Friday, May 1, 2015

I Love You!



The hand shape that creates the sign I LOVE YOU is rather complex - it combines the signs for the letters I, L, and Y. My family didn't let that stop us from incorporating it early on into each of our sons' signing repertoires, though!

It was important to us that they be able to participate in the exchange of this sentiment that is used in our family.  We knew that they would show us their own versions of the sign, based on the research done by the Signing Smart founders, so we didn't hold back.  We tell our boys multiple times a day that we love them, so we just added the sign.  For us, this was a sign we both knew long before we had kids, so combing the two wasn't a big deal.

I tend to add a little hand wave when I sign I LOVE YOU.  My husband picked up on this somewhere along the line as well, so this is the way our boys saw this sign.  Sure enough, after some time, we started to see that hand wave come back to us!

At first we saw the wave of a loosely closed fist. 

Then it turned into a pointer finger.  Around the same time, we started to hear verbal attempts as well.  Seeing little hands wave and hearing "a-you-you" during drop off time at day care definitely made the moment a little bit sweeter and easier to survive!



After much "practice" (I say practice with quotations, because there was never a time where we drilled our boys or forced them to show us a sign - we always used the 4 Keys to Signing Smart Success.  Their practice was done in choosing to repeat the sign.) and some muscle development we now see our older son sign I LOVE YOU clear as day!  This is no short process.  We started to see his hands work toward the correct handshape around age 3.  At first he had to help his fingers get into the correct positions as the muscles learned to do something new.  Now, at 4 he can sign this without even thinking twice about it!


At 2, our younger son is just starting to help his fingers try to make the correct handshape.  It's even more exciting to go through this process the second time around, because I know the awesome thing waiting at the end isn't all that far away!


25 comments:

  1. Super cute blog. I just found you on a link up mom2mom. We sign daily in our home and not just words but constant signing with everything we say. I have seen a huge difference in my kids as they understand more and are able to communicate better. my 8 month old would sign (his version) of "more, thank you, and dirty" . I can't recommend signing enough! Thank you for your post!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad you found me! There are absolutely TONS of great reasons to start signing and keep signing - thanks for doing great things for your family!

      Delete
  2. Super cute blog. I just found you on a link up mom2mom. We sign daily in our home and not just words but constant signing with everything we say. I have seen a huge difference in my kids as they understand more and are able to communicate better. my 8 month old would sign (his version) of "more, thank you, and dirty" . I can't recommend signing enough! Thank you for your post!

    ReplyDelete
  3. My 2-year-old is still learning how to do this one but he keeps trying. Many times he asks us to help his fingers.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I LOVE YOU is probably THE most complex handshape in all of ASL - it'll get there. I love that you're offering your family the gift of early communication, thanks for all the great things you do for them!

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a great thing to do for your kids and I think you are teaching them the right way we are teaching spanish as a second language and its good to teach them how they want to learn and not force it. Thanks for linking up to Share With Me. I hope to see you again tomorrow for another start to share week. #sharewithme

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for hosting! 2nd (and 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.) languages are so good for the brain - espeically when you can start young. Thanks for doing great things for your little ones!

      Delete
  6. My children were all baby signers. I loved how we could communicate and teach manners at such young age.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for giving your family such a special gift. There's lots of good reasons to keep signing once spoken language starts to take over too - you put lost of work into learning those signs, don't give up on them!

      Delete
  7. I miss signing. My 11 year old was very speech delayed as a toddler/preschooler, so we started Baby Signs with him. He had 50 signs at 3 years old!

    However, both my younger daughters are unable to sign due to missing fingers. I definitely missed signing as they were learning English!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Signs offer extra blessing for kiddos with speech and language delays, don't they?! Thanks for offering your family such blesings! I'd like to encourage you to try with your daughters anywyay. With a bit of accommodation, and some detective work in the early days, I think you might still be very successful! I teach using the curriculum from Signing Smart, and I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have or even see if there are classes offered in your area!

      Delete
  8. Awww this is lovely. I would love to try signing with my youngest. I know basic sign language as we were taught it in school. Off to do some research!

    Laura x x x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There are so many benefits to using sign language with little ones - from reduced frustration and tantrums to early speech and language, to academic benefits once they're in school. I can't recommend it enough - especially using the Signing Smart programming and materials. Please feel free to contact me with any questions, I'd love to do what I can to help you along your journey!

      Delete
  9. I've never thought of the complexity of forming the letters, it does look tricky, well done on mastering it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's always awesome to see kids do things successfully after working on it!

      Delete
  10. I love this sign - my little ones have both done baby signing and it is lovely when you start getting signs like this from them :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for offering your family such a valuable gift as language! Seeing your hard work definitely makes your heart smile!

      Delete
  11. This is lovely - I've done signs with my girls as infants but I haven't kept up with it.

    Thanks for sharing (and for linking up to the #SHINEbloghop)!

    Wishing you a lovely day.
    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks for stopping by! I encourage you to go back to signing. There's lots of benefits for the, and for you well into school age, at least!

    ReplyDelete
  13. They're so cute!

    My 2 year old tries her best to sign and say I love you back to me and it just melts my heart. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by! Little hands do make some cute signs, no doubt about it!

      Delete
  14. What a lovely sign to know, I tell my son I love him all the time it would be wonderful if he could say the same thing back. I have just started Sing and Sign with my little girl I hoping we will be able to use this to communicate with both her and our son. Love the videos.

    Thanks for linking up with Small Steps Amazing Achievements :0)
    x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for hosting!

      Sign Language is such a blessing to families with young children, as well as children with developmental delays that include a language component. Best of luck in your learning - I hope you'll check back in from time to time and let me know how things are going! Thank you for giving your family such a priceless gift!

      Delete
  15. Thanks for joining in with Littles Learning Link Up. I started using signs with my children when my now 8 year old was a baby. I read about Baby Signing when I was pregnant with her. We weren't very consistent though and I really want to start again. My younger ones never caught on as much as the older ones did anyway. Just too busy I guess.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for hosting! There are lots of benefits to signing with children, even as they approach school-aged, and beyond! I definitely encourage you to pick it back up!

      One of the things I love about the Signing Smart Programs is that you learn tools and strategies for how to incorporate ASL into the things you are already doing, so there's less pressure to set aside "teaching" time!

      I hope you'll check in now and again to let me know how your communication journey is going :)

      Delete