Guest Article - Acquiring Sign Language

So, a little while ago an email showed up in my inbox asking if I would check out this article and post it here if interested. I was pleasantly surprised to see it was about signing, something we totally believe in here at our home. Without any further ado, here is the article sent to me by Emily Patterson, Communications Coordinator at Primrose Schools.

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Early Childhood Education – Acquiring Sign Language


Signing Before They Can Speak

Research has shown that teaching different modes of communication and language is most effective at the early ages of 2 to 5. This goes beyond the spoken word (though it is an optimal time for children to learn a second language); many young children have an aptitude for signing as well. This can be taught at home or some child care programs incorporate it into their curriculum.

While 2 years old seem pretty young, it's not that odd. There are many indigenous peoples around the world in fact, including American Indian nations, who have used sign language for centuries to facilitate communication with other tribes with whom they do not share a language.

In fact, recent research suggests that sign language is innate. Backing this up is an article published by the Boulder Daily Camera in 2003 which presented strong evidence that babies as young as six months old communicate with their hands:

"...by 6 to 7 months, babies can remember a sign. At eight months, children
can begin to imitate gestures and sign single words. By 24 months, children
can sign compound words and full sentences. They say sign language reduces
frustration in young children by giving them a means to express themselves
before they know how to talk." (Glarion, 2003)

Signing and Autism

The ability to sign has also helped parents in communicating with autistic children; one parent reports that "using sign language allowed her to communicate with her [autistic] son and minimized his frustration...[he now] has an advanced vocabulary and excels in math, spelling and music" (Glarion, 2003).

One of the most frustrating part of raising an autistic child is the breakdown in communication. Autistic children have a hard time with the complexity of the spoke language, signing gives them an avenue of communication which at the same time helps to strengthen speech and language development. Sign language allows parents to break down this barrier with their children (actually regardless of whether they are autistic or not).

The Best Time To Start

The sooner children learn sign language (or any other language for that matter) the better. Young children who are taught sign language at an early age, it has actually been shown, develop better verbal skills as they get older.

Not learning to sign give pre-verbal youngsters a way to communicate, it can also strengthen the parent-child bond. Signing helps to lower levels of frustration in the child, it gives them a way to communicate with the caregivers exactly what is going on in their mind. Which in return helps the parent and makes them feel even closer to their baby.

Looking To Their Future

There are many reasons for people to be interested in and to learn sign language. Many may need it they work with disabled children, some are learning it because of the career opportunities available with it, and others are learning it just so they can have a wide variety of communication.

The ability to communicate articulately in a variety of ways with the widest possible audience is a unique skill that not many have. This includes bilingual ability as well as the ability to communicate in non-verbal ways for the benefit of the disabled – primarily the deaf.


Co-written by Emily Patterson and Kathleen Thomas

Emily and Kathleen are Communications Coordinators for the Austin child care facility, a member of the AdvancED® accredited family of Primrose Schools (located in 16 states throughout the U.S.) and part of the network of child care preschools delivering progressive, early childhood, Balanced Learning® curriculum.

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Personally, we love sign here, as I mentioned before. It is a vital part of communication for a non-verbal child. Some of my kids were able to use the signs earlier than others but it was so great to see each of them use and understand them in their own time. Now, we don't use sign for all of our language, though that would certainly interest me. In fact, when I was in Junior High and High School, I would bring home books on American Sign Language and attempt to teach myself. I would still be interested in learning ASL. We just use sign for some of the more basic communication needs at this point like "milk", "all done", "please" "thank you", "excuse me" "sorry", "more", etc. I found this website that allows me to search for many different ASL signs and sign them properly. So, I am in agreement with the above article and would encourage you to use sign in your home with your wee ones. It makes a world of difference for them to be able to communicate in a way that we as caregivers understand. The frustration level is certainly minimized. Finally, my favorite signing story: Pepe had learned some of those basic signs and was fairly good at using them to communicate. One day we went to visit Grandma/Grandpa. As usual, whenever we saw them, Grandpa would open up his wallet and empty all his change into his grandkids' hands. Once empty, Grandpa put the wallet away and continued on. Pepe turns to me and - get this- signs " more please" then points to Grandpa! Ha! How I laughed!

Simple Family Fun

Want to know a great use for all those small individually wrapped packages of chocolate so easily found this time of year?

Bingo prizes! I found a Bingo game at Dollarama the other week and bought it on impulse. Then, because we purchased a certain amount of groceries, we were given a box of those snack sized Hershey's chocolates for free. Enter the Bingo game. Sometimes after a particularly good day of school or as a fun time after supper, we pull out the game and chocolates and have at it! Everyone is only allowed to win Bingo once and, upon winning, they get a chocolate of their choice! We play enough times to allow each child a win. They love it! It even teaches a couple of different things. First of all, the boys help the girls with their Bingo cards so cooperation and helpfulness are practiced. Secondly, RJ is getting better at recognizing many different numbers from 1-60. Finally, it is just a great time together with the kids and chocolate - what could be more fun? (Well, being able to EAT the chocolate would be more fun for me but, alas, I must wait 58 more days. Really, that's nothing compared to the 307 I have already done but I sure do look forward to it!) So, if you don't already have a Bingo game, go out and get one then stock up on those chocolates that are now half price! Your family will love you for it!

