This blog post is by Mary Cook from Charlotte, NC, and is part of our Making a Difference series.

I can’t imagine life without Baby Signing Time, and now Signing Time, for my daughter, Alaina, who is nineteen months. It is such an important part of our lives together and I can’t think of a single facet of her life that does not involve signing. Before Alaina was born I didn’t know any sign language with the exception of a few letters I learned as a child. I thought it was fascinating to watch babies sign and knew this was something I wanted to do with my daughter. I learned “milk” and a few other signs from mothers that were signing with their babies. I started using these signs with Alaina at around eight months old. To my surprise, she started signing back the next day! From then on, if she wanted milk, she signed it!

I was so encouraged by how quickly she picked up on signing and I knew we needed to learn more, but didn’t have a great resource for it. I had a baby sign language book but using that was difficult because by the time I looked up a sign, the moment to use it had passed. When Alaina was ten months, we were introduced to Baby Signing Time through Babysteals.com and the great group of moms on their Facebook page. I knew this was something we must have. As soon as the DVDs arrived, we popped one in and from the first note, Alaina and I were hooked! These were exactly what we needed because we were learning signs together.

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The Signing Time Team

We’ve had an amazing year here at Two Little Hands Productions and we want to thank you for being a part of it! We have a lot to celebrate. Emilie gave birth to a baby girl, Rachel was reunited with her older daughter, we welcomed hundreds of new Signing Time Instructors to the team from around the world – and we launched some exciting new Signing Time products along the way. As we reflect on the highlights of 2010, our thoughts turn to you, our Signing Time families.

Every day we get your letters, emails and posts. It means so much that you share your personal stories with us. We are right there laughing (and sometimes crying) with you as we read about your signing experiences. Your love and devotion to your children is inspiring. Thank you for inviting us to celebrate those little moments of discovery that brought a smile of joy to your child’s face. Your stories are truly heartwarming and they bring a deep level of meaning to the work that we do here.

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Signing Time Instructors are your partners on the road to reading.

Listening to a child sound out a word or read a book for the first time is truly awe-inspiring.  As parents and teachers, we understand that learning to read just doesn’t happen overnight. There’s a lot of work involved! Signing Time Instructors are here to help you in the important work of raising a reader – and here’s how: Continue Reading »

Have you ever wished Rachel Coleman would come perform in your town? I certainly did. I remember reading the newsletters and blog posts about fantastic Signing Time events in many different places, and wondering when it would be it would be our turn. Well, as I later found out, those events are hosted by organizations, schools, libraries, or individuals in that area who partner with the Signing Time Foundation and simply pay the expense of bringing Rachel (or the whole Signing Time group) to perform or speak.

I decided that we needed a Signing Time “Sing and Sign” concert in my hometown:  Maple Grove, Minnesota. Signing Time did not air on our PBS station, and I knew that there were many families in my community that would benefit tremendously from Signing Time. The big challenge was that between the time we found out that Rachel would be available to perform, and the date that the event was scheduled to take place, there were only 30 days. It wasn’t very much time to pull everything together, but I decided to take it on!

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By Gwen Cox, Signing Time Academy Director

The Signing Time Academy has enjoyed tremendous growth, not only in the United States, but around the globe.  Among the 200 certified instructors, the Academy has now expanded to include instructors from Canada, Germany, Australia, South Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, and the Philippines. Many more have applied from other countries and are now in the process of becoming instructors, and so the number of countries with Signing Time Academy instructors is growing each week.  The reaction of families all over the world to the top-rated Baby Signing Time program has been exciting. After all, parents’ desire to communicate with their children using signs is not exclusive to North America.  Families everywhere want to experience the same joys and successes that the families here have enjoyed for many years.  Families and educators in South America, Mexico, Africa, India, Russia and England are inquiring about classes, and many are inquiring about becoming Signing Time Academy Instructors themselves. Continue Reading »