Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Love, BeeBo and Lorraine

Lorraine and I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, and we have some signs to share!

This is a video playlist of signs for Christmas - tree, hat, love, light, gift., please and thank you. We also had a sign request for BOW so click on the word and you can see the sign.

Sign of the Week - GIFT

The sign of the week is GIFT and Baby Signs sent out a poster for you! You can download it by clicking on the picture.

Polar Express

It's cold and wet and rainy. I am going to snuggle up with a warm blankie and listen to Lou Diamond Phillips read the Polar Express on Storyline Online. Here's the link: POLAR EXPRESS

Community Calendar

Lorraine was having trouble keeping track of all the activities for kids during the Christmas vacation, so I made her a calendar where she can see all the activities in one place. Here's the link in case it might be helpful to you too.

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

FREE Christmas Craft and Sign class tomorrow!

FREE event at Our Little World tomorrow! We'll be making a Christmas tree out of our hand tracings and learning Christmas sign vocabulary. Ages 1-4 years. Contact Our Little World to pre-register. www.OurLittleWorldShop.com or find them on FaceBook Our Little World Palm Desert.

Come enjoy the Christmas fun!

Sign of the week - SNOW

It's not snowing here in the desert, but there's so many pictures and songs about snow during the Christmas season, and some people may be going to where there is snow for Christmas, so here's how you sign snow: Slowly wiggle your fingers downward and to the side like falling, drifting snow. You can click on picture to download and print out the poster.

Getting ready for Christmas!

We are getting ready to share some Christmas signs and Christmas crafts at Sign @ Nine at 9:00 and Our Little Holiday Craft Class at 10:15 tomorrow morning at Our Little World. I can't wait to make Christmas Trees out of hand tracings and some other Christmasy things like an angel and Christmas wreath, can you?

Craft Class is designed for Toddlers and Preschoolers, 1-4 year olds, and for parent and child to do together.

Lorraine says: "Kids love to make things and the interaction between parent and child really develops vocabulary and language skills. Parents can reinforce these skills later at home because they were there rather than if they did it at a drop off program or at preschool."

So come along and have fun!!

AAP endorses the use of baby sign language

The following is a quote from a chapter on signing in a recently published parenting book issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics, Heading Home with your Newborn (2011):




This endorsement is also referenced in a recent Momformation blog entitled "Baby Signing Develops Language" by Dr. Lisa Dana on the Momformation blog - here's the link: http://blogs.babycenter.com/mom_stories/baby-signing-promotes-infant-development/

Thanksgiving Craft

Here's a little video on how to make a turkey out of a paper plate, construction paper, post-its, and hole reinforcers for those of you who need a craft to keep little ones busy while the turkey is cooking. If you don't have construction paper, you can always grab some crayons and color it instead! Have a great day tomorrow!

Thanksgivng Craft Class Today

I'm looking forward to the Thanksgiving Craft Class at 4:15 today! We will learn Thanksgiving vocabulary signs and make a turkey craft or two! Come spend some quality time with your 1 to 4 year old learning and making. We'll be making turkeys instead of cooking them - much more fun in my opinion! It's at Our Little World - http://www.ourlittleworldshop.com/ .

Thanksgiving Sign Requests

Here's some signs that were requested for talking about family:

FAMILY, GRANDMA, GRANPA, AUNT, UNCLE, COUSIN(female). and COUSIN(male).

Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Do you know the signs for THANKSGIVING, TURKEY, and PILGRIM? Watch this video from Signing Time to learn or review them! And come join Lorraine and I for a Toddler/Preschool Thanksgiving Signs and Crafts class Monday November 22nd at 4:15pm at Our Little World for more Thanksgiving fun!

Fall Family Festival this Saturday!

This Saturday Lorraine and I will be at the Fall Family Festival in Old Town La Quinta. No class at Our Little World, but come join us at the Our Little World booth at 10am and we'll do "Sign @ 9 at 10am"! We will also be doing an Our Rainbow World class demo and rainbow craft at 11 to 12. Hope to see you there!