A Company I Love - Seeds & More

I just love getting little brown envelopes in the mail, don't you? Usually it is because I have ordered something and I eagerly anticipate tearing open that envelope to see what is inside. Today was one of those days! I love these kind of days. It is like Christmas (even if I did order it myself and I know full well what is inside!). One week ago I placed an order for these:

from a little company I love called Seeds & More. This company
specializes in unique and quality seeds for garden annuals, perennials, shrubs, trees and tropicals. I have been ordering from Kim for a number of years already and love the service and the selection. Based in Newfoundland, Canada, I usually get my seeds in about 1 week and they come in these wonderful resealable packages. I usually order some seeds in the spring but this time I bought some maples and I am so excited to seed them this fall and watch them grow next year. A number of these are not hardy to zone 3 but I love to experiment and for the cost of seeds, it is a cheap way to do it. She always throws in a free package of seeds that is similar to what I am ordering but maybe just a different variety. I really love free things! Plus there is always a coupon for my next order. So, if you are looking for affordable annual and perennial seeds or looking to experiment with some more interesting or unusual plants, check out Seeds & More. I know you will love it, just as I do!

I Need Your Help!

Agh! I cannot stand starting a DIY project and getting stuck partway through. I especially hate getting stuck on the boring, mundane part which hinders you from getting to the fun make-it-look-snazzy part. So, here is my dilemma and maybe you or someone you know has a solution for me!

I found this beautiful antique solid brass chandelier on Kijiji. It had not a single crystal drop on it but the shape was so beautiful! And, I was fully aware it needed rewiring. How hard can that be? I have put up and taken down a few lights with no problem, changing out some wires should be simple! Remember that shape I loved? Yeah, that's what's causing all the problems!

I took some time to read tips online for rewiring a chandelier. It seemed so simple! Attach the new wire to the old wire with some electrical tape, pull out the old wire and the new wire will just slip into place. With this chandy, nothing is that easy! I have ripped wires in half, pulled some wires completely out without the new wires following along as they should. AGH! It has been so frustrating. I think most people have not been working with two-tiered solid brass (therefore the inside of the tubes are not smooth) 'S' shaped arms. The first 13 meters of wire I bought was the tiniest bit thicker than the old stuff and is therefore useless! Now I don't know what to do. After examining the old wire thoroughly, I realize that it is in fine shape. So, on the top tier I have wired in new sockets. What do I do with the bottom tier? Most of those need some new wire in because I pulled the old wire out. To make a very frustrating long story short, how do I thread wire into an 'S' shaped solid brass arm? I can easily get new wire to the top tier as it is a very shallow 'U' shape. The bottom tier is the problem. HELP??!!

Progress at the Property

{Let me just preface this by saying that if you own a "diamond in the rough" 5 acre property, who needs a workout??!! With all the cutting and pulling, digging and lifting, my arms are in better shape than they have ever been! And I love it!}

I thought I would show you some of the things we have accomplished in the many weekends we have spent at our eventually-to-be homestead. I find it rather remarkable to think that we have owned this property for one whole year already. Just means we are one year closer to building! Yay!

With a larger property, it only makes sense to break it down into smaller sections. We are starting with the SW corner of the property since it is the first thing you see when you drive on the current driveway (which we are in the process of moving. It requires many large trees to be cut down but it makes much more sense then winding the current driveway through the yard.) In that corner of the property was a long row of Shubert Chokecherries, approximately 75' long with a smaller 25' row of lilacs butting up to them. Now, I love the red color of the shuberts and the berries are great for jam and syrup. I made many jars this past season. However, I did not like the blackknot that was rampant throughout the trees. Blackknot is a fungal disease that leaves large abnormally shaped black chunks on the branches and affects the trees itself leaving the whole think looking a little less than pretty. It is hard to control once established, spreads easily and I knew it would be more work to prune the trees and follow with fungicides for years to come rather than to pull them out. So, we decided to rip them out. It was a rather physical job made much simpler with a little help from John Deere! First, Jay dug into the roots to loosen them a little then we wrapped individual clumps with a large heavy chain and ripped them out of the ground. It worked quite well. Directly behind this row of shuberts/lilacs was another row of lilacs that were a little spindly looking. With the trees out of the way, I am expecting them to fill out nicely, especially if I cut them down a little.

Once the trees were gone, we killed the grass in a large area, tilled it up, brought in some topsoil, and made a new flower bed 100' long and 50' deep, semi-circular in shape. The size of that one bed is larger than my current front yard, I believe! I bought 3 trees in the spring and planted them here, 1 12' Autumn Blaze Maple and 2 smaller Sienna Glen Maples. They will look fantastic as they grow and show off their red leaves each autumn! This winter I will plan the rest of that bed with the landscape design software I bought for $2 at a garage sale many years ago.

