Sign & Sing: New sign language program combines songs and playtime.   This research-proven program is based on methods shown to speed language development in hearing children, ease frustration, and enhance long-term learning abilities. This program was created exclusively for Kindermusik by leading experts in sign language for hearing children: Signing Smart Inc. This new class combines songs and playful interaction to help children learn American Sign Language.   Instinctively your baby reaches up when she wants to be held, and you instinctively pick her up and dance and sing to soothe her.  Sign & Sing helps you see these moments happening every day in your life and gives you the language to improve that communication, and strengthen the bond between you and your child.  The five-session class gives parents the tools to learn more than 50 American Sign Language signs for children ages 6 months to 3 years. We will teach signs such as “help” “change” “bed” “where” and “thank you.”   The class experience also includes a set of clip-on flashcards of American Sign Language that features photos of both a parent and a child making the signs. Also included is a booklet of activities for parents and their children to learn and play with at home, and a DVD glossary that features adults using sign language.   “One of the best ways to draw a child into learning sign language is through what they love: songs and play,” says Carol Penney, Kindermusik’s Manager of Curriculum Development. “Who better to teach that than a Kindermusik Educator?”   Kindermusik International is the world’s most respected publisher of music and early childhood education programs. www.kindermusik.com   Signing Smart Inc. is a nationally-recognized program for hearing infants and toddlers created by experts in language and child development—Dr. Michelle Anthony and Dr. Reyna Lindert.

Session A: Playtime and everyday items around the house—such as a ball, bubbles, and family members—are learning themes in this introduction to American Sign Language for a child and caregiver. Parents will benefit from the session's four, research-proven strategies shown to speed language development in hearing children, developed by the child development and sign language experts Signing Smart™. With the DVD's visual dictionary showing parents and children making over 60 signs, plus a pocket-sized set of flashcards of the pictures and the words of the signs, parents easily incorporate sign language into their daily routines, favorite nursery rhymes, and stories. Home Materials: Family Activity Guide, DVD Glossary, and clip-on flashcards Session B: This follow-up session to the first introduces more signs using animals and toys as a learning theme, and delves into a deeper understanding of the Four Keys to Signing Smart introduced during Session A. With a special focus on helping children understand signs used in different contexts, the Home Materials include a children's DVD called The Treasure Chest: Signs, Songs, and Rhymes, and features mini-music videos of children singing well-loved songs using the signs, as well as showing the printed word across the bottom of the screen—giving children multiple ways to learn the words, the sign, and the language. Home Materials: Family Activity Guide, DVD, clip-on flashcards