Signing Resources

Creating Good Habits

By Colleen Brunetti, M.Ed., C.H.C   As we raise and love on our children, we are also creating tomorrow’s adults. And we want those adults to make the world a better place, both the little personal world they will live in, and the big wide world they will inherit. To that end, it is never too early to begin instilling good habits in the hearts and minds of our young ones.   Food: The impact of how we instill eating habits in our children is almost staggering. In many ways, their nutrition can set the stage not only for their …

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Setting Goals – Creating Success

By Colleen Brunetti, M.Ed., C.H.C   Are you setting goals with your kids? This article from the Wall Street Journal tells us that, “Students’ ability to set and achieve realistic goals is linked in research to higher grades, lower college-dropout rates and greater well-being in adulthood.”   Sounds pretty good, right? But just how do you go about beginning to set goals with little ones who have a limited attention span and only an emerging grasp on things like the passage of time and delayed gratification? Here are some tips to get you started:   Start small: What developmental milestone …

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“Noooo! Peanut Butter and Jelly AGAIN?”: Back-to-School Healthy Lunch Ideas!

By Colleen Brunetti, M.Ed., C.H.C   One of the many hats I wear is that of a certified holistic health coach. I work to support happy kids and healthy families, and this includes working with busy stressed out parents to streamline the process of feeding their family well.   With Fall here (when did that happen?), our thoughts invariably turn to back-to-school time, and the next 180 or so days of lunches that have to be produced.   It can be a challenge to pack balanced healthy lunches that your kids will actually eat. While there are pre-packaged options, many …

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Using Sign Language for Classroom Management

By Colleen Brunetti, M.Ed., C.H.C Many people are familiar with the idea of what is known as “baby sign language”. The idea that a pre-verbal infant or a toddler with emerging verbal skills can use sign language to communicate with caregivers is immensely attractive to many people. However, time after time I hear, “Oh yes, we signed MILK and MORE with Tommy, but then he started talking and we stopped.”   You know, I did the same thing! I signed with my son when he was an infant and then let it fade as he became verbal. However, after joining …

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My Friend is Sick: Helping Your Child Cope with the Critical Illness of a Friend

By Colleen Brunetti, M.Ed., C.H.C We expect and hope that childhood will be a time of life that is carefree and uninhibited by very adult-like cares, such as handling a major illness. However, for some children, the time comes when they must face a major illness of their own, or try to understand the illness of a playmate. If your child has a friend who has become very ill, some support may be needed in learning how to cope and re-relate to their friend. These tips can help.   1. Talk to the parents of the child: This one is …

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Someone I Love is Sick: Helping a Child Cope With The Illness of a Family Member

By Colleen Brunetti, M.Ed., C.H.C   When a loved one is critically ill, your child may have a lot of questions, or need some extra support around understanding what is going on. Be it a parent, sibling, grandparent, or extended family member, chances are high that your child is going to have some worries and fears that may need to be addressed. How you discuss the illness of a family member with your child depends a great deal on how old the child is and what they are ready to handle from a developmental or maturity standpoint. There are a …

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Your Guide to the TreeSchooler Kickstarter Rewards

We want to say thank you to the hundreds of fans who have already backed the TreeSchoolers Kickstarter campaign. If you would like to become a backer, here’s a quick guide to the rewards you can choose.   $10 Pledge: DIGITAL MUSIC PACKAGE $30 retail value Select the “DIGITAL MUSIC PACKAGE reward on Kickstarter and you’ll get:  MP3s from all 3 shows (about 18 songs, each with a corresponding sing-along track)     $35 Pledge: COMPLETE DIGITAL PACKAGE $75 retail value Select the “COMPLETE DIGITAL PACKAGE reward on Kickstarter and you’ll get:   DIGITAL MUSIC PACKAGE (above) Digital videos of all 3 …

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Get Out There and Go: Active Learning in the Summer Months

By Colleen Brunetti, M.Ed., C.H.C   From noted child psychologist Piaget, to education pioneer Montessori, to today’s teachers; experts agree that children learn best when they are engaged and active learners.   What does it mean to be an active learner? In essence, it means that children are able to use all of their senses when learning, and are active participants in the learning process. As active participants in their environment, they are tapping into their natural curiosity and desire to interact with the world around them.   Let’s take a look at creative ways to engage active learning using …

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The Power of the Spoken Word: Why Talking With Your Baby Sets the Stage for Language Success

By Colleen Brunetti, M.Ed., C.H.C. As your baby grows, their receptive language (what they can understand) will develop more quickly than their expressive language (what they can express with words or signs). It is in these early months that you really want to start capitalizing on the engagement that comes with receptive language. Words communicated to baby are crucial to language development. Studies have shown that it is vitally important that babies hear a vast array of spoken language, even from day one.  In fact, breakthrough work in one study, resulted in a book entitled Meaningful Differences: Children of the …

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Helping Your Clients Make the Most of Media Time

By Colleen Brunetti, M.Ed., C.HC.  If you teach Baby Signing Time then you have probably been asked, “Is it okay to show my baby the videos?”  The choice to show an infant any media is purely personal.  After all, the American Academy of Pediatrics (APA) clearly states that children under the age of two should not have screen time at all. And here we are as Instructors offering parents videos for their infants. Is it a conflict of interest? Simply put, as both a mother and an educator, I don’t think so. What you have to understand is that the American …

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