15:17:39 ourwiefamily probably about 4 days ago
15:18:03 WeeHands it'll come back
15:18:25 WeeHands just keep offering her things and pausing expectantly before giving it to her
15:18:28 ourwiefamily that has been the case for everyone of her signs so far ... she does it for a day or two and then doesn't again for weeks or months
15:18:56 WeeHands reward her claps with something, if appropriate, as if she signed an approximation of  more""
15:19:15 WeeHands offer small bits of food and model the sign for the food or for more""
15:19:49 WeeHands take a turn with her toys (without frustrating her) and model the sign for the toys or for more""
15:20:07 ourwiefamily A friend's baby was signing please" at a get together the other day.  As far as I know, they barely have tried to do signing ... I feel like I've worked so hard for this and yet everyone else's babies are so much further ahead!"
15:20:48 ourwiefamily This is true of people on the dues lists I'm on where their babies have been signing for like 3 months (the others are up to a month older than Maria).
15:20:49 WeeHands how many signs for she have  ourwiefamily ?
15:21:00 ourwiefamily That she actually uses?
15:21:05 WeeHands yes
15:21:06 ourwiefamily Or that she did one time and never did again?
15:21:15 WeeHands both together
15:21:28 ourwiefamily that she actually uses ... none at this point
15:21:47 WeeHands that she's ever done
15:21:51 WeeHands bye bye?
15:22:02 WeeHands hands up to say pick me up"?"
15:22:18 ourwiefamily that she has used one or two days once over the past month or more ... more", "bye bye", "food", "pick me up", "mom", "milk""
15:22:36 ourwiefamily although milk" she used consistently for a couple weeks and then suddenly quit"
15:22:46 WeeHands that's 6! that's great!
15:22:47 signingbaby How old is the baby, ourwiefamily?
15:22:53 ourwiefamily just turned 1 on Sunday
15:23:03 WeeHands the first 10 signs are slow to come I've found
15:23:26 Pauline that didn't go quite right
15:23:34 ourwiefamily I still think she believes that signs are something we do to entertain her ... that it's something she is supposed to watch and grin at instead of use.
15:23:41 WeeHands i recall writing signs acquired on the calendar for joshua and it seemed at the time like FOREVER between signs
15:23:56 WeeHands that's okay  ourwiefamily ? she's right!
15:24:08 signingbaby Lauren used milk" for a whole month starting at 7 months then completely quit signing at all until she was 11 months old. During that time she was concentrating very hard on learning and acquiring a lot of physical developmental skills, like sitting and"
15:24:11 signingbaby crawling and pulling up
15:24:29 WeeHands babies do the same things with sounds - listening to us, laughing at us, then babbling an approximation of the sounds, etc.
15:24:36 ourwiefamily wow ... glad to hear that from someone else,  signingbaby
15:24:55 signingbaby Often if babies are occuppied with physical development they might not pick up signs
15:24:59 ourwiefamily maybe when she finally gets walking down, she wil start signing again.
15:25:16 WeeHands when i look back at that calendar for joshua he learned a new sign about every 2-3 weeks between 9 and 14 months
15:25:17 ladybugs984 my son was signing milk from 10 months on but as soon as he learned the sign more" he stopped signing for milk and used "more" for everything"
15:25:22 signingbaby It doesn't happen to every baby but it does happen quite a bit
15:25:39 signingbaby ladybugs984 that is really common too
15:25:44 ourwiefamily I feel like I'm in a sea of people having all this success w/ babies who are almost her exact age and I was starting honestly to feel like ... I don't know.  Just frustrated I guess.
15:25:50 ourwiefamily I know I should be more patient!
15:25:51 signingbaby My two signing babies signed milk" for everything"
15:26:05 WeeHands more" and "please" are very powerful signs/words!"
