Tuesday, May 28, 2013
I'd Love to Meet You!
I’m currently in the midst of preparing for a 2-day, in-person training in Denver on June 24-25. I love these trainings! It’s my chance to share my passion for the Baby Signs® Program “up close and personal” with others who are eager to pass along the good news to families in their own communities. The attendees come from two different groups. One group includes individuals interested in starting their own home businesses by becoming Baby Signs® Independent Certified Instructors. These folks will not only have fun giving classes, but will also have the satisfaction of earning extra income. The other group are representatives from child development related organizations and agencies who want the ability to teach Baby Signs® classes to the clients they serve. We call folks in this latter group “Agency Certified Instructors.”
These trainings always leave me with good memories—and new friends—which is why I look forward to them so much. Here’s an example: One of our attendees—who I will call Joyce—was eager to become an instructor because of her experience with her grandson, Jacob. Unfortunately, Joyce lived some 1500 miles away from Jacob and had only been able to visit right after he was born. Her daughter tried to bridge the gap with a photo of Joyce on his bureau and a routine where he would kiss the photo every night while his mom said “Goodnight Grandma. We LOVE you!”
When Jacob was about 11 months old, Joyce's daughter announced she was going to begin teaching Jacob to communicate with signs. Joyce had never heard of such a thing and was more than a little dubious. (She even admitted at the training that she had been secretly worried that using signs would slow down Jacob learning to talk, an admission which led nicely during the training into my description of our research at UCD proving the opposite is true!).
All her qualms faded away, however, one night when Joyce and her daughter inaugurated their brand new Skype connection. Joyce, of course, was eager to say “Hello” to Jacob. Jacob, always glad to get in front of the computer, cooperated by climbing into his mother’s lap and turning his eyes to the screen to see what fun game was going on. But then, in something of a double-take, his eyes grew wide as he caught sight of Joyce. He then spontaneously leaned forward, kissed the screen, smiled broadly and—much to Joyce and her daughter’s delighted amazement—signed “LOVE” by crossing his hands over his heart!
Jacob and Joyce continued after that night to communicate via Skype, with Jacob using his signs to tell her about his day. But no matter what other amazing things Jacob did with his signing, nothing could top that first memorable moment. And that’s why she was at our training. Why shouldn’t every grandma experience the magic of learning that, although she may be far away, she’s far from forgotten!
If you or someone you know is interested in learning more about our upcoming training, just click “Professional Trainings” on our home page. Hope to see you there!
Happy Signing! (and don’t forget to look for us on Facebook)
Linda
Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Grandparents as Signing Teachers
I was blessed this Thanksgiving with the chance to spend the day with my two 18-month-old, twin grandchildren—Nate and Olivia. What a treat! The fact that they are signing up a storm made it especially exciting. Nate was enchanted with the flowers on the table, on the napkins, and on the buffet, pointing and sniffing—his sign for flower; Olivia was enchanted with the food, as usual, and made good use of the “more” sign.
The chance to be with them and watch them sign brought to mind the fact that grandparents make ideal teachers of signs—whether it be to their own grandchildren or to other children in their communities. The reason is that the experience of raising their own children enables them to recognize how helpful signs are in avoiding the tears and tantrums that arise when infants and toddlers need to communicate but simply can’t.
Grandparents also tend to have the patience and wisdom that come with years of dealing with people of all ages, enabling them to approach both parents and children with confidence and caring. Finally, from their life experiences they truly understand that successful communication fosters love and understanding—a wonderful gift for any grandparent to give--and to receive.
That’s why we are pleased that more and more grandparents are joining our Baby Signs Independent Certified Instructor (ICI) team. Our ICI program enables individuals to set their own hours and work as much or as little as they want, all the time earning income while helping families and childcare centers enjoy all the benefits that signing can bring.
If you are a grandparent or or know of one who might make a great Baby Signs teacher, pass along this link to a video describing our instructor program: https://www.babysigns.com/index.cfm?id=107
Happy Signing!
Linda
Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-founder of the Baby Signs Program
;
Monday, August 17, 2009
Welcome to our Baby Signs Blog!
Happy Signing!
Linda
Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs Program
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Reflections on Being a Grandma
Happy Signing!
Grandma Linda
Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, The Baby Signs Program
Monday, August 3, 2009
Two Future Baby Signs Babies!
You can bet I’ll be modeling signs—starting with SLEEP and PLEASE!
Anybody out there have experience with newborn twins? How have you coped? Have they used baby sign language with each other? I can't wait to see for myself!
Happy Signing!
Grandma Linda
Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder
The Baby Signs Program
Friday, July 24, 2009
Baby Sign Language in Action!
Madeleine, another mom, included a link to her own blog where she not only describes in words some of her daughter Darcy’s fun times with signs, but also a wonderful video of Darcy signing. I love the video because it shows lots of different contexts in which signing occurs—mealtime, book reading, “out and about” with a great hat on! Over the years I’ve learned that many people don’t “get it” about baby sign language until they see it in action. That’s why videos like these are so valuable. Thanks Madeleine!
I’d love to hear more stories and see more videos. We need to PROVE it's not just "parlor tricks" for babies!
Happy Signing--
Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder
The Baby Signs Program
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Baby Sign Language—A Boon to Multilingual Households
The answer is a strong and resounding “No!” The truth is that, no matter what form bilingual input takes, adding signing to the mix actually makes the child’s job easier, not harder. Here’s why.
In a bilingual household, babies hear two words being used to label objects, and what they need to figure out is that both words are equally valid—in other words, that they mean the same thing. For example, if a baby hears both the word “leche” and the word “milk,” he or she needs to understand that the words are equivalent.
And that’s where signing becomes helpful. Quite simply, signs act as mediators between the languages, making the equivalence of words obvious to the baby. For example, when the baby hears “leche” from Mom and “milk” from Dad and both parents pair the word they say with the MILK sign, the parents are making the job of connecting the object with the meanings of both words much easier for babies.
In other words, rather than confusing your bilingual child, baby sign language will help smooth the road to understanding and speaking both spoken languages.
Happy Signing!
Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder,
Baby Signs Program
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Signing: A Priceless Gift for One Little Girl
Heather, a Baby Signs instructor in Iowa, had a baby daughter who started using signs at about 10 months and became quite the signer by 14 months. It was at this point that the baby began to have what looked like severe temper tantrums. She would flail her arms and legs and twist her head back and forth, often falling to the floor. When Heather sought help, she was simply told that it was probably just the terrible-twos starting early. But then Heather noticed that each time her daughter had one of these “spells,” she would tap her index fingers together—the sign for HURT. That’s when Heather knew something serious was wrong—and she was right. Heather insisted that she see a pediatric neurologist who discovered that her daughter had Childhood Epilepsy! Fortunately, because it was diagnosed extremely early, she escaped any long term neurological problems and has done so well that she was spared long term medication.
Certainly doesn’t sound like “parlor tricks” to me! How about you?
Happy Signing!
Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder
Baby Signs Program