Teaching Baby Signs - One Of The Earliest Forms Of Homepreschooling

I haven't mentioned in my previous posts what I'll be mentioning now - as I write this, the kids and I are in Brunei with my parents to visit my sister and brother-in-law, who are based here (working). Hubby and I decided at the last minute that the kids and I would join Papa and Mama on their trip here. You could call it a working vacation of sorts. Anyway, either way, I feel truly rich and blessed to be here - there is always that feeling of "coming home" (probably since I practically grew up here!)

Anyway, I'd better go to the topic of this post, which is on teaching baby signs. When I was a new mom to Tim, I wanted to make sure that I was a well-informed parent, along with my husband (who by the way, is not much of a reader, so whatever tips and information I'd get, I would just share with him and he never fails to forget what I tell him! :) Just goes to show, everyone has his/her own learning style!). Anyway, as I was saying, I read lots of books and searched online for useful parenting info. One of the things I learned was the benefits of baby signs. So when Tim was about 7 months old, we started introducing baby signs to him, using signs from books and the Internet. Pretty soon, he was signing well enough for us to be able to know what he wanted or needed. He was speaking fluently earlier than a lot of his peers, and though I believe it wasn't just due to baby signs alone, signing did help him in acquiring language skills at a fast rate. Even when he was already speaking in complete sentences, there were times when he would use signs (like "more" - tapping one's fingers together) to emphasize a word or two.

Fast forward to the present... Tim's little sister Rysse is now 1.3 years old and even if I have not been that consistent in teaching her signs, she has quickly picked up all that I've taught her so far, and has even started to vocalize her own "words", like she says "a-pa" when she sees an apple (or any other round fruit for that matter, and onions as well! hahaha), and she can say "up" pretty clearly when she wants to be carried, "Papa", "Mama," "K-ya" for Kuya Tim, "Wowo", "Wowa" (for Lolo and Lola - grandpa and grandma), "Tito" for uncle and "Tita" for aunt, among other sounds, which fortunately most members of our immediate families can decipher as "words" coming from Rysse's lips. It is amazing when we are able to witness the miracle of life unfolding every day, and God just shows it more and more through the development of our kids!

As I am all for baby signs, I was so happy to have been able to borrow a book on Baby Signs written by pioneers Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn from a Filipina friend here in Brunei. I made myself a copy of the book for personal use, and I am really enjoying reading it so far, especially when it's nursing time for Rysse.
Because of this, I was led to searching for information on baby sign language classes in the Philippines, and was pleasantly surprised to find these helpful links:

http://www.mysmarthands.asia/
http://babylingo.multiply.com/
http://mom.exchange.ph/bloggerfeeds/rwchick/baby-signing-classes-in-manila
http://www.smartparenting.com.ph/baby/development-child-care/My-Smart-Hands--Using-Sign-Language-is-An-Effective-Tool-for-Baby-Communication/page/2
http://www.hthyou.com/2009/10/baby-sign-language-faqs.html
http://www.babycenter.com.ph/baby/development/stimulatingdevelopment/babysigning/

Fellow breastfeeding advocate and mompreneur Jenny of the Chronicles of A Nursing Mom also has some  informative posts on baby signing. You can find them here: http://fabnaima.blogspot.com/2010/06/my-signing-baby.html and http://fabnaima.blogspot.com/2010/06/baby-signing-classes-in-manila.html.

Part of my personal advocacy as Teachermama is to promote what I feel is of benefit to both parents and children, so I hope that through this post, I can encourage other parents to learn more about baby signing and use them on their kids. Hubby and I can personally testify that baby signing has made life a lot easier when it comes to communicating with our children. Even their grandparents, aunts and uncles have seen how it is a huge help for the whole family. And it always gives us a sense of pride whenever people see us signing together and they go "Wow! Ang galing naman ng baby niyo! So smart!" Hehe. Praise GOD for that, and for Baby Signs!

Baby Signs is available in all major bookstores in the Philippines. :)

The Month And A Half Or So In Review

I was inspired by Mommy Michelle to update this blog when she started doing her "A Week In Review" posts. I realized that it's been more than a month since we've arrived in the Philippines (my gosh!) and more than 2 weeks since my last post here (I've been regularly updating my Truly Rich Mom blog though. Check it out at http://trulyrichmom.com :)

Anyway, a lot of things have happened to our missionary family in the past month and a half or so. One of the most significant things was Rysse's 1st birthday party which we celebrated with a Noah's Ark theme at a local swimming resort (small but NICE!). Remind me to post pics and tips on how to throw a Noah's Ark birthday party in a Philippine setting later on, ok?! The event turned out to be a reunion of sorts for extended family and close friends, a true celebration of God's faithfulness to Rysse and our family for the past year! :)

We have not been giving Tim any "lessons" as regularly as when we were in Timor Leste (which was usually at least once a day for about 30 minutes, three times a week). It's been a kind of "vacation" for him I guess. I didn't want to push anything on him considering he's already had a lot to adjust to (settling in, moving from my in-laws' place in Cubao to my parents' place in Cainta every other week, adjusting to not going with us all the time to the Home Office, etc etc). However, I'd like to think that Tim's homeschool preschool journey has been ongoing although not in the "subject matter" that most teachers think kids his age may need. By God's grace, Tim has "matured" and seems to have outgrown certain things that used to frustrate hubby and I:

1. He has learned to say "po", "please", "thank you", "sorry", and "excuse me" appropriately with less prompting from us.