15:26:24 ourwiefamily It's just hard to keep doing something that seems to get almost no response.  Signing is somethign I have to do so intentionally.  It doesn't come naturally tome to remember to sign things to her.  And then to have her not respond really, well it's hard to
15:26:27 ourwiefamily keep going with it
15:26:32 signingbaby It can be really frustrating ... here I had countless resources and 2 years of experience signing with Corbin yet I couldn't get my baby daughter to sign back to me
15:26:41 WeeHands ourwiefamily my sabrina didn't sign til 11 months though and I was frustrated as well!
15:27:11 WeeHands i thought okay her brother signed at 9 months, i teach infant sign language, i'm so smart (haha!) - she'll sign even earlier!
15:27:28 signingbaby I can't guarantee it but I bet she starts signing back soon
15:27:30 ourwiefamily (sounds like me as a LLL Leader and then having a baby w/ serious nursing issues!)
15:27:32 WeeHands not the case!  plus she didn't walk until 17 months - very frustrating!
15:27:42 WeeHands LOL! exactly!
15:28:01 teresajo hello.  may i ask what the topic is currently??
15:28:03 ourwiefamily my co-leader told me *I* had trained in breastfeeding stuff, but my baby hadn't.  ;)
15:28:24 WeeHands of course at 17 months, after we made all these appointments for her she stood up, signed bye bye mama" and ran away from me!"
15:28:27 ourwiefamily so I gues I can extrapolate that to signing too ... she didn't spring from the womb wired to sign
15:28:47 ourwiefamily teresajo the topic is signing w/ your baby
15:28:53 WeeHands all babies are soooo different
15:29:02 signingbaby Yes they are
15:29:03 WeeHands but they often surprise the heck out of you!
15:29:05 teresajo i do that everyday!
15:29:09 signingbaby BTW hi sara
15:29:21 Pauline signing for deafness or for early better communication?
15:29:34 ourwiefamily I bet part of it for me is that my other kids picked it up so quickly and use it so much that I figured she would just hop right in as she got older.
15:29:58 WeeHands i remember concentrating on the baby vocabulary with joshua - milk, ball, more, mom, etc.  I showed him the sign for tea" once (as in don't touch mommy's tea) and that's what he got and signed most often for a period!"
15:30:02 ourwiefamily Have you heard when the next Signing Time DVDs are coming out for sure?  By Christmas?  I'm hoping so.
15:30:10 WeeHands hi monica!
15:30:35 teresajo christmas release would be perfect for ST.
15:30:36 WeeHands for early better communication for the most part...but some are Deaf here
15:30:39 ourwiefamily Because that is the other thing ... the kids all signed like crazy for so long, but that has really decreased over the last couple months too.  Now they just sign at Maria most of the time
15:31:05 ourwiefamily though my 2yo still uses sign when he thinks his words aren't working fast enough,lol ... he's figured out signs get results!
15:31:17 WeeHands i met with a mom who had silent shopping afternoons with her 9 year old daughter - too cute!
15:31:39 signingbaby Lauren still uses signs when I can't understand what she is saying ... like today, she kept saying Duff" and I had no idea until she signed "giraffe""
15:31:44 ladybugs984 My son learned the words along witht he signs, the first time he said more" wa sthe first time he signed it, the same with bath and "bye bye""
15:31:48 WeeHands you may have a baby that just is laid back and likes to watch everyone  ourwiefamily
15:32:16 ourwiefamily she sure does grin at us when we sign to her!
15:32:17 WeeHands in the next few weeks / months she'll most likely surprise you with everything she's been absorbing
15:32:45 WeeHands too cute!
15:33:17 teresajo when teaching a hearing child (14 months), is it best to sign sentenses or should i stick to single words at a time?
15:33:27 WeeHands has everyone seen the halloween signs at www.signwithsam.com ?
15:33:33 ladybugs984 My son only knows about 15 words and he's almost two, maybe i should start signing more to increase his vocabulary, LOL
15:33:52 WeeHands you can really sign at your comfort level  teresajo ?
