Help your baby or toddler
communicate with you
Are you tired of trying to guess if your baby or toddler is hungry or tired or thirsty or cold?
What would it be like for your child to be able to communicate his or her basic needs?
If you want to experience less frustration and fewer tantrums, this course is for you.
Benefits of Using Sign Language with Your Baby or Toddler:
- Enhances fine motor skills
- Speeds up language development
- Helps to create a closer bond with your child
- Expands vocabulary and boosts brain function
- Improves self esteem
- Decreases tantrums or "melt-downs"
- It's a lot of FUN!
Meet Your Instructor
Vanessa VanCleave
I learned American Sign Language more than 25 years ago in order to teach my daughter Maegan, who lost her hearing after a bout with meningitis, to communicate. I worked as a Certified Interpreter for the Deaf for eighteen years.
Although my second daughter Savannah was hearing, I decided to teach her to sign as a baby. Well meaning people told me, "If you teach her to sign she will never learn to talk..."
But I found the opposite to be true! Once she learned that things had names and that she could use her hands to communicate, she wanted to learn more and more words and it actually helped her to develop language much sooner than other children her age. She grew in confidence and developed a "can do" attitude.
I can't wait to see how learning Sign Language impacts your family!
What age does this course target?
3 Months to 3 Years
This course is designed to teach parents how to teach their baby or toddler to communicate through signing. The ideal time to start signing with your baby is 6 to 9 months but don't worry if your child is younger or older. There is no "magic window" that closes. I recommend starting as soon as babies start focusing in on objects and people. Every child is different, but most will start signing back to you at 10 to 14 months. It is also fine to begin teaching signs after your child has started to talk.
Here's What You'll Find in This Course:
- Five 20-30 minute video lessons where you will learn how to sign the word AND when to use it with your child in the context of your daily life
- Five short 3-5 minute practice videos with the signs you learned in the lesson.
- Power Point slides you can download and refer to when you need it.
- Printable handout to record notes and to document the signs you notice your child using!
- Resources! You'll receive book and video suggestions, along with connections to helpful websites to help you continue the signing journey with your baby or toddler.
- An opportunity to join me for a one-on-one live zoom session where you'll receive coaching and ideas for signs specific to your child.