Happy Halloween!

BeeBo and I had so much fun celebrating Halloween at Our Little World yesterday! We read Halloween books, learned Halloween signs, and played in our mini haunted house. Thank you to all of you who came! You can watch this video from Signing Time to review some Halloween signs. Hope you have a wonderful Halloween today! Stop by the Living Desert and visit our friend Dusty Blue Socks and Dunebilly at the Living Desert today if you can. Should be lots of fun!

Halloween Sign - Afraid

Halloween can be scary at times for little ones. Give your child a way to tell you that they are scared by teaching them the sign for AFRAID. Move your hands over body as if you are protecting it. Click on the picture to download a free poster of this sign.

Watch this video with your baby and learn the sign for AFRAID. Learning to identify and express feelings helps babies get a healthy head start in their social and emotional development!

Halloween Sign - Spider

With all the spiders around in nature or in Halloween decorations and stories, giving children the sign for Spider will provide them a way to "talk" to you about what they see! Place one hand over the other hand and wiggle your eight fingers like the eight legs of a spider. This sign is great for teaching children how many legs a spider has!

Click picture below for a free poster of this sign from Baby Signs, Inc.
Click here to see video of sign.

Sign of the Week - FROG

The Sign of the Week is FROG. Place your fist under your chin and quickly flick out your first two fingers two times.

Here's a free poster from Baby Signs for you to download.This sign would go great with the story about The Big, Wide-Mouthed Frog, you know, the story where the wide-mouthed frog goes around asking different animals "WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DO YOU EAT?" with an "OH, IS THAT SO." with a very big, wide mouth after they tell him. This goes on until he comes to an alligator that says he eats big, wide-mouthed frogs. Suddenly the frog says with a very, very tiny mouth, "Oh is that so." and hops off! I use this story in speech therapy to talk about opening your mouth and using your articulators when you talk. The kids love it!

Sign of the Week - POTTY

Shake "T" hand back and forth (toilet). This sign is great for helping your child communicate the need to go potty even before they speak!
Click on picture to download this poster.

Sign Request - FARM

We had a sign request for FARM at Parent Workshop yesterday evening. Hold your hand like you are showing the number five. Place your thumb against the side of your chin and drag your thumb across your chin with your hand at right angles to your chin.

Follow this link to see a video of this sign on ASL-Pro. http://www.aslpro.com/main/f/farm.swf

Sign Request - PACIFIER

The sign for BINKY or PACIFIER was requested today. Here's a little video on how to sign PACIFIER. You put your thumb and index finger up to mouth like you are holding a pacifier and then you make a sucking motion like you are sucking on the pacifier.

Sign of the Week - BUTTERFLY

I love doing this sign! Just look at the palms of your hands, cross them over to the opposite side of your body, and link your thumbs together. Now make that butterfly fly! Your baby might make the sign with palms facing outward as this is much easier for babies. That's O.K., just keep modeling the sign the correct way.

Click on the picture for the downloadable poster for this sign!

Sign of the Week: CARROT

Make a fist and pretend to chomp a carrot.

Click on picture below to download free poster for this sign!

New Class! Look at Me, Look at You!

Did you know that vision is, in part, a learned behavior and not the automatic ability that most of us always assumed it to be? Like learning to grasp or crawl, controlling the muscles in the eyes so that they move together or focus appropriately takes practice. This class is designed to introduce parents and babies birth to 6 months old to fun activities that promote healthy vision development.

Come SEE what it is all about Monday September 20th at 6:00 to 7:00 pm! Please pre-register A.S.A.P. for this class at Our Little World.

