Teaching ASL to toddlers?

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CourtneyLukacs

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Hi everyone! I am new here. my name is Courtney Lukacs, and I love ASL! I learned for 4 years in high school, and was able to learn quite a bit. I work at a daycare, and in our toddler group, one of them is Deaf! I was thrilled when I found out because it means I can teach the little guy sign language! He knows just a few signs that his parents taught him; more, milk, etc. but I was given permission to teach him as much ASL as I can! I am so thrilled to introduce him to this beautiful language, but I am having a hard time, figuring out how to teach him. He is only 2 years old, but I want to start him early. He was able to learn the sign for "Outside" and "frog" in his own little toddler way, and his eyes absolutly light up because finally someone understands him. Anyway, what are you suggestions?
 
CourtneyLukacs said:
Hi everyone! I am new here. my name is Courtney Lukacs, and I love ASL! I learned for 4 years in high school, and was able to learn quite a bit. I work at a daycare, and in our toddler group, one of them is Deaf! I was thrilled when I found out because it means I can teach the little guy sign language! He knows just a few signs that his parents taught him; more, milk, etc. but I was given permission to teach him as much ASL as I can! I am so thrilled to introduce him to this beautiful language, but I am having a hard time, figuring out how to teach him. He is only 2 years old, but I want to start him early. He was able to learn the sign for "Outside" and "frog" in his own little toddler way, and his eyes absolutly light up because finally someone understands him. Anyway, what are you suggestions?
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That his parent contact their area education agency, and get him into an appropriate program designed for deaf preschoolers.
 
Bottesini said:
That his parent contact their area education agency, and get him into an appropriate program designed for deaf preschoolers.
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I cant really do that, because I signed a noncompete, so I cant tell his parents to leave my daycare. although I wish he would go to a deaf preschool, I cant tell his parents to leave.
 
CourtneyLukacs said:
I cant really do that, because I signed a noncompete, so I cant tell his parents to leave my daycare. although I wish he would go to a deaf preschool, I cant tell his parents to leave.
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I have a question. Suppose you didn't know sign language. Would you still not suggest to his parents that they send him to a preschool that specializes in teaching toddlers ASL? If you know that it's in this toddler's best interests to go to a deaf preschool don't you have some obligation to suggest that to his parents? You know sign language, but you have acknowledged that you're not sure how to teach it to him. If he went to a deaf preschool, he would be learning lots of other skills he'll need as a deaf child in addition to learning sign language. He'd be with other children who are also learning those same things, he'd be able to practice them with other deaf children, and he'd have those things he's learning constantly reinforced. Regardless of the document you signed, this child's well-being, education, socialization, etc. is at stake. Are the child's parents aware of other, possibly better options for their child in your area? If they aren't, I'm not sure it's ethical of you to not help them get the best possible care for him. Children depend on the adults who care for them to act in their best interests.
 
If I suggest to his parents that they should leave the daycare and go to a different one, no matter the circumstance; I will get fired. If I didn't know sign language and all the options and joy it would bring this child, of course I wouldn't think it was important for him to know. But I DO know ASL and I know what it can bring him, that's why I am trying to teach him. The only way for me to try to help him, and keep my job, is to try my best to teach him in the classroom. I am asking for learning strategies to teach him some langauge, not tips on how to get him out of my daycare.
 
CourtneyLukacs said:
If I suggest to his parents that they should leave the daycare and go to a different one, no matter the circumstance; I will get fired. If I didn't know sign language and all the options and joy it would bring this child, of course I wouldn't think it was important for him to know. But I DO know ASL and I know what it can bring him, that's why I am trying to teach him. The only way for me to try to help him, and keep my job, is to try my best to teach him in the classroom. I am asking for learning strategies to teach him some langauge, not tips on how to get him out of my daycare.
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The point here is, this a very bad strategy for the future of the child.

The window of early learning is closing here, and it can have big implications for how well he learns and what he is able to do as an adult.
 
CourtneyLukacs said:
If I suggest to his parents that they should leave the daycare and go to a different one, no matter the circumstance; I will get fired. If I didn't know sign language and all the options and joy it would bring this child, of course I wouldn't think it was important for him to know. But I DO know ASL and I know what it can bring him, that's why I am trying to teach him. The only way for me to try to help him, and keep my job, is to try my best to teach him in the classroom. I am asking for learning strategies to teach him some langauge, not tips on how to get him out of my daycare.
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Well, my job involves child welfare, so that's where I'm coming from. If you know of deaf preschools in your area, is it possible for you to mail or email pamphlets/information about them to the parents anonymously so that your boss doesn't know about it? If you're going to have a career working with children, what's best for them should ALWAYS be your first priority, and you'll find that sometimes involves finding ways around rules that work against acting in children's best interests. There are usually ethical and appropriate ways to get around dumb rules. I think If you care about this child getting the best learning experience, you'll find a way to at least suggest area deaf preschools to his parents that won't get you fired. If the parents then decide to keep him at your daycare, then at least you'll know you did all you could to make them aware of their best options for their child.

It's great that you know ASL and want to try to teach it to this toddler, but you and the daycare you work for aren't experts in teaching ASL to preschoolers.
 
