K has great language skills. I’ve written about her being way ahead because of the signing she learned as an infant.

Usually she’ll talk up a storm anywhere and everywhere we go. Checkers at the supermarket always ask, How old is she? They are obviously thinking she must be a small four year old. Two and a half I reply, which usually launches me into the benefits of signing as a baby and, how we did it. I'm probably beginning to... more

Rachael Coleman from Signing Time is an idol of mine. I look up to her because of how she handled her personal sorrow when she unexpectedly gave birth to special needs children. Her story is one of inspiration. She has truly turned lemons into lemonade!

Her first child, Leah, was deaf, and Rachael had been a singer and performer. (God has a unique sense of humor and funny way of getting us to follow our paths). It took a while, but at six months Rachael figured out Leah... more

We took the long drive up to Denver yesterday to have fun with three thousand of our closest friends and go to the PBS Kids Club event. It was mostly outdoor with booths and bouncy houses and things for children. Clifford was there and so was Arthur. If you waited long enough you could even have your photo taken with them. Inside you could see the PBS studios and watch yourself on TV with Clifford, or Dragon Trails or Big Bird. The whole deal was a lot of fun.

The... more

I love NPR, (National Public Radio.) I listen to the podcasts while I work out. During my walking and running on the treadmill - trying not to let a middle age belly develop, I get caught up on all my news and bits of entertainment gossip. Every morning Quirks and Quarks, The Unger Report and E-mailed Story of the Day are just a few of the stories that I listen to over my earphones.

Just this morning I was getting caught up and heard a story NPR did last week on Sign Language - ASL - and early childhood development.

Since I taught K sign language at nine months, I was interested to hear this has gone a bit mainstream. Everybody... more

.....Continued from part III

Kids with all types of abilities and disabilities benefit from signing. Other foster mom’s I know have started using sign to work with their kids. If they are developmentally delayed or have speech delays they can learn to sign before speaking and it helps the frustration level for everyone. I’ve had foster kids with all kinds of delays -you can bet I’ll use signs with all my foster kids in the future, and I hope you do to.

Sidebar #1 Dr. Linda Acredolo and Dr. Susan Goodwyn, the authors of the book Baby Signs: How to Talk with Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk - have conducted over two decades of academic research on the... more

.....Continued from Part II

I’ve bought the whole series of Signing Time DVD’s and we'd watch one every morning. Sometimes I’d do dishes while she watched, and she’d come to me to demonstrate a new sign. I'd have to rush back to the TV and learn the sign so she didn'tt get ahead of me!

At eighteen months we were already ‘talking’ together as her verbal skills were ahead of others her age. In her playgroup she was signing with non signing children aged 2 and 3, and somehow they all manage to communicate well.

Encouraged by how easy it was to learn... more

.......Continued from Part I

By one year old, K was signing rain, light, drink, and a whole lot of animals that I consistency signed as we went through a zoo book together. .......Some of the signs were American Sign Language, (ASL) some Baby Signs and some made up signs that seemed to represent the animal in the book. (touching neck for giraffe, touching nose for pig).

I started to get excited by the results - K could actually communicate things she was seeing. Soon I found a series of signing DVD’s made especially for kids. I purchased the first DVD called ... more

Adapted from my article first published in Fostering Families Today Magazine last year.

When my foster baby K turned 7 months old, I started teaching her sign language. I had heard that if you teach your child a few basic signs, the terrible two’s can turn into the terrific two’s and be full of joy instead of full of tantrums. I didn’t know any sign language. So I bought the book, Baby Signs and started from there.

Dr. Linda Acredolo and Dr. Susan Goodwyn,... more