Saturday, February 28, 2009

Another Andrew Bragging Session!

Well it's time for another Andrew bragging session. Well as many of you know I have been teaching Andrew how to sign. I was doing this from the first day we got him to help with the communication, and just a few short months later he was signing back to me. Lately I have been losing track of all the words he knows, and he will sign something and I forget what he is telling me. So the other day I started writing down all of the signs that he knows, and I got up to eighty and I'm still counting. The amazing thing is that Andrew is starting to talk more and more everyday and the words he is learning to say are the words he has learned the signs for. I'm convinced that it is helping him learn to talk quicker now that he can hear clearly after his surgery in October. For all you parents out there I encourage you to teach your babies signs. It gives them a way to communicate and helps cut down the frustration level. Andrew amazes me everyday on what he understands and how he uses his signs to communicate with me. There is a great series of movies out there called Signing Time that are great for teaching parents and children some simple signs. You can get them on line at http://signingtime.com , and I have also found them at my local library. The Baby Signing Time Series is great for the babies to start with. There are also some books that go along with some of the movies and they are also great to look at refresh your memory. I just can't say enough good about teaching signing to your babies.

I do have a disclamer that Andrew doesn't do all his signs exactly right. It is hard for a child his age to hold specific fingers out. That comes later. For now I know what he is saying, and I think he is so smart to not just know the signs but to know what they mean and when to use them.

Andrew also does awesome with knowing where all his body parts are. He is like a sponge and always wants to learn something new. Usually I only have to show him something once or twice and he remembers it.

5 comments:

Drew said...

What a smart cookie! Ben is almost 3 and barely talking. Guess I should have gone the signing route with him. :) I'm just amazed how cooperative Andrew is! Ben would have played that game for 2 seconds and then on to the next thing. Those videos were really neat!

Maria said...

Hey Kim -- I thought I responded, but it all occurred about the time I got the flu, so who knows?? We are coming down Friday night and then leaving either Mon or Tue. They live in Xenia, OH. I'm not sure if that's close to you or not. You can let me know what works for you all. :-)

The Lehrs said...

One word... AMAZING! That is so great! It makes me want to get out the two Signing Time episodes and let Matthew watch them, even though we're well into talking now. Andrew is doing SO WELL Kim! What a sweetheart and a little smarty pants too! -Kim

Maria said...

Oh my goodness I was SO impressed. We CONTINUE to try to teach Ellie "Eat" "More" "Drink" and "All Done" to NO AVAIL. I've picked up a Baby Signs video and we are going to start watching that too.

Jackie said...

Those video clips are unreal. Love it. I think I need to pick up a signing book myself!! Thanks for sharing so much about your little Andrew!!