reading

help your children to enjoy reading

Help Your Children to Enjoy Reading

By / 4 minutes of reading

Our kids’ reading level and enjoyment of reading can be a hot button topic. And there could never be an article that could answer every individual situation. While some of our kids will be natural readers, others will show less interest, and others will struggle. Your child may end up anywhere on this spectrum. Even so, there are some basics to getting our kids started in reading. There are some ways to encourage a love of reading despite the level of ability. You can help your children to enjoy reading. Be an example The starting point for most parenting dilemmas …

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march into literacy

Adding a Little More Poetry to Our Lives

By / 5 minutes of reading

We can tend to think of poetry as being outside of our normal interests. And we can assume that poetry is boring or inaccessible, especially for children. But with April being National Poetry Month, it’s a good time to evaluate these assumptions about poetry and its place in our reading repertoire. And kids can especially enjoy and benefit from poetry. So during this National Poetry Month, let’s consider adding a little more poetry to our lives. Poetry is for kids too The rhyming nature of poetry can appeal to children in the same way as a well rhythmed song. And …

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grow your family's reading habits

Enjoy Some Fun Thanksgiving Books with Your Kids

By / 3 minutes of reading

Here we are in November already! And so our thoughts turn to the Thanksgiving season. Our kids are focused on leaves and turkeys and gratitude exercises, and we begin thinking ahead to the rest of the year’s holidays. So as we enter this Thanksgiving month, let’s plan some time to snuggle up with our kids and enjoy some fun Thanksgiving books with them. We could learn some new signs to go along with those stories too! Reading Aloud It’s great for our kids to have their own stash of books that they look at. But it’s also great for them …

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Helping your preschooler get ready to read

Helping Your Preschooler Get Ready to Read

By / 3 minutes of reading

It can be daunting to think about helping your preschooler get ready to read. I think that teaching my kids to read was a task I dreaded as much as I dreaded potty training. The success when it was accomplished was equally celebrated as I sighed a relieved, “Whew, another one down!” And, just like when I finished potty training for good, when I finished teaching my youngest to read, my happy thought was, “I never have to do that again!” It’s a job worth doing, but we’re happy to be finished with it. While helping our preschoolers get ready …

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holiday stories to read with your kids

Holiday Stories to Read to Your Kids

By / 5 minutes of reading

The holiday season is filled with traditions and extras. We enjoy the treats and fun associated with whichever holiday our family celebrates. In between all the joy-filled traditions and fun, why not cuddle up with your kids and dig into some holiday stories? The holidays are a wonderful time to discover some new books or even to enjoy them again for another year.  Favorite holiday books could become part of your holiday traditions. So let’s look at some holiday stories to read to your kids. We love using our signs and songs to establish a reading together routine. Let’s start …

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Story Time

How do I help my child love reading?

By / 6 minutes of reading

Did you know October is National Book Fair Month? In 2003, The National Book Foundation, which sponsors the annual National Book Awards, is embracing October as National Book Month as part of a national effort to raise the profile of reading in American culture. In honor of National Book Fair Month we want to help you teach your child to love reading. Did you know that by middle school, most kids stop reading books that aren’t assigned in school. In the USA, an alarming 65 percent of fourth graders in public school were reading below the proficient level in 2015 …

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

By / 3 minutes of reading

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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Establishing the Foundations of Literacy

By / 4 minutes of reading

written by Colleen Brunetti One of the hottest topics in education today is that of literacy, or the ability to read and write fluently. Teachers and parents alike have a vested interest and heightened awareness of the need for strong early literacy skills in children and introducing them to sign language as a way to facilitate this learning process. The topic of sign language and literacy is something you will want to incorporate into your Signing Time classes and have a good working knowledge of, if you wish to collaborate with or sell to preschools and early elementary classrooms.   …

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NBC Today Show highlights signing star Elizabeth Barrett

By / 2 minutes of reading

Last March NBC’s Today Show introduced the nation to Elizabeth Barrett, an amazing 17-month old baby who could read. Elizabeth, with help from Signing Time, had the amazing capacity to put together letters and sound out words at a a very early age. Read the March 2008 story about Elizabeth on our website. After learning about how Elizabeth and her family were using Signing Time DVDs we invited them to be a part of our new production of Baby Signing Time Volumes 3 and 4. You can read from Rachel’s blog about our experience with Elizabeth while creating Baby Signing …

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