HearMyHands' Top 5 Daily Routines We Use Sign...

We use sign daily - as you've obviously picked up by our posts - but each day the same few routines happen daily that allow us to use the same signs again and again (which is perfect!!). Signing the same thing day in and day out increases the likelihood that you and your child are going to pick up the sign easier. I always practice what I preach! I think it's important to show Lil the same  consistency with her signs as we do with her night time routine. So she can expect me to sing and dance my little 'eat' song when it's meal time (not snack time, just meal time and not dinner just the other two meals  - there's no time to sing and dance at dinner!). 


So anyway, routines are important in our children but keeping it fun is even more important. Learning sign language should never appear like work. There should never be 'sign language time'.

Ok so how the HearMyHands family uses sign through our day

1. Lil wakes up: I have worked in several pre-schools providing speech-language therapy so I have heard my fair share of circle time songs so I sing a "good morning" song to her to keep her calm (because she's starving) while I change her diaper. I sing and sign GOOD MORNING during the song, "Good morning, good morning, good morning to you (repeat), it's time to wake up and start a new day, good morning, good morning, good morning to you." It's simple! We get dressed and she starts her day.
2. Lil eats: I sing / sign the Signing Time song from Baby Signing Time Volume 1 "I like to eat". During that song I sign EAT and whatever food she is eating and DRINK and perhaps WATER or MILK.
3. Lil bottle time: We sign MILK a lot and she signs it too when she's sitting in her high chair. When she's in her high chair (or pack-n-play) I sign UP a lot to teach her to ask to get UP. When I use the sign I also use question intonation so I'm presenting it like a question, 'do you want to get up?'
4. Bath time: currently we sign BUBBLES in bath time but very soon we will add BATH because she really loves her bath time. She doesn't sign BUBBLES - I think it's because she's pretty occupied starring at the bubble machine and the dog eating the bubbles in the air! But soon I will start turning the bubble machine off and on so we practice the sign BUBBLES. It's all about creating the signing opportunities :)!
5. Play: Lil's too small to start signing all the names of all the toys she's playing with but I reinforce who we are when she's playing with us. So I sign MOMMY and DADDY while we are playing. I sometimes sign PLAY when she's really having a great time.We have two different Leap Frog frig magnet tools. I sometimes sign the animals on the one frig magnet toy, but not often.

I'm sure there are other ways we use sign, but I hope you catch my drift to think about your daily routines, what happens every day, maybe even at the same time every day. Or is there a toy he loves that he plays with daily? Is there a favorite food she eats or friend or family member she plays with? Repetition is key!

I know there will be tons of other signs in Lil's future but she is only 10 months so bombardment isn't a great method at this point. 

But mostly importantly have fun! So how are you using sign?