Sign Requests - Avocado and Mango

Sign requests for today at Baby Play and Sign were for avacado and mango. Unfortunately, both of these are fingerspelled. If you want to make up an easy sign for your baby, go ahead and do so. What you could try is using the first letter of the fruit rotated against your cheek as in the manner of the sign for FRUIT . The sign for fruit is a "f" hand shape rotated against the side of your chin, so it would be an A for avocado, and an M for mango. Click on letters/words to see the signs. If something else makes more sense for your particular situation, for example if you cut up avacados a certain way, then you can use that in the sign. I slice an avacado lengthwise, and then twist the two halves to get them apart, so what I would use for my sign would be a twisting motion with my two A hands against each other, just like what I do with the avocado. Remember, our goal is communication, and little hands are going to have a really hard time fingerspelling these words!

Had fun "Under the Sea" today!

Hi! Here I am in my snorkeling gear for the Under the Sea class today! Do you know the signs for shark, whale, clam, dolphin, and turtle? Those are just some of the signs we learned in the Under the Sea class today! Oh yes, octopus too because it's in the Rainbow Fish book we read.

Do you like the cool fish I made? You can make one like it at home with a paper plate! Or come join us the next time we have the Under the Sea class and make one there. We might even make an octopus or jellyfish too! Do you like bugs? Next Saturday, we are making a ladybug in the My Outside Adventure class!

Well, I'd better get going now before that shark gets me! You can stay and watch the video to learn some Under the Sea signs if you like! Hope to see you soon!

Your friend,
BeeBo

Story Time 9 am at Our Little World tomorrow and Under the Sea preschool class at11:00 am at the Palm Desert Athletic Club!

SUMMER CLASSES FOR PRESCHOOLERS






Saturday July 24th, 2010 11:00 - 11:45 am
Learn simple signs for animals under the sea through fun songs, games and craft project. Led by an On the Grow Educator, this class will also provide you with tips and strategies from Drs. Acredolo and Goodwyn's best-selling parenting books to help you teach your child self-control. Join us for a "whale" of a good time! Ideal for ages 2 to 5. We welcome children with special needs!

This class will be held at the Palm Desert Athletic Club.
73600 Alessandro Drive in Palm Desert.

Click here to register or contact Lorraine. Drop-ins are welcome as long as there is space available!


We also have a Story Time with BeeBo at Our Little World at 9:00 am. Please contact Our Little World at http://www.ourlittleworldshop.com/ 760 834-8531 to sign up!

Change in time for On the Grow classes

We needed to change the time from 10:30 to 11:00 for the three Saturday On the Grow classes starting Saturday July 24th, and we added where they will be held - the Palm Desert Athletic Club, 73-600 Alessandro Dr, Palm Desert. Please see our last post for more information about the classes. Hope to see some of you there!

See you at the Library!

Hi! Just wanted to remind you that it's a Baby Play & Sign Saturday at the La Quinta Library tomorrow, July 17th at 10:30 am. Hope to see you there!


Lorraine has also been busy creating a webpage for kids (and parents) and has come up with a cool way to encourage kids to practice their speech homework. Visit http://www.teachnplaykids.com/ to take a look! The kids page has a recording button so you can record something for your baby or your child's speech and play it back to them. This is great way to encourage speech and language development.

We also would like to let you know that we have some On the Grow classes specifically for children ages 2 to 5 years scheduled this month. Please pass the word around.










SUMMER CLASSES FOR PRESCHOOLERS






Saturday July 24th, 2010 11:00 - 11:45 am
Learn simple signs for animals under the sea through fun songs, games and activities. Led by an On the Grow Educator, this class will also provide you with tips and strategies from Drs. Acredolo and Goodwyn's best-selling parenting books to help you teach your child self-control. Join us for a "whale" of a good time! Ideal for ages 2 to 5.








Saturday July 31st, 2010 11:00 - 11:45
Designed to help children appreciate the magic all around them when they venture outside, this play class makes learning fun through songs, activities, signs, and simple craft projects. Also included are tips for parents from Drs. Acredolo and Goodwyn on how to nurture a child's sense of pride in accomplishment. A great class for awakening children to the wonders of nature. Ideal for ages 2 to 5.






