Signs & Activities for a Solar Eclipse

All the talk of the eclipse in the US brings this video to mind the solar eclipse of May 20, 2012 that we saw in Tokyo. While the eclipse was impressive the more memorable part is how much our daughter, not even 2 years old yet at the time, understood about the eclipse.

Take the time to explain it to your kids. Use the signs and words they already know to help them grow in understanding.

You may be surprised to see that they "get" it!

Suggested signs for the solar eclipse:
moon 
sun
change
sleep
all done

Free Printable Montessori Solar Eclipse 3-part Nomenclature Cards

Books About Eclipse

Info from NASA

Want to learn more?
The Baby Signing Time video "A New Day" includes the signs for "moon" and "sun" along with "stars" and "night". The songs "Starry Night" and "New Day" not only help with teaching the signs but also include lyrics which teach related concepts in an understandable way.

Looking to learn more about our solar system? Check out Rachel and the Treeschoolers! 
TreeSchoolers Ep. 9: Our Solar System is a great place to start. Don't forget that all TreeSchoolers episodes come with an accompanying activity guide (free, downloadable) to expand on the concepts introduced in the video. 

Use the code: sign99 to get a 1 month subscription to the Kotoba & Sign Digital Player for $0.99.

 It is a great way to see what is available before purchasing! 

Use with the Signing Time TV app to watch on your phone & tablet.

Starting Point - Signing With Infants and Toddlers

So, you've heard about the benefits of signing.
Perhaps you've read the FAQ?
It all sounds great but how do you start?

The most basic point for signing with children, or anyone for that matter, is "when you say the word, sign it".

When you say the word, sign it!

What does this look like?
When you have learned a sign for a word you constant using it right away. Use the signs "eat" "more" "milk" and "done" each time you say them at meal time.
In between meals you use the same signs when the words appear in books, are sung in a song or when they come up while playing. Using the sign repeatedly, in various situations, will help the child to connect the meaning between the word, sign and related object/action.




In bilingual/multilingual families use the same set of signs in conjunction with the matching words across all languages. For example, sign "apple" when saying "apple", "りんご" and "Apfel". The sign will act as a bridge between the spoken languages to help makes connections between meanings quicker. They also can help you to understand what the child is trying to stay in a language you are not familiar with.

Want to start today?
The easiest way to start for me was by finding a great series of videos that teaches the signs in a fun and easy to remember way. Even better? It is a kid friendly video with helpful songs so you can use the music throughout the day to help you remember to sign.
Would you like to take a look?

Access the Baby Signing Time and Signing Time right away with the Kotoba & Sign Digital Player  
Use the code: sign99 to get a 1 month subscription for $0.99. It is a great way to see what is available before purchasing! 
Traveling? After setting up an account use the Signing Time TV app to watch on your mobile device.

The videos cover a wide variety or topics. If you are new to signing I recommendd starting with the Pink Baby Signing Time materials. It covers the very basics like "eat", "more", family and pets.

Still have questions? Feel free to leave them in the comments below.
Happy Signing!

Free eBooks for Read Across America Day

The National Education Association in the US has a yearly "Read Across America Day" to encourage families and teachers to keep reading with children. The benefits of reading are so many and so great that I don't have space/time to discuss them all here. This post is to let you know of a few favorite books and how you can gain instant access to them!

One of the read things about signing while reading is that it adds extra depth by making books interactive.

The excellent Baby Signing time, Potty Time and Signing Time eBooks are FREE on the Kotoba & Sign Digital Player until 3/3/2017 (US time) with the code: sign2read . 

Limit 1 per customer account.

While you're there, take a look around at the other products. They include
- Videos
- Music
- Parent Guides
- Activity Guides

Recommendations:
★　The song "I love to Read a Book" works great for transitioning into reading time. I use it both in my classes and with my kids at home.
★　The Signing Time video "Once Upon a Time" covers useful vocabulary and signing for story time
★　The Signing Time video "Who Has the Frog" introduces key question words to use when discussing what you've read.

