St. Joan sponsored an Infant Sign Language Class on July 17th. The session was led by Denise Meyer(right), local signing instructor. Denise teaches Little Hands Baby Sign Language at area daycares, churches and community ed programs. Denise led a very useful and informative class to the group of parents and grandparents assembled in the Parish Center. By the end of the session all adult participants could sign the alphabet as well as many useful words which come in handy when dealing with children who can not yet speak. Words such as bottle, drink, cup, eat, more, help, water, nurse, milk, and enough or all-done were taught in an easy-to-remember manner.

Babies can even tell an adult when their diaper needs a change. An anectdote was shared about a baby who had been changed just before a long trip and as the baby was placed in the car seat kept making the sign for diaper change. Sure enough! Between the diaper change and the car seat (5 minutes time!) the baby had done its "business"! This saved the child from a long car ride in a dirty diaper!

With two babies in the class it was fun to see how they seemed to zero in on anyone who tried seriously to communicate with them. I have used many of these signs with children personally and know it is a very effective way to maintain order and surround oneself with happy children who are too young to form words with their mouths and yet still be able to communicate. The fascinating thing is that when children learn to sign before they can speak they will learn to speak earlier than ones who don't sign. Later they can learn other languages more easily. If parents and/or provider speak different languages, the use of signing offers a bridge between the two languages and avoids confusing the child.

Did you know sign language is the third most popular language in the United States? By the end of the Baby Sign Language class, it was easy to see why!


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Bergetta Monroe won her first camera by selling 640 boxes of tea biscuits (cookies) in eighth grade. She has been taking pictures ever since. While not having any formal training she has recently finished her first DVD of an Amtrak trip to the Pacific Northwest. Her "day job" for much of her adult life has involved caring for children. Her hobbies have included needlework, genealogy, decorating the home she shares with her husband and travel; she has enjoyed using photography with all of the above. Currently she is working on her next DVD project of recording her neighborhood for the year 2004. She can be reached at Bergetta@aol.com.


Links:
  • More information about Denise's work is available on line at www.sign2me.com/classes/dMeyer.htm
  • The work of Joseph Garcia, a leading baby sign evangelist is also presented at sign2me.com. Sign2Me features materials to buy, classes to take, online chat and much more: www.sign2me.com/
  • A portal of the sign language community includes sign of the day with photos depicting the signs: www.handspeak.com


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