2. He has gotten over his fear/aversion to:
 (a) having his hair cut - he went to the barber shop willingly with his Lolo Rading and Papa, and even volunteered to go first! (What a pity, Papa was unprepared and didn't bring a camera so we have no proof! Anyone willing to donate an I-phone our way?! hahahaha. Anyway, Tim shows off his new haircut in the pic below, taken at Rysse's birthday party :) And yes, that's me, trying to sing karaoke! hahaha)

(b) having his fingernails and toenails cut while awake - I used to cut his nails when he was asleep because he absolutely refused to have them cut! Now he is more than willing to do so! (Although most of the time, he wants his Papa to do it, not me! Which means "Hurray!" for me! hahaha)
(c) having his ears cleaned - The same situations as his nails. But last week his Tita Gela cleaned his ears and got out a huge bit of ear wax, which has probably been growing in size since Tim was born! hahahaha.

3. He is less of a picky eater now, and knows basic table manners (elbows off the table, say "excuse me" when you're going to leave the table). He eats most of his meals with other family members now too! (Before he would eat separately, we'd usually feed him earlier to save time!)

4. He is getting better at sharing, taking turns, waiting for his turn (although he still has his melt-downs, especially at the end of the day when he's tired from playing).

5. He has picked up a few more Filipino words. Perhaps watching TV with his lolo and lola isn't such a bad thing after all. He learned what pula and puti mean by watching Sa Pula, Sa Puti with his Lolo Rading, hahaha. (Although, we have been more vigilant lately about what he's been watching. And make sure to watch with him as much as possible, so we can explain things when he asks about them. And PUT OUR FOOT DOWN when the programs are not for him i.e. get him out of the room as much as possible or ask for the channel to be changed).

6. He has been praying spontaneously a bit more often now (his morning and evening prayers with us don't count here). Especially with the recent typhoons and rains lashing down upon the Metro. (He's scared of thunder so he always says "Mama, let's pray to God to stop the storm. And no flooding. No thunder. etc") Oh, and just this evening, when we were saying our night prayers, he said "I wish Jesus could come here at Lolo Rading's house, and his angels too.. *pauses for a while* Oh.. and God too!" HI-LA-RIOUS and oh so heartwarming! :) Moments like these just make me ever so grateful to be his Teacher Mama!

7. He has learned that the "office" for Papa and Mama is no longer just outside our bedroom, as it used to be in our mission house/office in Timor Leste, but is now somewhere else. Which means that most of the time, he has to be left behind when Papa and/or Mama go to work. In the beginning, he HATED this and would throw tantrums. BUT he has learned to ADJUST, and now only protests occasionally. Thank YOU Lord. (Although I'm hoping our working arrangement will change SOON. Please po Papa Jesus!)

Anyway, so far, these are the things I believe Tim has learned DESPITE our lack of "formal learning". I still believe that life lessons are some of the MOST important things for him right now anyway, so I won't be pressured by all the comments like "He's turning 4 na? Shouldn't he be in school?" etc etc. :) HOMESCHOOLING PRESCHOOL is STILL the WAY to GO for US. :)

For all those who have been following our homeschooling journey, and have been HUGE sources of support and prayers, THANK YOU SO MUCH. May GOD bless us all. :)

P.S. I almost forgot. Hehe. By God's grace, we have never missed out on READING ALOUD to the kids every day. During our bedtime ritual, we read at least three books to Tim with Rysse occasionally listening intently alongside him (other times, she plays with the books or practices turning the pages). In connection to this, I JUST LOVE BOOKSALE BOOKSTORE! Secondhand books are the way to go! :) Love it love it love it! :) We must have bought, I don't know, like 20 plus new "old" books so far, mostly from Booksale. Hahaha. Thank YOU Lord for providing all these blessings! We heart You! :)

My baby can sign! (Your baby can sign too!)

Our just-turned-one-year-old baby girl Rysse is my "newest" student! :) I admit that I have not been as "obsessed" with teaching Rysse as I was with Tim, wherein I tried my best to have a special "learning time" with him, even when he was still a toddler. For practical purposes, with Rysse, I have incorporated our "lessons" in our everyday routines, especially during our special "Mama and Rysse" bonding time, while Papa and Tim have theirs. :)

And so it was sheer joy for me when I discovered that Rysse now knows some of the basic baby signs, even if I have not been so consistent in teaching her. She now knows how to sign "milk", "more", "eat", "no", "yes", "go", and "poop." (Though it's funny sometimes her "poop" sign looks like her "milk" or "dede" sign! hahahaha). Anyway, I AM SO PROUD. And grateful to the LORD. :) How amazing kids can be! We just have to tap that potential in them! :)

All you Mamas out there, YOUR BABY CAN SIGN TOO! I didn't buy any expensive products or books but mostly got some signing tips from babycare books given during the baby shower held for Tim waaay back in 2006 (yes, Tim used to sign too! And he still remembers the signs I taught him up to this day!) and also from online sites such as http://www.babies-and-sign-language.com/ and http://www.fun-baby-games-online.com/free-baby-sign-language.html. Just google "free baby signs" and choose the site that's most appropriate for you!

We also found these DVDs helpful. Perhaps they can be of help to you too! :) Happy teaching and happy signing! :)