15:33:59 ourwiefamily ladybugs984 rent or buy the signing time dvds and I bet his vocabulary  increases practically overnight, lol
15:34:26 WeeHands you can use key word signing when you talk/sign with him - e.g., focussing on the key elements of the sentence, the nouns and the verbs
15:34:29 ourwiefamily my 2yo knows well over 100 signs just from watching those
15:34:42 creativehands hi everybody...i just got done teaching a class and i figured i'd check this chat out.
15:34:49 WeeHands see if you library has the signing time! dvds
15:35:01 ladybugs984 I have a friend who's 5 yr old always asks if she will put in the baby video" and watches the signing time DVD, LOL"
15:35:08 WeeHands hi  creativehands - welcome!
15:35:16 creativehands thanks sara
15:35:25 WeeHands tell all your class participants about our chat!
15:35:51 creativehands so what's the topic?
15:35:51 WeeHands i love that ST! has a range of children age wise in their videos
15:35:55 signingbaby After I get done with my current project, I'm going to try to start classes
15:35:57 WeeHands signing with your baby!
15:36:09 WeeHands what signing products do you all love?
15:36:17 ourwiefamily I was a little confused about something ... is there a specific form of sign language called baby sign" that is different from SEE and ASL?"
15:36:17 WeeHands yeah Monica!!
15:36:18 teresajo i have been very disappointed that i can not locate any baby signing classes in my area :-(
15:36:22 creativehands my favorite so far is the pmu
15:36:34 WeeHands where do you live  teresajo ?
15:36:45 ourwiefamily what is pmu?
15:36:51 creativehands pick me up by sign2me
15:37:02 teresajo northern delaware. i even live walking distance from the deaf school.
15:37:02 WeeHands www.sign2me.com
15:37:10 signingbaby Most signing products and programs use signs from ASL but there is a company called Baby Signs Inc." which utilizes ASL plus other signs that are modified"
15:37:12 ladybugs984 Yeah i have trouble finding baby sign things that use ASL, i'd prefer him to learn ASL when i sign to him
15:37:30 WeeHands check out classes here http://www.sign2me.com/classes.php
15:37:39 signingbaby Really the only non-ASL products are specifically called Baby Signs" - most everything else is ASL or SEE"
15:38:06 creativehands ourwifefamily: i don't know what SEE is but I know that SE is signed english which is different than ASL because ASL is a concept language rather than translating every word
15:38:08 WeeHands there's someone teaching in Wilmington DE and someone else in Ft. Myers DE
15:38:38 teresajo i emailed and got no response...
15:38:43 ourwiefamily SEE = signed exact english
15:38:52 WeeHands Have a look at this site's store: http://www.weehands.com
15:38:56 ladybugs984 'hmmmmm, maybe i should just borrow a ASL book from my friend, its just that we don't have a very big selection in our local library or bookstore, and the ASL books for adults don't really have words that are relevent to babies
15:39:12 ladybugs984 well not the begginers books anyway
15:39:17 ourwiefamily I went searching for baby board books w/ ASL signs and had a hard time finding some, though I think there were some good ones
15:39:25 signingbaby Our library stinks, I'm going to donate some products when I get my project done
15:39:28 WeeHands or this one http://www.signingbabyshop.com/
15:39:36 signingbaby TY sara
15:39:43 WeeHands :)
15:39:44 creativehands i know idrt has some great products for games and activities
15:39:46 ourwiefamily I bought them for a baby shower exchange though so I didn't get to preview the ones I finally bought.  I hope they are good!
15:39:56 ourwiefamily I'm putting them on Maria's wish list for Christmas.
15:40:23 signingbaby There was a small baby sign language display at our local Border's, I thought that was great.
15:40:40 signingbaby Except they had the Parenting flash cards which are not all that accurate!
15:41:04 WeeHands sign2me has flashcards now as well
15:41:10 ladybugs984 thats what was at our bookstore and i got frustrated that some of the signs were different from the ones in other books
15:41:17 creativehands i hear sign2me's card are very good
15:41:19 signingbaby Do they really?
