おすすめDVD Move and Groove

☆  Stuck inside because of rainy season? Check out Move and Grove! ☆ 

Rainy season has started in Japan. This time of year we have many days when we can't go to the park to play and since our houses are small it is difficult to burn off extra energy when playing inside. Signing Time has a DVD that is perfect for the rainy days!

Today I'd like to introduce you to Signing Time Series 2 Move and Grove.

While not planned as an exercise DVD my kids turn it into one by acting out the various actions words/signs that are taught. After dancing around for 25 minutes the kids get tired and they've learned a few things in the process!

Like the other Series 2 DVDs there "breaks" for learning ABCs, numbers etc. included in the show. Each DVD also focuses on learning a song from start to finish with the last part of the show including the song for the episode in its entirety. This gives kids a real feeling of accomplishment when they can learn to sign and dance a full song!

My 5 yr oldies pretty good at following along with the DVD. The 2 yr. old turned to me after a few minutes and said "My exercising!" After which she started her own exercise routine in addition to the song.

We don't really have space for somersaults, which she discovered pretty quickly!

Here is are two previews of Signing Time Series 2 Move and Grove

Two Little Hands $10 DVD Sale!

$10 DVD Sale

Biggest sale of the year on Two Little Hands DVDs On Mon-Wed. (US Time) this week! 

All DVDs and DVD/CD combos are $10. 

 Limit 2 of each kind... but with so many DVDs to choose from you can still end up buying over 60 DVDs!

Have some children's birthdays's coming and want to get a great gift? 

☆ For a preschooler try Rachel and the Treeschoolers. 

☆ Baby? How about Baby Signing Time? 

☆  Child headed for 1st grade? Look at the ABCs and Practice Time DVDs for a multisensory and fun start to phonics and sight words. 

☆  Potty Training while the summer is hot? Potty Time can help make it fun for everyone! 

☆  Stuck inside because of rainy season? Check out Move and Grove! 

With so many choices there is somethign for every kid! Don't be overwhelmed by the choices - ask (e-mail is ok!) and I'll share some suggestions! Here's your link to get to the sale!

While you're thinking of gifts why not pair a DVD with a board book or flashcards to keep the learning going?

Teachers, homeschoolers, parents, grandparents... there are plenty of other resources and ideas on the Two Little Hands homepage so why not take a look around?

Rachel even made a video to share about the sale!

DVD of the Week 今週のおすすめDVD - Time To Eat

This week I'd like to introduce you to the Signing Time Vol. 12 DVD Time to Eat.  It is a great option for building on the vocabulary learned in a Baby Signing Time ☆ Sign and Play ☆ Class.  This DVD also builds on vocabulary covered in the Baby Signing Time Vol. 1 materials and the Signing Time Vol. 3 Everyday Signs materials. 

Vocabulary covered in the Time To Eat DVD includes a number of food signs and words that are helpful to know in the preparing of food.  The songs touch on topics such as food growing in the garden and cooking in the kitchen.  A particular favorite of ours is the "Set the Table" song.

As part of learning about their world children enjoy exploring items from daily life.  Infants and toddlers enjoy practicing cutting and cooking toy food.  Preschoolers and Elementary aged kids can help with preparing various foods.  With the help of the song "Set the Table " kids can help by setting the table at mealtimes.

A special bonus for those who are familiar with the Silly Pizza Song (From the Everyday Signs DVD) is the Silly Pizza II song.  If you thought the first one was challenging this one doubles the challenge!  If you master either of the Silly Pizza songs please send me the video!!!!

Here is a clip of the Time to Eat DVD:

Zoo Wrap-Up

We had a wonderful trip to Ueno Zoo this week!  Thank you to everyone who came with us!

For those who didn't come along I'll post some resources you can use on your next visit to the zoo or when reading about a zoo.

We started the day with a group who met at the gate at 10 AM. Our early group enjoyed visiting the large birds, lions, gorillas and bears.

We learned that the lion with a little hair is the Mommy and the lion with the big hair is the Daddy! 

We were able to watch the Polar Bear eat fish, swim and play with a ball.

At 11:30 we had our 2nd meeting time for those who wished to join us from lunch.  We enjoyed taking a break in the shade while watching the monkeys near by. Although we didn't have a proper lesson, we did have a chance to review a few signs using the book Peek-A-Moo before heading to the petting zoo.

 Checking out the map to see where we've been and where we're going.

Our lovely group - 17 adults and 16 1/2 babies/toddlers

After eating we walked to the other side of the park to the children's petting zoo area which features farm animals.  Here is a link to an Hand-y Craft Animal Memory Game you can download and make at home.

 Guess who found the rabbits!

For most of the kids it was the first chance to pet a goat.  

Look!  The goats and pigs eat grass!