Saturday August 7th, 2010 11:00 - 11:45 am
The theme of transportation becomes the "vehicle" for learning cooperation through fun signs, songs, stories, and activites. An On the Grow Educator will share insights from child development experst, Drs. Acredolo and Goodwyn, to help you with this important parenting challenge. A great way to get your child on board the cooperation train. Ideal for ages 2 to 5.

We welcome children with special needs!



Click here to register or contact Lorraine.

Classes will be held at the Palm Desert Athletic Club
73-600 Alessandro Drive in Palm Desert

FREE Story TIme with BeeBo at Our Little World this Saturday!

Change of plans . . . Good news! This Saturday July 3rd at 10:30 am will be a Story Time with BeeBo at Our Little World, and on Monday July 12th at 4:15 there will be a FREE Sign, Say & Play class for you to try. Both things are free, but you need to sign up at Our Little World.

Our Little World

Website: http://www.ourlittleworldshop.com/

Email: ourlittleworldshop@gmail.com

Phone: 760 835-8531.

Mealtime Sign, Say and Play Class this Saturday!

Hi everyone! Just wanted to invite you to come to Our Little World for Sign, Say & Play Class this Saturday June 26th at 10:30 am. We will be doing the Mealtime signs class. On Saturday July 3rd will be the Bedtime class, and Saturday July 10th will be the Bath Time class. So come sign, say, sing and play with me this Saturday at Our Little World!

(Click here for more information about Sign, Say & Play Classes.)

Summer Sign, Say & Play Classes

BeeBo and I are excited about teaching Baby Signs classes at Our Little World, a wonderful new place for parents and little ones in Palm Desert, across the street from the mall. Their website is OurLittleWorldShop.com

The first 6 week session of Sign, Say & Play Classes starts Monday June 14th, 4:15 - 5:00. Sign up for class through Our Little World.

Using the Baby Signs® Program:

• Reduces tears and frustration
• Strengthens the parent-infant bond
• Allows babies to share their worlds
• Promotes positive emotional development
• Boosts babies’ self confidence
• Helps babies learn to talk
• Stimulates intellectual development

Sign, Say & Play™ Curriculum

The Sign, Say & Play curriculum is a 6-week program of carefully crafted sequenced sessions developed especially for parents and babies 6 months to 2 years of age. By embedding the learning of signs in activites that promote cognitive, social, language, literacy, and sensory-motor develoment more generally, we are able to teach parents specific ways to provide the support in these areas that all babies need to make the most of ther critical first three years.

Each class is approximately 45 minutes in length and each week will introduce a new theme. Within that theme you will learn 6-7 signs. The stimulating activities, songs, play, and information introduced will all support learning the signs. Each week you will receive a handout that explains that weeks Baby Signs® and Baby Minds® Tips given about language and cognitive development along with the signs learned and words to the songs taught.

Sign, Say, & Play™ Outline

Week 1: Mealtime
Baby Signs® Topic: The “What,” “Why,” & “How” of the Baby Signs® Program
Baby Minds® Topic: Value of Pretend Play as a Symbolic Activity

Week 2: Bedtime
Baby Signs® Topic: Choosing Signs to teach Babies
Baby Minds® Topic: Value of Pretend Play as a Vocabulary-Rich Activity

Week 3: Bath Time
Baby Signs® Topic: Comprehending and Eliciting Sign from Babies
Baby Minds® Topic: Importance of Following a Child’s Lead

Week 4: Dressing
Baby Signs® Topic: Waiting for Signs: Individual Differences
Baby Minds® Topic: Important Role of Language Comprehension

Week 5: My Pets
Baby Signs® Topic: Signing and Combining Words
Baby Minds® Topic: The Many Values of Puzzle Play

