About Me

I am a mom, but I am also a certified deaf education teacher with a passion for helping parents. When my daughter was born, I was determined to do all of the things that I tell my parents of deaf children to do with their babies to improve language. I was AMAZED! By the age of 6 months, my daughter would tell me what she wanted using sign language and had a language base. Now, at the age of 4, she is reading and writing. Why? I put into practice the research based models that I had been teaching my parents to do.


Research shows that babies who sign before they speak (hearing babies) have higher IQ levels, higher standardized test scores and are more well adjusted. So, this is a blog to put my principles into action. One tip per day to teach your child.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Day 1

Each baby that is born has a vast ability to learn. So often when that sweet bundle of joy is put in our arms, all we see is innocence. Babies are the most amazing people. The day that a baby is born their brain has 100 billion neurons. Connections in the parts of the brain that control basic survival and reflexes are already well-developed, and myelination (the process of forming a coating or sheath of fatty substances known as myelin on the axon of a neuron) in those areas is nearly complete. The newborn begins a rapid period of brain growth. Synaptogenesis (the process of creating synapses, or connections, between neurons) continues very rapidly, with neurons in all parts of the brain making trillions of connections. Myelination continues in most parts of the brain. The neurons controlling hearing and vision rapidly become myelinated.
Now, what does that mean for us as parents? From day 1 of your child's birth, their brain is making connections between what they hear and see.

Practical Application: Talk to your baby from the moment they are born. When I say "talk" I don't mean "hi sweetie," with that cute baby talk. This is however is very important part of their language development, so DON'T STOP that. What I am talking about is daily conversation. Tell your baby what you are doing, what to expect, give them the language to connect a word with what they are seeing or hearing. For example, when you are nursing or bottle feeding, sign the word "milk" over and over during this process. This will give your baby a "label" for what is happening. Another example is when you are changing their diaper, your conversation should go something like this: "oooohhhh you are wet, time for a diaper change. up up up go your legs and dooowwwwnnn goes the diaper, etc." When you do this, you give your baby the ability to understand what is going on around them and to know the expectation.

Sign for the day: "milk"
The sign for "milk" is made by forming the right hand into the letter "s." Open and close your hand, alternating between the letters "c" and "s."



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