Sign Language Classes

Hi R.,

My daughter and I attended the signing class at FastTrack Kids in Plano this past fall. My daughter is 14mo old now, but was 9.5 to 12.5 during the class. She took the infant class, so I don't have experience with the class for the older kids, but my daughter did pick up more signs while we attended the class. We had taken a short 6-week class at Northlake College back in the spring when my daughter was 5-6 mo old and she was able to pick up 3 signs by the time she was about 7mo old. That class was pretty good for me to an introduction to signing, though, since I didn't really have any background at all. I knew my daughter was really to young, but I needed the class so that I could learn some things. We only worked on a few signs until she got a little older.

Comparing the two classes, I think the one at Fast Track Kids was definitely better for the babies. It was clearly designed with them in mind and my daughter really got a lot out of it. However, it was kinda disorganized in general. For example, on the first day of class, the instructor was 45 min late (to an hour class!) and while the director filled in for her until she got there and the instructor stay for an extra 1/2 hour, there was no explanation given about why she was late or really what to expect and it was clear that the director was not comfortable running the class. That should have let me know what to expect because the instructor was often late and once didn't show at all. It was fine for me because I could stay as long as needed to get the class in for my daughter, but others are not always as flexible with their time.

To continue the learning for my daughter, I'm choosing to use a private instructor (hopefully, haven't gotten her schedule yet, but I hope it will work) that I found on sing2me.com (http://www.sign2me.com/profile.php?ID=1789). That site has a lot of listings, if you haven't seen it already.

Also, KinderMusik (http://www.kindermusik.com/) has a new Sign and Sing class for kids 6mo to 3yrs that I was considering (http://www.kindermusik.com/parents/signSing.asp). My daughter really likes for me sing the songs to her that we learned in class (while signing). I think it's been very helpful for her to pick them up. I haven't taken any of the classes at kindermusik yet, but you take the class with your child there, too, and I've heard good things about them (especially the one in Coppell). They are a bit pricey, but it sounds like it would be worth it.

Sorry for such a rambly message, but I hope it was helpful.

P.

Hi R.,
Dawn West, Certified Instructor, is wonderful. You can email Dawn at babysigns.com or www.babysignswithdawn.com It's a program designed to do at home with your child daily. Her phone # is ###-###-####.
Hope this helps,
A.

R.,
you are in luck, we are offering a class sanctioned by Sign to Me, beginning Jan 15th from 11am to 12noon. This class is in Grapevine at the Nestingplace 1679 W Northwest Hwy. The Instructor is Tammy Clanton, a certified educator with over 10 years working with deaf infants thru preschool and thier parents. This is an 8 week class and the cost is $140. Please call ###-###-#### to book your class.
thanks,
K.

I took a class from Kari through soundsteps kindermusik. www.soundsteps.com. I really enjoyed it. Before that I took one of the babysigns classes. I enjoyed the class but not the materials.

I don't know about classes per se, but someone else turned us on to signingtime.com. They are a series of awesome signing videos. In the videos, there are kids, toddlers, even infants who teach the signing to you and your child. Kids seem to really learn fast from other kids. My 2 year old loves the vidoes. Even with a short attention span, its the one thing he never tires of watching over and over. The original site is www.signingtime.com and you can sample view and also buy them there, but I got my first set cheaper on ebay. The second set I bought locally from someone who advertises them on dallas's craigslist.org. You can't get them in stores. I haven't had any luck finding anyone with a used set they're willing to let go of! They are that good. I liked that we could learn together at home at any time. With those videos, I also dont feel guilty using the TV as a "babysitter" occasionally.

Good luck,
A.