This past year, my son went through a full Assistive Technology evaluation. One of the two modalities that we are going to focus on is signing. I had gotten away from it as his health declined. But, now that he’s on the rebound, he seems to be using it more.
He is very successful with PECS at school, but now we’re working on transferring that skill to home. But, he loves animals and many of the outings we do relate to animals (visiting local farms) so I want to expand his ASL vocabulary.
Video of Sign Language Animals
Here is a cute youtube video that shows how to do different ASL signs for various animals.
ASL Animals-Free Printable Booklet
As with everything I do with Kevin, I try to make it a whole sensory experience. Sight, sound, motor skills…the whole thing. That’s why I like this booklet.
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Fine Motor Skills-Games, crafts and coloring activities are a great way to use and practice a child’s fine motor skills.
Speech andLanguage– Many parents seek out a language-rich environment for their child. Any activity can be an opportunity to use and repeat new words and language, mimicking sounds, new vocalizations and articulations.
Handwriting and Fluency- This piggybacks onto the language skills a child needs, but with worksheets, coloring pages and games, they can be a low-risk opportunity to practice handwriting and fluency.
Practicing Previously Acquired Skills-Applying already acquired skills across all environments, bring the classroom teaching into the real world.
Social Awareness-Practice traditional social skills in a safe environment, such as: joint attention, taking turns, reciprocating conversation, waiting politely, and more.
Gross Motor-If you’re in a new place, practice walking across uneven surfaces, new surfaces, inclines & declines, stairs, or increasing endurance.
274 Shares 236 More Dolch Sight Words In 1936, Edward William Dolch published his list of what he called “Sight Words.” Dolch, an advocate of the ‘whole word reading’ approach, argued that his list of 220 words were used in up to 75% of all school texts, libraries, newspapers and magazines. This is why I…
12 Shares More ASL Color Signs If you are trying to learn sign language, learning clusters or groups of words is a great way to start. Many people start with numbers in ASL, or fingerspelling. But learning common ASL words and practicing them throughout the day is a great way to build up your ASL…
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More ASL Numbers Learning numbers in ASL is one of the quickest ways to be successful in learning the language. Numbers 0-10 are pretty intuitive. ASL is the 4th most common language in the United States. While originally developed for deaf people and hard of hearing, now many parents teach it to babies before they…
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More St. Patrick’s Day Activities Growing up, I don’t have great memories of St. Patrick’s Day. My dad would play record albums of Irish Folk Music like the Clancy Brothers and drink too much. Yep, the stereotype. It never occurred to me until I had kids that St. Patrick’s Day Activities for kids existed. I…