Use the code: sign99 to enjoy a 1 month subscription for $0.99. It is a great way to see what is available before purchasing! 
Use with the MOD Mobile app to watch on your phone & tablet.

For Inspiration
A toddler signing while reading

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I Can Talk With My Hands... Can You?

Kotoba & Sign 言葉＆サイン　e-mail: heidi　@　signingtimeacademy.com  

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Kotoba & Sign Blog: http://kotobaandsign.blogspot.jp

12 Christmas Signs クリスマスのサイン

Over on the Signing Time Blog they have posted 12 Christmas signs. Here are the links.

〜　サイニングタイムのブログに１２個のクリスマスのサイン　〜

12. Stockings 靴下

11. Star 星

10. Snow 雪

9. Give 与える

8. Reindeer トナカイ

7. Ornament ツリーの飾り

6. Lights クリスマスライト

5. Gift/Present プレゼント

4. Christmas Tree クリスマスツリー

3. Candle キャンドル

2. Bell　ベル

1. Christmas クリスマス

Did you learn them all? Here is a little booklet you can print to help you review!
このサインを覚えましたか？クリスマスのサインのワークブックを無料でダウンロードをできます↓
Christmas Sign Book
クリスマスのサインのワークブック

Angel Craft 天使のクラフト（工作）

Merry Christmas!

Baby Signing Stages

 There are some stages most babies follow when learning to sign.  If you haven't seen it, experienced it, it can be hard to comprehend just what those stages look like. Here are some video clips that may help.

Step one - Notice that people are signing

Step 2 - Respond to the signing

Step 3 - Beging moving hands in purposeful ways

Step 4 - Use single signs to communicate

Step 5 - String signs together to communicate

Step 6 - Begin to say the words being signed

Step 7 - Speak and sign a lot!

Signing at the Aquarium 水族館でサインと英語

今週葛西臨海水族館の遠足に行って来ました。色んな海の生き物を見るチャンスでした。海と色の英語とサインを皆で学びました。本当に楽しかったです。
Earlier this week we had our parent/child field trip to the Tokyo Sea Life Park aquarium. It was a great chance to see various sea creatures up close and learn to say and sign their names! The colorful fish and and nominees also gave us a chance to practice color signs.

Here are some of the things we saw:

こんな生き物を見た:

Fish さかな

Starfish ヒトデ

Seahorse シーホース

Crab カニ

Penguin ペンギン

Shark サメ

We also read this book. この本も読んだ.

In preparing for this field trip I came across some helpful pages and printouts. My kids love the printables on the Sea World page.

準備をしていた間にいろんなページとプリントを見つけた。私の子どもたちはSea World のプリントを気に入れました。

遠足のページにおすすめ本やリンクあります。

On the field trip page there are links to other resources and books.

Posted with Blogsy

Sign Of The Week 今週の手話 Sun お日様

The Sign of the Week this week is sun.

今週の手話は太陽、お日様です。

Infants and toddlers are very interested in the world around them so having signs such as "sun", "cloud" and "moon" can help them to tell you what they are seeing and thinking about!

Here are some videos from Two Little Hands where you can learn other signs to go with "sun"!

Baby Signing Time Vol. 3 A New Day

Series 2 Vol. 5 Going Outside

Rachel and the TreeSchoolers: A Rainy Day

Books for practicing the sign for "sun":
"Sun"のサインを練習するためのおすすめ絵本:

What Do You See Outside? (Baby Signing Time!)  By Emilie De Azevedo Brown (Available from Heidi)

Itsy Bitsy Spider from Child's Play

Going Out from Child's Play

Maisy's Wonderful Weather Book by Lucy Cousins

I Love You Sun, I Love You Moon by Tomie dePaola

And, to wrap this up, here is a clip of my toddler using the sign "sun" while looking at pictures of the eclipse we watched earlier that day.  Without signing we probably wouldn't have known that she understood what was happening during the eclipse!

