spinoff on signing poll

Okay, after all your responses to the poll I do feel reassured that I'm still a good mommy even if we don't sign. But it has also let me see that there can be some immense benefits, and I don't want to give up on the idea just yet. It is particularly encouraging that some of you had success starting after 12 months. Our boys will be 12 months adjusted next week, so I still feel like we're within the window.

Anyway, several months ago we got the Baby Einstein signing dvd and watched it a couple of times, but the boys really couldn't care less. They just aren't interested in it, and I can learn the signs quicker from a book if I'm the only one watching the thing! I saw a lot of reference to Signing Times dvds, and I'm wondering if we should give those a try instead. Has anyone compared the Baby Einstein with the Signing Times and could give me a comparison review? I don't want to fork over money for yet another dvd that they won't care about. If they're not going to be into a dvd, I'll just learn the signs myself from the internet and start using them....but I'm willing to give a different dvd a shot if it will be better.

Thanks for your dvd reviews!

ETA: I just did a quick Amazon search....please add whether you used Signing Time or Baby Signing Time?

 

I did neither. I ready Baby Signs (by Linda Acredolo) and learned a couple basic signs. I started with "more" and when they learned that (around 13 mos.), I started with "all done." We did one sign at a time until they were able to use it independently. I also bought the kids a few of the Baby Signs board books, and they pretty much self-taught themselves 40 or more signs, just from those books. Of course, we read them together, and we used them in context during those times we could ("Oh look, a moon," while signing moon), but they learned them sooooo quickly.

My kids were not into tv at that age, so it seemed pointless to invest in a bunch of DVDs. I know many have had success with them, but I just wanted to share another successful strategy that worked in our house!

 

My boys LOVE the Signing Time DVDs. Seriously, I'll start singing the intro song, and they RUN to their chairs to sit and watch them. Granted they really only sit through a few of the signs. After that, we play but I leave it running. I catch them watching it every so often. I highly recommend getting a few of the Signing Time ones (I didn't do the Baby Signing Times based on some reviews here that they weren't as good - more cartoony). But you could just continue doing ones yourself. the DVD for me is a) a learning experience we do together and b ) a downtime relaxer. It's a nice filler when the weather is bad and you can't go out. I think the main thing is that it probably works best when you are sitting down with them to watch it and do the signs. They love for me to sing and sign the intro (and you will remember it after watching it a few times ).

Good luck! Shannon

 

We did neither- I learned them from a book and taught them to the girls. We tried both videos and the girls were not very interested....get them from your library 1st if you can (that is what we did).

We TiVo'd Signing Times a few times, but they never really asked for it or watched it all...so we ditched the DVD/Shows and just did signing in our everyday life. I got a few books from the library and then bought the ones I liked.

There are a lot on Ebay/Amazon etc from parents/kids that have outgrown the books/DVDs....you could try there 1st.


KC

 

My kids really liked Signing Time - I just got them from the library (I think our local library didn't have them but got them through interlibrary loan). You could give that a try to see if your kids like them before spending the money to buy them.

-Rachel

 

I highly recommend Signing Time over the Baby Einstein ones with signs. On ST, they have children repeating the sign multiple times, which really reinforces it. I think the Baby ST's were not out yet when we started, so I did the regular ones. Start with Vols 1-3. They are very basic and slower paced. My kids really liked those when we started, but now don't watch those so much, they like some of the later ones better.
Also concurring what twindependent posted, they have learned many other concepts from ST besides the signs. I swear they learned all their colors from the ST #6, with "Colors of the Rainbow".

Can you tell we are big fans of Signing Time over here?

BTW, don't feel bad if you don't sign. It's not like it's mandatory or something. Children develop speech just fine without it, it's just something I thought was fun to do, and really helped us because mine were not saying much until 18 months.

 

We didn't use either. My girls didn't really care for the Baby Einstein signing DVD's and we've caught Signing Times on TV a couple of times and it didn't really hold their interest. I found "My Baby Can Talk" on Amazon and thought I'd give it a shot. They started watching them around 9 months but didn't start really using the signs until after 12 months. They still LOVE those two DVD's. They are the only videos (other than Dora or Diego) that they sit down and watch from start to finish. They speak in complete sentences now (we get SO many comments about how well they speak!), but they still love to use their signs.

 

My DH and I just used a couple signs that we got out of a book. we have taught the girls "more", "all done", "eat" and "milk". We decided that was pretty much all they needed. The girls are late talkers so this helped us with the frustration crying.

 

I took ASL as my language other than English for my teaching certification so I started signing just as part of my speaking. I also have a babysitter whose mom was deaf and is fluent in ASL so she also signs to them. We also have the ST DVD's and I swear they are like crack to my children. They LOVE LOVE LOVE them. They learn more than the signs as pp said (colors, ABC's and sports) and at almost 3 will sign as part of how they speak, it has done wonders for their vocabulary and for their fine motor skills! We didn't have the dvd's til about 18 mos but they had been signing with me from the beginning.

 

We didn't use either. I took ASL as a 2nd language in college; but never used it, so I got super rusty! DH never knew any signs until we started teaching the girls. I've known the ASL alphabet since I was about 10 and we use these online sources to learn new signs: ASL Dictionary and ASL Pro. Then we just do the sign every time we use that word. It's worked really well for us and it didn't cost a dime.

 

QUOTE(Snittens @ Mar 12 2008, 12:46 PM) [snapback]665380[/snapback]
they have learned many other concepts from ST besides the signs. I swear they learned all their colors from the ST #6, with "Colors of the Rainbow".


same here - my two LOVE LOVE LOVE their ST dvds. kelly, they are sooooooo into the series 2 ones now - they are especially addicted to the sports one (cameron) and the birthday one (alisha).
learning to sign was invaluable to us and is still amazing for them. we didn't start until they were a year, and at first they only watched 10 mins or so, but they picked up really quickly, and used to say and sign the word together which really helped me to understand them. the ST dvds taught them colors, their alphabet, and many other concepts. the interesting thing to me is that now, at 2.5, cameron is REALLY into being able to do the signs correctly - esp the more complicated ones. there is not a day go by that they don't sign things, or ask me the sign for things.

 

QUOTE(ruthjulia @ Mar 12 2008, 09:18 PM) [snapback]666347[/snapback]
the interesting thing to me is that now, at 2.5, cameron is REALLY into being able to do the signs correctly - esp the more complicated ones. there is not a day go by that they don't sign things, or ask me the sign for things.


You know what's so funny, Ainsley got really upset because Bea was signing "fork" with three fingers instead of two. She went over and corrected her! She also got a big kick out of helping my mother put her hand into a "Y" for "yellow".
They both know the entire sign language alphabet too. It really is amazing when I think about it.

 

We used both Baby ST and ST videos. I like them both. My kids like both of them too, so I can't saw we enjoy one more than another. The early ST videos - vol 1 & 2 aren't as "lively" as the newer ones or Baby ST, so my recommendation would be to try Baby ST instead of those, but they are still good if you do happen to buy them. We didn't get Baby Einstein singing video because we really liked the ST ones. We even got the CD's and listened to them in the car and my kids would sign along. They still remember the songs and sing them and they just turned 3. We started watching the videos and signing with them at 10 months. The Baby ST and ST videos is all that we used, and of course, signing to them as we went about our day. I enjoy signing with my kids. After deciding to be a SAHM, I like learning something new and another language was fun for all of us. It was great to see my kids sign just shortly after we started. At one point they knew over 50 signs and then I lost track. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in trying it. Have fun!