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 truth be told though, I’m a Noggin fan, instead of a PBS fan. I love everything Noggin has on their station - all commercial free and all especially for toddlers. (Channel 169 on DISH).

K doesn’t really know the Sesame Street characters too well, but ask her about Maisy, or Maggie or Pinky Dinky Doo and she can sing every theme song. Noggin also has events, and maybe one will come to our area one day.

The real reason we took the drive though was to see our favorite all time TV character Hopkins. Who you say? Hopkins is relatively new to PBS and is the Signing Time theme character.

Rachael, the developer of Signing Time was there with Hopkins, singing her famous catchy tunes, Colors of the Rainbow, What are you Feeling? and the Signing song.

Signing Time has only been on PBS a short time, but we have been followers of the DVD’s for a couple of years now, and they changed my life. I’ve written about K’s experience with signing, but the most amazing part is to watch developmentally delayed or special needs children - with limited auditory skills, signing away as fast as a pro, expressing themselves without screaming - or speech.

Now, before all you speech therapists get too bent out of shape, There is NO, I repeat NO evidence that shows signing will delay speech. In fact it is the opposite that happens. Children that sign will often speak one or two years ahead of their age. K speaks at about a four year old level and she is two and a half. For delayed children, they will sign as they figure out how to catch up, and it helps the system learn how to communicate. Children and adults of all ages have used this system.

So, back to the performance. Moms, holding their toddlers, were signing and singing along with all the songs. Toddlers were signing as fast as they could - (or just being shy seeing Rachael in person,) and I was crying to see my idol on stage. Just like I was fifteen again watching Yes perform.

Rachael deserves to be an Idol. She has done a great deal for special needs children, including two of her own. Hers is a story borne from necessity.....

Read along in my next post to hear what she has done and more about our daytrip to Denver.


Photo credit http://lp-group.com/store/ASL_download.html