Week 6: At the Park
Baby Signs® Topic: The Transition to Words
Baby Minds® Topic: Review of Past Week’s Topics and Q&A

Cost & Registration

Cost is $75 for 6 week session or $15.00 per class.
Offered through Our Little World - OurLittleWorldShop.com

Sign Say, & PlayTM Kit

Optional Sign, Say, & Play™ Kit is available at a discounted price of $45.00. The kit contains great resources to continue the learning process at home with your baby, providing ways to help parents reinforce the teaching of signs. The featured kit items are:

• My First Fun Signs DVD
• Baby Signs Video Dictionary DVD
• Baby Signs Board Book; Favorites
• Baby Signs Board Book: Time To Eat
• Higgledy-Piggledy, Bobbledy-Boop! Music CD
• Quick Reference Guide
• Baby Signs Memories Journal

Please order kit a week in advance in order to receive it on the first day of class. Click the Buy Now button to purchase kit. (Register for class separately at Our Little World.)

Happy Memorial Day!

Baby Signs thanks our Veterans with this free poster teaching the signs for U.S. military branches.

Happy Mother's Day!

Here's the signs for the poem we did at Baby Play and Sign today! We did it for Valentine's Day too, but practicing saying I Love You is great for Mother's Day too. What better gift could you get from your child than an "I Love You!" You can click on the linked words to see the signs. Thanks to all of you who came today. Have a great Mother's Day tomorrow and see you next Saturday!

I LOVE YOU POEM

Every FLOWER

LOVES a BEE

Every BIRD

LOVES a TREE

And I LOVE YOU!



Every ONE

LOVES a TWO

Every SOCK

LOVES a SHOE

And I LOVE YOU!


Now try to make up some more verses of your own!

(Here's a handout you can print out so you can point to the pictures as you sign them.)

Great video on learning language through play

My Swaziland Reunion

Here is an article about my Swaziland missionary and missionary kids reunion I went to on March 20th. It was great!

Engage Magazine - 'African at heart'

San Diego, California, U.S. -- Back in 1988, Scott Wesley Brown wrote a popular missions song entitled, “Please Don’t Send Me to Africa.” For the 80 people from 10 states and three countries attending the Southern Africa Missionary and Missionary Kid (MK) Reunion on March 20, the outlook was just the opposite. These missionaries and MKs were drawn together by their deep, abiding commitment to and love for Africa.

Warm hugs, sentimental reminiscing and peals of laughter were interspersed with longing looks at the African memorabilia, photos and flags that covered the tables and lined the walls of the aptly-named Mission Church of the Nazarene. Together, the 20 missionaries attending represented a staggering 400+ years of missionary service in southern Africa. That figure includes individuals like Frances Courtney-Smith who, between her years as an MK and a missionary, lived 51 years on the African continent and delivered 4,000 babies as a midwife.

Across the room you could hear the networking as MKs shared the ways they are involved in Africa now – from Lynda Hetrick’s women’s conferences to Shelley Evans Coil’s involvement with Bethany Nazarene’s Swaziland Partnership; from Benny Bajoyo’s employer tithing 10 percent of their profits, to Jamie Gates and Tim Hall taking Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) students to Africa for coursework and soccer.

MK and Eastern Nazarene College Professor Bill McCoy interviewed missionaries like Claudia Stevenson for his PhD research involving leprosy care. Bill and his family hope to live in Swaziland for six months later this year. At least five other MKs are traveling to Africa in 2010 for various ministries, including orphanages, AIDS ministries, water wells and medical clinics. It is very clear this group has a deep love for Africa.

Missionaries Howard and Allene Miller began annual Swaziland MK reunions in San Diego in 1993, and continued the tradition for 17 years. This year, missionaries and MKs from South Africa, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Madagascar also attended. The event included special guests Leslie Lewis and A’me and Sean Bush. Leslie is the U.S. ministry coordinator for Gogo Grandmothers. Dr. Bush is an envenomation specialist featured in Animal Planet’s Venom ER, who is now working to open a snake bite clinic in Swaziland.