Sign Of The Week 今週の手話

The Sign of the Week this week is bike! 今週の手話は「自転車」です。

At our house we also use this sign for bicycle, tricycle and unicycle.　家では、一輪車、三輪車のこともこのサインを使ってます。

ママのひみつ: Here's another "mommy hint" that I've discovered - kids, even infants, like to know what is going on.  They want to know where we are going and how we are getting there.  The sign "bike" can be used to help explain the plan for the day in simple terms.  An example "We will ride mommy's bike to the store and then come home to eat lunch". Using the sign for "bike" in this natural setting not only helps your child to learn that the word and sign have the same meaning but also gives your child another way to communicate the word "bike" to you when she is ready.   

Take a look at this dictionary for beginners to learn signs for other things you do each day!

Books for practicing the sign for "bike" as well as other forms of transportation:
"Bike"のサインを練習するためのおすすめ乗り物の絵本:
Small World: Away We Go

のりものいろいろかくれんぼ
Bears on Wheels

Here is a clip from when my daughter was 15 months old.  At this age many kids can make noises but have fewer than 10 spoken words. In this video she uses 7 signs, 3 for words that she was not able to clearly pronounce until a year later (bicycle, airplane, motor cycle).  An additional benefit we enjoyed was that she could play with her older brother, using signs, clearly expressing which toys she wanted to use.  As a mom this was wonderful to see!

ベビー・サイニングタイムのExtra Signs for Baby Signing Time

In the Japan release of the Baby Signing Time DVD "Eat & Drink" there are some extra signs listed in the included booklet.  One of the great things about using a real sign language instead of made-up signs is that you can turn to a dictionary to find more signs for words you don't already know.  There is no need to make up your own original signs!  Plus, if you made up your own "signs" (gestures) it would be like making up meaningless words since no one else will know the meaning of your "sign"... and you risk making up a sign which is actually an insulting or bad word in sign language.

ベビー・サイニングタイムの『おなかがすいたよ』のDVD説明書にDVD以外の便利なサインも書いています。そのサインはアメリカ手話や日本手話です。この下に手話辞書のビデオリンクをあります。

アメリカ手話　(ASL)  from http://www.signingsavvy.com

Rice

http://www.signingsavvy.com/sign/RICE/5387/1

Rice: finger spell "r" and move you hand like you are picking up rice from a bowl.

Soup - Soup is in the Signing Time Series 1 Vol. 12 "Time To Eat" DVD

http://www.signingsavvy.com/sign/SOUP/2571/1

With two fingers as the spoon, scoop up the soup from a bowl.

Tea - The sign I use...

http://www.signingsavvy.com/sign/TEA/703/1

One hand makes a cup shape, the other pretends you are holding a tea bag - move your hands like you are swishing a tea bag in your cup

日本手話 from http://www.heartfulpower.jp http://shikaku.in/sign/

美味しい　(yummy)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4pS4tQUX_M

http://shikaku.in/sign/L/search/美味しい/ (cake, yummy)

Pat your cheek to show how yummy the food is!

おにぎり

http://shikaku.in/sign/P/s_m3h79iygxk

move your hands like you are making a ball of rice

Tea

ミルクティー

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxaVHXOfRvk

お茶

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUrm3DQ3ktw

紅茶　<-- close to the ASL sign)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqFHRCYmI-8

I've seen 抹茶 signed (by deaf friends) as lifting a green tea tea cup - the same as on the pamphlet.

Check out the Kotoba & Sign Amazon Store for suggestions of books and toys to keep the learning going!

One more link... the Deaf Japan website.  It has some interesting things on it!  http://deafjapan.com

Year of the Snake 巳年／へび年

If you live in Japan you probably have noticed that this is the year of the snake.  The snake decorates many of the New Year's postcards and decorations.
日本に住んでいる方なら、今年は巳年だとわかっていると思います。へびが年賀状や新年の飾りを彩っていますもんね。

Do you know how to sign "snake"?  It is a sign I've been hesitant to use because I don't like thinking about snakes. My kids though... they like snakes!
ところで、“ヘビ”のサインを知っていますか。わたしは個人的にヘビのことを考えるのは好きではないので、使うのをためらうサインの一つなのですが、わたしの子どもたちは、、、ヘビが好きなのです！
以下が “ヘビ”の米国手話のリンクです。
Here is a link to the ASL sign for "snake":
http://www.signingsavvy.com/sign/SNAKE/4531/1


While we are at it, here is a short video clip with some useful New Year signs:
ついでに、新年に使えるサインのいくつかをおさめた短いビデオクリップを紹介します。

We Sign Videos

One of the great things about Signing Time (and there are many great things!) is that it uses real ASL vocabulary.  It uses real signs from a real language.  This means that there are great resources in addition to Signing Time that can be used to enhance language learning and communication.