15:41:29 ladybugs984 oh really?  I might get those, and donate my parenting ones to someone else
15:41:30 creativehands which ones were different
15:41:36 ladybugs984 or sell them for extra $$ :)
15:41:40 signingbaby Sell them on eBay
15:41:44 signingbaby :)
15:41:53 WeeHands i think amazon has them now but they don't have a picture of them yet
15:41:59 signingbaby Tell me about sign2me's flash cards
15:42:04 signingbaby Are they available for purchase?
15:42:07 WeeHands let me go get one
15:42:52 signingbaby I have teh Signing Time theme song in my head!
15:43:11 WeeHands they are about 3.5  by 5" and well laminated"
15:43:28 teresajo i have been reveiwing many children's sign langauge material from my local library.  i'm disappoited in several.  the pictures are not clear and there is no description of how the sign is to be made to help.
15:43:30 WeeHands it's signing time with mm-mm and mm-mm
15:43:55 WeeHands on the front is a picture of the thing" and the word for it in text"
15:44:08 teresajo oh my. i wake up with one of the ST songs or another going through my head everyday!
15:44:14 creativehands illustrations can be so frustrating for people who don't already know the signs if there is no description. i think they all should have descriptions
15:44:50 WeeHands on the back is a image of a person doing the sign and the word for the sign (early literacy stuff) and about a 20 word description of the sign
15:45:07 ourwiefamily well ... I have to leave ... thanks for the encouragement everyone!
15:45:09 teresajo i agree.  the signs i knew were no problem. but those i didn't know, i couldn't be sure if i was doing it correctly by the picture
15:45:21 signingbaby Bye ourwiefamily
15:45:32 WeeHands it's very hard to learn a sign from a 2D image
15:45:37 WeeHands take care  ourwiefamily !
15:45:45 WeeHands see you next week and keep us posted!
15:46:00 creativehands are there any forums out there other than mine where people who are learning sign can talk to each other?
15:46:20 WeeHands infant sign language or adult sign language
15:46:24 creativehands both
15:46:25 teresajo i need to invest in some continuing education material for me.  i'm thinking Signing Naturally II
15:46:28 WeeHands what forum do you have  creativehands ?
15:47:20 creativehands whew...it covers a lot of topics from parents with small children, parents of special needs children, deaf users give ASL students advice, and misc topics like entertainment, free coupons, crafts ideas, etc
15:47:26 WeeHands that would be good  teresajo
15:47:36 WeeHands where is it  creativehands ?
15:47:47 creativehands http://www.mycreativehands.com/forum/
15:48:36 WeeHands there this yahoo group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Signwithyourbaby/
15:49:08 WeeHands and this one
15:49:09 WeeHands http://groups.yahoo.com/group/signingbaby/
15:49:22 creativehands my mom has registered and has given advice to hearing people who have questions about deaf issues
15:49:42 creativehands she's deaf by the way
15:49:46 teresajo which forum is more active??
15:49:58 creativehands mine  just started a week ago
15:50:11 WeeHands both are pretty active
15:50:37 WeeHands and of course this one: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alexandleah/
15:50:47 WeeHands these are the ones i pay most attention to
15:51:08 teresajo i need a place for daily sign language talk since it is something i do everyday with my son.
15:51:10 signingbaby Honestly I have no idea why my window just closed! How annoying.
15:51:36 WeeHands any of the above groups would be great  teresajo
15:51:50 creativehands i'm trying really hard to get more people to know about my forum so it can be more populated
15:51:56 teresajo i clicked on all the links and will check them out after chat
15:52:16 creativehands none of the other forums i have seen allow hearing people to get advice from deaf people
15:52:18 teresajo i'll come visit you creativehands :-)
15:52:48 creativehands thanks :D
15:52:57 WeeHands just signing up  creativehands !
15:53:12 teresajo i'm hard of hearing---where do i fit???
