Sign Class 4.13.07

The boys' school is just a wonderful facility, and the staff inside is absolutely fanstastic! I am so glad that our boys get to go spend their days laughing, playing, and learning there. And learn they do! And they love doing it! One of Collin's favorite half hours of the week happens each Friday at 9:30 a.m. when an instructor comes on-site and teaches Sing & Sign to each classroom. He looks forward to it every week and sits in the very front row!
His teachers report that Collin always sits in the front row for sign, for center time (reading, signing), for show & share, etc., and that he loves to be up front and in the action, an active participate in learning and discovery.

I was lucky enough to attend Owen and Collin's sign classes two Fridays in a row last month, and I was so impressed by the excitment ~ the energy in the room heightens ten-fold as the kids sing the songs and use movement to practically "act out" the songs!

Owen got to do a double-header one Friday and attended Collin's class after his own. He was so excited to be there ~ and so excited that I was there with my camera ~ that he kept turning around to see me. It was the first time I ever heard him literally pose and say "cheese!" ~ and I got the snapshot to capture it!!

I had no idea how many signs the boys knew until I sat in on their class. I mean, I knew they knew the basics: milk, up, all done, more, apple, a few animals. But what I witnessed in that classroom blew my socks off! I suddenly realized that they knew colors, foods, clothing items, actions! Collin can sign "I'm flying to the market to buy some bread for my mother, and I have to hurry!" for goodness sake!

Here, (pretend the music is playing!) Collin is a robin about to hatch:

Here, Collin is signing "cat" and singing a song about a dog, cat, and mouse, hurrying around, chasing each other:

In this picture, Collin is signing "Jump/Hop." Notice that he is the only one of the students signing and that some of the students are even watching him to see how it's done!

Collin's teachers report that he loves to apply what he's learned and "teach" the others. They also are always excited to tell me how often he practices and applies what he's learning. Now that I'm inspired, I'm learning more signs (often from Collin!) and realizing that Collin is very often signing his words in daily communications! For example, he often signs "shoe" when he talking about his shoes or boots ~ that's how I learned the sign for "shoe" coincidently. : ) So watch carefully when he talks about animals (dog, cat, mouse, elephant, giraffe, monkey, for sure), colors (green and blue for sure), actions (run, walk, fly, bike, hurry, jump), foods, drinks, or concepts ~ he may be signing to you!!

With all the practice and excitment, Owen's signs are quickly catching on too! His most-used signs right now: milk, i love you, up, please (he signs "cheese" just like Collin used to), all done (he often signs "all day long" instead, but I know what he means!), thank you, more, and bird (his favorite after milk!).