Throughout the day we were able to see what many of the animals eat.  It was wonderful to see how many of out little signers were making connections between the things we're learned in class (eat, yummy, apple, banana etc.) and the real animals eating real food.

Can you guess which animal we are looking at now?

 We had an up close look at the giraffes eating leaves for their lunch!

 When we have play group we often use the Classroom Edition curriculum which includes printable flashcards that you can color in and laminate at home.  This little girl has her set of cards hooked to the stroller to "read" on the train and look at as we explored the zoo.

After wandering together for a few hours about half of the kids were asleep in their strollers so we parted ways at 2PM.  A few of us went on to visit the reptiles before heading home.

Baby M had her first experience with live turtles.  It was so much fun to watch her face light up as she saw how they moved!  Even a child just turning 1 can enjoy the zoo :-)

For more zoo book ideas please visit the Kotoba & Sign Amazon.co.jp store!

Again, thank you to everyone who joined us for this first サインで遊ぼう Sign & Play Group Field Trip!  We're hoping to have another one at the end of July (2013), possibly to a Tokyo area aquarium!  Please check this blog or follows us on Twitter or Facebook for details!  For those who can't join us I'll still post resources on here that you can use for your own future adventures :-)

Here are blog posts from some of the other participants:
Diary of a Mommy Photographer

DVD of the Week 今週のおすすめDVD

There are many wonderful Signing Time DVDs as well as others that are ASL based. This series of posts will introduce a different DVD each week and provide ideas for extension activities that you can do at home!

 

Recently my daughter (2 years 8 months) has been really interested in the letters "t", "n" and "m". Not only are the signs similar, the sounds of "n" and "m" are similar as well. After a couple of weeks of asking about those 3 letters she's moved on to wanting to know the first letter of people's names.

When my son ws that age I hadn't introduced the manual alphabet (fingerspelling) yet so I wonder if perhaps I missed out on his first interest in the alphabet?

 

In the signing time series the alphabet, finger spelling and letter sounds are introduced in Series 1 DVD 5. Basic phonetics are included throughout the series as many signs include a letter that connects to the spoken English word (example: water, restaurant, shoe). When a child connects the letter and the sound it makes it is a step towards being able to read the language.

Finger spelling and initialized signs can also help develop phonemic awareness which is key in gaining fluency in a language.

 

This week's suggested DVD is....

Practice Time ABCs

My kids (2 and 5) volunteered to watch the DVD and give their honest opinion. Even though I teach Signing Time classes and own the complete series we do not watch the DVDs every day. It has been a while since we watched the Practice Time DVDs that they don't remember watching it.

I think this DVD appeals best to kids who area bit older than mine or interested in ABCs and reading more than my kids are right now.

The DVD starts out with a lesson on how to sign the ABCs. While we already know the manual alphabet thekidsstill enjoyed signing along. After learning the basics the DVD uses a series of progressive quizzes to review the manual alphabet and move into finger spelling. The DVD is created to mix up the quiz questions each time you watch so you aren't seeing the same questions every time.

In the first round of practicing Rachel signs a letter and we guessed what it was. My 2 yr old answered mostofthese correctly - which really surprised me! She even added reasons like "That's "g" like green". The second round of practice quizzes showed the the letter and it was our job to show the sign. Wile this was a bit tougher for my 2 yr old, my 5 yr old washable to do it easily.

The practice activities after the first two rounds introduced basic finger spelling. This is where the kids lost interest quickly. For the 2 yr.old it was when "mom" was spelled with an "m" first. In her mind it starts with "h" since my name starts with "h". Once she saw Rachel "make a mistake" went to play someplace else.

My son hung in there a bit longer but he isn't used to finger spelling words with 4 letters so he stopped participating but kept watching as the practice levels became more challenging. He went off to play at about the 5th level.

As someone who is a notoriously bad speller I could probably benefit from a more advanced Practice Time DVD. Like learning piano or how to write, it takes time for finger spelling to become smooth and to be able to read what someone else is spelling. This DVD is a great tool for kids and adults alike to take their first steps into finger spelling. It also can be used in conjunction with teaching a child to write and read as it reinforces letter sounds and order.

 

Here's a preview from the DVD ABCs

Here's the link to the Two Little Hands stores Practice Time ABCs page

 

Related Activities

- Use the ABC flashcards to quiz each other showing the sign side first, then the letter.

- Play a word game where one person says a word and the other person guess what letter it starts with and gives the appropriate letter sign.

- Fingerspell common words seen around the house - like "tea" on the tea box.

- play a silent game of "I Spy with my Little Eye" when traveling by train or waiting in line. Look around for a letter, sign it and the color of the letter, give the other person a chance to find it.

- Use finger spelling to practice for a spelling test.

- Help sound out words by signing the letters and saying the sounds.

 

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