The luncheon featured authentic South African dishes including chicken curry, boerwors, vet koek and melktert pies. A stunning cake was decorated as an African village and game reserve.

The reunion was a time of sweet fellowship and pure joy, but the missionary families could not bear to part. Spontaneous gatherings after the reunion included 18 meeting at a local park Saturday night, 28 joining for church and lunch on Sunday and then 17 more gathering for a barbecue dinner Sunday evening.

A few of the comments overheard were:
“I’m Filipino by birth, American by choice and marriage, and African at heart.”

“It’s so great to go back to Africa and see how much the churches have grown.”

“Like many of you, I grew up there and my heart is still there.”

“If anyone wants to take me back to Africa – I’ll get my passport ready!”

Perhaps MK Tom Nothstine, who traveled from remote Cordova, Alaska, to attend the reunion, summed it up best: “We grew up in the best time, the best place that anyone could hope to grow up in – Africa.”

-- Ellen Gailey Decker grew up in Africa as a missionary's kid and is the author of Nazarene Mission International (NMI) books, Africa's Soul Hope: The AIDS Crisis and the Church and The Power of One: Compassion as a Lifestyle.

Spring and Easter Signs

Watch this video to learn sign for Bunny!



Easter is a great time to learn signs for describing locations such as in, on and under when you are going to all those Easter egg hunts! Using signs for prepositions can really help young children follow directions. Click on these words to see the signs!

Where? in , on, under, over1, over 2, beside, behind, basket

Happy signing and hunting!

Learn Sign for TOAST

Today at Baby Play and Sign we talked about what we had for breakfast and we had a sign request for TOAST, a very useful sign for us to know! Use your nondominant hand as the piece of bread and make the sign for "V" with your dominant hand representing prongs of the fork. Tap the "prongs" on the front then the back of the "bread" like you are toasting the bread on a fork over the fire.

Safety Warning - Baby Slings Recall

Just in case you didn't hear about it, CBS news reported yesterday that Infantismo Wendy Bellisimo and the SlingRider Baby Slings are being recalled due to suffocation risks. Infants younger than 4 months are most at risk. So if you have those models, stop using them and send in tags to the Infantismo company for a free replacement product.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Here's a picture of me all dressed up for St. Patrick's Day!

We had fun learning some St. Patrick's day signs at Baby Play and Sign last Saturday! Here's some signs we learned. Just click on the words to see the signs!

green , hat , glasses , bow tie , leprechaun , lucky, clover , rainbow

We had fun tossing clovers and my hat on the parachute - boy did we make it fly way up high! And we put little green hats on the stuffed the animals, and on ourselves! We also took some cute pictures!

Pictures

Learn Sign for Vanilla

We had a sign request for VANILLA at Baby Play and Sign yesterday. It is like the sign for chocolate, but you circle a V over the back of your nondominant hand instead of a C. Click on the word below to see the sign!

VANILLA

Learn Sign for Yogurt

Hi! This sign was requested at last week's Baby Play and Sign, so here it is so we can all learn it! Get your Y sign ready and grab some yogurt! Yum!

Happy Valentine's Day and signs for I Love You Poem!

Here's the signs for the poem we did at Baby Play and Sign today! You can click on the linked words to see the signs. Thanks to all of you who came and thanks for the hugs! Have a great Valentine's Day tomorrow and see you next Saturday!

I LOVE YOU POEM

Every FLOWER

LOVES a BEE

Every BIRD

LOVES a TREE

And I LOVE YOU!



Every ONE

LOVES a TWO

Every SOCK

LOVES a SHOE

And I LOVE YOU!


Now try to make up some more verses of your own!

(Here's a handout you can print out so you can point to the pictures as you sign them.)

Click here for more Valentine's Signs!

Happy Valentine's Day!