Musings: To Sign Or Not

Think that sign language is exclusive to deaf people...think again. Sign language is becoming a very popular tool in communicating with babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers. Before an infant develops the ability to form language/vocalization skills, they do possess the ability to make simple signs with their hands. The secret to success is being consistent with the infant in your signing and not just whenever you remember to do it. Signing is effective as it relieves the infant of a lot of frustration because of an inability to communicate on an adults level...sign language levels the verbal playing field. This leads to a happier baby. Among the most used signs are; milk, water, all done, more, stop, eat, love you. I've been interested in infant sign language since 2004 when I first encountered it and have been observing its effectiveness ever since that time. There are many board books about signing for babies and many for adults to learn from and I think the difference is more about how the adult learns than which book is the best. An often recommended book is Stacy A. Thompson's "Teach Your Tot To Sign: A Guide To American Sign Language." which is available on amazon. It is a bit of sadness to me that I did not know this when I was raising my own children as I would have used it back then. I have recommended it to my daughter Carrie for her soon to be born baby. Happy signing everyone.

Musing Up- Date

Out next topic will be the merits of teaching a baby sign-language. Does it work or is it just a fad and everyone is jumping on the bandwagon?

Musings On Pre-School Advantages

There I was sitting at a table in the public library ready to read to any interested child and along bounced this cute as a button child. "What would you like to read?" I asked and the child picked up a lot of the books and was not having any of it. The child started chattering about everything and nothing and I was finding it difficult to understand him. They dragged books from all over the children's section...none of which the child could muster the attention span for. After speaking to the parents I discovered that the child was almost 3-years-old and should do best with board books...no luck. He was still all over the place. When other children arrived that really did want to be read to I had to turn my attentions to the others and not the one that was not ready to be read to. Dad got angry with me, but I am not a baby sitter...I READ TO CHILDREN. I did find out that this adorable child had not been to pre-school and that is when the light clicked on...pre-school is a valuable tool for young children. When a child that has not been in pre-school hits kindergarten it is painfully obvious which ones have not been to pre-school as they are all over the place. There are many fine parents that do an excellent job of educating/working with their children, but what about the other 90%? With the economy adding more children to each classroom, how much time is a busy teacher going to be able to devote to a child that is all over the place? Not much. Children do not magically sit down when a teacher calls story time or book time. It is a process that begins early on in their lives. Children need help and guidance to know what to do in order to be able to sit down and actually listen to a story. This help is best learned from caring pre-school teachers that are consistent and caring.
This concept is even more important if the child also has an obvious speech impediment. In a crowded public school classroom it will be harder to notice and be even more difficult to work on. Many pre-schools have access to facilities that visit the pre-school and work with children that need their services...either for free or at a nominal cost. When I was working at Discoveries Learning Centers in Santa Barbara there was a wonderful staff on hand to help children having difficulties. They came in from the county and are especially trained to handle many different kinds of learning disabilities. They are very successful in their genre and I have been happy to have worked with them.

Musings

After a recent encounter with a young father in the public library where I am a volunteer reader to young children, I felt compelled to begin writing a blog about children and parenting. There is no particular order, rhyme or reason to the posts. I'll write them when I am inspired to do so. I am a professional pre-school teacher at NBC Universal Studios Child Care Center and know what I'm talking about. I've been in the business of education for decades and have worked for: Head Start, Catholic Charities' ADESTE Program, Los Angeles Unified School District Indian Education Program, Bright Horizons Family Solutions at their Washington Mutual Child Care Center in Chatsworth, Discoveries Learning Centers in Santa Barbara and am currently working at NBC Universal. None of my material will be drawn from NBC Universal or any other facility that I have worked at in particular. Topics will be in generalities. In addition to the required course work in ECE I have studied the Reggio Emilia approach in depth and totally believe in it.