Sign of the Times

We're travelling back in time here. This weekend we rediscovered our first favorite show, Signing Times (yes, that's right, the show that the 17-month old baby who can read was allowed to watch, as featured on the Today Show). We watched it when the kiddos were about a year old so that they (and we) could learn some sign language. I had learned a lot of Signed English as a child, from my dear Aunt P, and then taken ASL as an adult, but wanted some help teaching it to the kids. And the show came highly recommended. With Rachel, Alex, and Leah we learned playtime signs, animals, colors, and our pleases, thank yous, and mores. The kids loved the show and I loved the refresher course.

And so, this weekend, flipping channels, we came across it again, long after we thought it had quit showing on our PBS station (when it stopped, we started getting the videos from the library and then Gommie bought us a set). And the kids are mesmerized again. DS never did stop signing "helicopter" but now he's standing in front of the tv relearning shark, dolphin, and octopus. It's like we've gone back 1 1/2 years to when they were just learning language. And truthfully, we credit the show, and the sign language, with our kids' early talking and now their (what I would call good) command of English for their age. Oddly, in the beginning, they signed some words and spoke others, but these rarely overlapped. I'd say, at the height of it, they knew upwards of 100 signs, from the show and others that I taught them. Eventually, they dropped the signs, and, caught up in toddlerhood, so did we.

But I'm hoping to revisit it--what's another language (plus Thai and Mandarin), right? I loved being able to sign to my aunt (especially because no one else knew what we were saying, a benefit I guess my kids won't have!) and I even considered going into deaf ed. I took ASL as an adult so that I could welcome hearing impaired audiences into the museum and someday I hope to be good enough to give a tour. I was excited recently to learn that one of my new friends also knows some ASL and is willing to talk to me. I've signed some with the SAHDad who is hearing impaired at the playspace, but that is little and far between. I could use more practice. Despite years of ancient Greek, Latin, some French, and less German, and now some Thai and Mandarin, it's really the only language I would say that I can communicate in, besides my first one.

Interestingly, my ASL teacher thought baby sign language was a fad, and offensive to the deaf community as a whole because it wasn't the real use of the language. I don't know if that's a common opinion or not, but we try to be respectful in our use of it. Regardless, it's strange to watch this show again. I'll be singing the song all day.

And I don't mind a bit.