15:53:42 teresajo i got one foot on either side ( lol)
15:54:04 creativehands well, my mother's new husband is hard of hearing (he wears a hearing aid) but he usually calls himself deaf so it's up to you to decide where you fall
15:55:04 creativehands sara, thanks for registering!!! what do you think of the forum? i can take criticism...
15:55:20 WeeHands i'll give it a good look over this evening
15:55:35 creativehands ok, let me know...thanks again.
15:55:55 WeeHands are there any other canadians here today?
15:56:41 WeeHands i'm thinking no - but it's our thanksgiving this weekend and I'm looking forward to it!
15:57:16 WeeHands we also celebrate the US holiday as well, in my house, any excuse for my husband to take the day off to watch football!
15:57:20 teresajo ah! a holiday.  i eagerly await one here.  enjoy yours!
15:57:32 signingbaby Lauren's birthday is on turkey day this year
15:57:40 creativehands i just celebrated a birthday and i got 200 bucks from relatives. woohoo!!!
15:57:44 WeeHands gobble gobble!
15:57:57 creativehands i'm going shopping this weekend
15:57:59 WeeHands hey, just realized so is Sabrina's!!!
15:58:08 signingbaby That's right, we found that out last time I was here
15:58:15 signingbaby Same exact birthday, how cool is that
15:58:17 WeeHands 3 years!
15:58:23 teresajo well, my little guy is here and i need to go.  bye.
15:58:26 WeeHands it goes way toooooooo fast!
15:58:28 signingbaby I can't believe it
15:58:31 creativehands bye tersajo
15:58:31 WeeHands take care  teresajo !
15:58:36 signingbaby Bue teresajo
15:58:40 signingbaby bue=bye
15:59:24 tricia hi everyone, I know you are leaving... does anyone know the sign for tortilla""
15:59:30 creativehands my daughter just woke up from her nap so i gotta go too... it was nice to chat for awhile...hope to talk to you guys soon.
15:59:39 signingbaby See ya creative hands
15:59:59 WeeHands see you next week  creativehands
16:00:11 WeeHands tortilla - sorry!
16:00:20 signingbaby I don't know tortilla
16:00:29 WeeHands why do all these yummy food questions come from calgary!
16:00:42 WeeHands i think angelo is visiting you in a few weeks!
16:00:57 WeeHands flat bread
16:01:04 WeeHands or probably fingerspelled
16:01:20 WeeHands ok, no i want fajitas!!!
16:01:49 WeeHands now i want fajitas!
16:01:54 signingbaby We may be having taco soup tonight
16:01:59 signingbaby I'm starving
16:02:01 tricia oh really, Angelo has a business trip in Calgay?
16:02:08 WeeHands okay tortilla soup, hmmmmmmm!
16:02:21 WeeHands yes!
16:02:36 tricia fajitas, tortilla, flatbread, wraps... all the same .. well sort of right?
16:03:08 WeeHands depends on who you talk to - i prefer corn tortillas to flour ones, etc.
16:03:28 tricia I have 2 hispanic families in one class (of only 4 families), so ASL will be their child's 3rd language...just trying to accomadate the diverse cultures!
16:03:38 tricia lol
16:03:39 WeeHands i'm going to officially end the chat now but I've got my Yahoo! messenger open if anyone was to continue the discussion about mexican food!
16:04:03 signingbaby I'm supposed to be writing, so I'm going to go
16:04:14 WeeHands OFFICIAL END OF THE SIGNING WITH BABY CHAT! THIS CHAT IS TRANSCRIPTED AND POSTED ON THE SUNDAY FOLLOWING THIS CHAT...TO FIND THE TRANSCRIPTS AFTER THEY ARE POSTED, PLEASE CLICK ON TRANSCRIPTS" IN THE NAVIGATION BAR. ALSO, PLEASE JOIN THE MOMMYCHATS EGROUP AT http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mommychats TO RECEIVE NOTICES ABOUT TRANSCRIPTS BEING POSTED, UPCOMING CHAT REMINDERS AND ANY OTHER MOMMY CHATS NEWS. :)"

 

 

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