As soon as you drive onto our property, you notice the mature spruce trees lining the south side. They are beautiful trees but a little neglected. About the bottom 6' or so of the branches were completely dead. Dead branches do not look nice, especially on an evergreen. So, I took to cutting all those dead branches off the 15 or so spruce that form part of the perimeter of our property. That is a lot of branches! It was so worth the effort since it looks so much tidier. Right behind the spruce are a few more rows of trees/shrubs that need serious tiding but that has been put on hold as we tackle removing the trees where the new driveway will be, about 100' over from where it is now.

A bunch of the branches and trees that were pulled out were piled into the garden and somehow a little den was formed. The kids loved playing in there! Just imagine the big bonfires we will have as this is the smallest of a couple of piles!

Finally, this past Saturday, I made a tire swing for the kids. There were many tires kicking around when we bought the place and we have yet to take them away. So, what does one do with extra tires and perfectly arched willow trees? Create a tire swing, of course! That one event tired me out just trying to throw the rope over the tree. First I tried throwing the whole spool of rope but that was a little heavy and I wasn't getting it high enough. Then I found an old toilet seat lying in the leaves (seriously, the amount of garbage we have discovered is ridiculous!). I used just the bottom portion, tied the rope to it, and threw it like a disc or frisbee. It actually worked! I cleared out a large area below the swing of the stickes, leaves, large iron rods and other junk so that the kids would have a safe place to play. I mowed a path so even baby girl Ari can wander down there with no chance of getting hurt! With the amount of willows and tires on hand, I could make a swing for each of the kids and still have plenty to spare!!

I absolutely love working at the "new country", as the kids still call it. I love the quiet, peaceful feeling that comes over me. I love the possibilities. I love the fact all the kids can play outside with a lot less concern from me. I marvel at the nature God has created and am blessed beyond measure that we get to call this place home. Jay and I have spent many hours together working up a sweat and everytime I remember what a great team we make. I love that we get to make this place ours, together. When you have to put your blood, sweat and tears into it, it becomes even more special. And, I am thankful that it is raining this week so I can actually get some work accomplished here that has been seriously neglected thanks to the unbelievably amazing fall weather we have been experiencing. Seriously, it is October 26 and we still haven't experienced a "hard frost." -2C, -3C, maybe even -4C but that is it. I still have begonias blooming on the north side of my house! Very, very unusual and very appreciated. We don't take that for granted here on the prairies! Now, I just need to get the perennials from here dug up and transplanted over there! All in due time, right?!

Phonics - Boy Version

Heard during Phonics with AJ this morning:

"Sn in Snot"

"Cr in Crap"

Hmmm. I am pretty sure that's not what the books say. However, I did burst out laughing - after all, he is correct!

A Time of Transition

For the past 13ish years, things have been pretty stable around here. And by stable, I mean that Jay has had the same job (everything else is always in flux!) He is a hog farmer. Every day that he worked, he went to the same place. At the beginning of our marriage, he almost knew the minute he would leave for work and the minute he would return. I loved that predictability. It makes all of life simpler - planning, cooking supper, spending time together, etc. Eventually, as the operation grew and doubled in size to what is now 13,000 hogs, the days got a little less predictable. What he used to do all by himself now required he hire some employees. So, some days he didn't go to work at all, sometimes he left at 5am and came home early afternoon, sometimes late afternoon. Many days he spends time in the office after working all day. The changes have been gradual but to be honest, I liked the predictability of the earlier days! Now all of that is about to change. Jay's parents own a farm that includes hogs, chickens and land. Jay's dad and uncles work that farm, along with Jay's younger brother. Well, the uncles want to retire and Jay wants to work on that farm. It was the plan to make that move in about 2-3 years. Rewind to this past summer. Jay had an employee that returned to school. His plan was to replace that employee - what he got instead was more than he was hoping. He had a gentleman apply that is thoroughly knowledgeable of hog farms - he has worked on them for many years as manager and assistant manager. So, Jay hired him and in essence, hired away his job. That 2-3 year plan to work on his parents farm suddenly changed to a 1 month plan. Starting November 1, Jay will no longer be full-time on the hog farm. He may work there a few hours a week but his main job will be on his parents farm. And we don't know exactly what that will look like. If you know anything about farming (and I mean farming of the land), winter is a slower time, spring is busier with planting and harvest the busiest. We can anticipate he will work less this winter but we aren't sure exactly. What time will he go to work? When will he come home? Will he go to work at all? It is a transition I must be flexible in and I am a little hesitant. It may mean other things can happen sooner than we first anticipated but this whole transition will be hard for me. As much as I like spontaneity, I love predictability. So, if you want to, keep us in mind and in your prayers as we enter this time of transition that I may be flexible and that my communication with Jay will be clear so I know what to expect. I know this change will be a good thing but it will bring its own set of unique challenges. And, I think I am up to it! :)