One of the companies that also creates DVDs for kids with ASL vocabulary is We Sign.  A favorite in our house is the We Sign Christmas Carols DVD.  These are all songs we hear a lot this time of year so they are easy for kids to pick up.  Signing the words as they are sung also helps us to pay attention to the meaning of the songs.  It is also a way to add actions (which kids love!) to songs that we don't normally think of adding actions to!

Here, take a look!

The We Sign Christmas Carols DVD includes the following songs:

Silent Night (きようしこのよる）

The First Noel　 (牧人ひつじを)

Away in a Manger　(かいばのおけに)

O Little Town of Bethlehem (しずかにねむれる)

What Child Is This?

Joy To The World (もろびとこぞりて）

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen　(世のひと忘るな)

O Come, All Ye Faithful　 (神の御子は)

Most of the songs from this DVD are also included in the Japanese/English Caroling Collection CD

(クリスマス ソング コレクション) and can be downloaded from Amazon.co.jp.  The book (sheet music) can be found here.

More Toddler Reading

In the previous post I shared a video from yesterday.  Here are a few more from the same reading session!

Reading an Easter Book - Things I See at Easter

http://youtu.be/HwrwnGurhMo

Sealife Book - うみのいきものかくれんぼ

http://youtu.be/9wEoGQdndXo

Clothing Book - おきがえいろいろかくれんぼ

http://youtu.be/CttXnO1wAfQ

Vehicle Book - のりものいろいろかくれんぼ

http://youtu.be/wb0HZnML7Z0

Even if the child's signs are not perfect they can still enjoy reading.  As you can see my daughter is also "correcting" her signs as her ability increases so they look more and more like the signs produced by adults.  This is a normal step for 2 and 3 year olds!  This is also why I always tell parents to capture the cute "baby sign language" moments on video because like everything else kids grow out of it quickly!

Reading an Animal Book

My daughter loves books.  Her love of books has been fostered in part by the ability to "read" on her own by signing what she sees.

 

The いろいろかくれんぼ　books by いしかわ こうじ are very popular in our home. Many of the topics are the same as those covered in the Baby Signing Time and Signing Time series. These books are a fun way to reinforce the signs that we have learned!

Signing up a Storm!

Miss Mega (who just turned 2) has been signing up a storm - and signing about storms - every day.  Her toddler energy is amazing!  Every day she adds both new words and new signs.  Her spoken languages (mainly Japanese and English) often leave us wondering what words she is trying to pronounce so we rely heavily on the signs she uses to help us untangle this web.
It is very common for bilingual / multilingual toddlers to mix spoken languages - even in the same sentence.  Mega also mixes ASL signs with her two main spoken languages.  As toddlers grown into preschoolers they will naturally separate and isolate both spoken and signed languages.  This adorable (and sometimes frustrating!) time of mixing languages is super cute so we are trying to catch some of the conversations on video.

A conversation on a rainy morning...

A typical morning conversation...

Mullberry Bush サインで読める絵本

There are many books that you can read even if you know just a few signs.  One of the favorites at our house is Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush from the Child's Play Classic Books with Holes series. 

サインで読める絵本

Here is a video clip of Mega reading the page with bath and brushing teeth.  She is 21 months old in this video and uses ASL signs along with spoken words.  Since she is still young her pronunciation is not great but thanks to the signs it is easy to know what she is saying!

Signing at 19 Months Old

I'm digging through the videos on my computer to find examples of signing.  Here are a couple of my daughter at 19 months old.

Vest From Friend

Reading Baby Siging Time Flashcards