CourtneyLukacs said:
I cant really do that, because I signed a noncompete, so I cant tell his parents to leave my daycare. although I wish he would go to a deaf preschool, I cant tell his parents to leave.
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Not nessarily leave the preschool for GOOD..... He can still attend the daycare part time maybe.... but he really does need to be in a Deaf ed setting... Can you contact the parents off the record, and tell them about any local deaf preschools?
 
I support Crickets statement, I think anonymously sending them pamphlets in the mail is a great idea. There is no way for them to know where it came from since a return address isn't required to send mail. Just enclose a bunch of stuff in a postal service envelope, you don't even have to write a thing. If the parents don't care enough to look through the stuff and consider then at least you know that you tried. The child needs community. Sounds like you're attached to him which is awesome, but you're gonna have to let him go eventually, might as well be a place he can flourish. :)
 
What about the hearing children in your care at the Day Care center? Do you also teach them baby signs to them and 2 years old deaf child? I still prefer having a deaf child go into the d/Deaf Day Care along with other d/Deaf children so that he can be comfortable associate with them in ASL or Baby Signs. A 2 years old can not sign like the Adult sign. They have to use Baby signs which they can try to sign with their toddler fingers and hands. It will take time for them to grow fully before signing ASL in the future.

So he need to be with d/Deaf children. This is something that is best for the deaf child.

I think I remembered when I was a toddler, I was not happy in the hearing Day Care as I get frustrated not being able to communicate. No signs. Maybe they don't know that I was deaf and maybe my mother did not mention about it. It was in the Late 1940 era. So think about this.
 
Hi all,

(I am a hearing adult ASL student)

Bebonang's question was my question also:
"What about the hearing children in your care at the Day Care center? Do you also teach them baby signs to them and 2 years old deaf child?"

I 100% agree that a d/Deaf child should be learning language and otherwise acculturating in a communication-rich d/Deaf environment. But we live in a messy world where not all parents have enough. Not enough financial resources, time, practical understanding of early-langage-learning, motivation, etc.

[Edit:] I would also like to ask Courtney, "Are there d/Deaf daycares/preschools in the area?" Perhaps if the area is rural enough, there may not be?

Let's assume that the anonymous pamphlets are delivered, etc, so the parents have every opportunity Courtney can give them, to know the value of a d/Deaf environment for their child.

For the sake of conversation, suppose if the parents realize they should move to a location with a d/Deaf daycare. Let's say they have started applying for new jobs in the area etc. But, they will not be able to move for six months.

These six months are immensely valuable for the language development of the child. What advice can we give Courtney to make her daycare d/Deaf friendly?

It seems like Courtney has claimed to be at-least very-capable in ASL, and she's asking the forum how to re-design her mostly-hearing classroom to be as d/Deaf-friendly as she can! [Edit:] Maybe she will even leave the curriculum changes in place after the Deaf child leaves to a d/Deaf preschool.

Even though it's an inferior level of care for this d/Deaf child, isn't this a great opportunity for the forum to raise the level of care for the child for the next six months, while increasing Deaf Culture awareness among the other families! Am I wrong?

Speaking to Bebonang's point, it seems like the first step should be to implement daily ASL-learning games for the entire daycare, progressively raising their frequency and duration. But what games would work?

Maybe start off with some videos where the kids learn to sign-along with a (grammar-less) song? Not too different from doing the "Hokey Pokey", really.

Maybe then progress to teacher-led signing-karaoke (voice-off) with ASL grammar, and then more interactive day-care-wide games as the group builds a vocabulary and grammar base. The goal would be to come as close as possible to the d/Deaf immersion environment. Even knowing that you might reach at-best 1/4 of the communication bandwith of a real d/Deaf environment, still 1/4 is better than 1/16.

Am I way off base here? Much apologies if I'm missing something.

Respectfully,
Steven
 
Here are some links to AllDeaf forum threads that may be relevant to Courtney's situation:

"Teaching Preschoolers ASL" (Lots of responses on this thread!)
http://www.alldeaf.com/showthread.php?t=47804&highlight=infant

"Survey of Bi-Bi programs" (Lots of responses here too)
http://www.alldeaf.com/showthread.php?t=44850&highlight=infant

"Is it Okay for an ASL Teacher to be Hearing?"
http://www.alldeaf.com/showthread.php?t=49593&highlight=infant

"Deaf Daycare Interest" (Phoenix AZ)
http://www.alldeaf.com/showthread.php?t=102531&highlight=infant

"Baby Signs and the Importance of ASL"
http://www.alldeaf.com/showthread.php?t=62013&highlight=infant&page=2
 
And Courtney, by the way, I don't think you are violating the non-compete to advise the parents to look for d/Deaf daycares. You aren't receiving any compensation from the other daycare for you to provide the advice, so I would think it would be legally safe. But I'm not a lawyer. :D

I also suspect that if you were somehow fired for providing such advice, then the company that fired you would likely be on poor legal standing if you charged them with some kind of discrimination.

:p
 
We're
assuming that the parents aren't aware of any other options and have made their choice without benefit of information from early intervention services.
 
Reba said:
We're
assuming that the parents aren't aware of any other options and have made their choice without benefit of information from early intervention services.
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Good point. It's possible that they may have put their kid in the daycare for hearing world exposure..... But on the other hand...I would talk to the parents and see what they're doing.... B/c the kid DOES need ASL and Deaf ed, if they're not already getting it.... the window is closing. He needs more then someone who knows a handful of signs.
 
Keyword is, you can't. Contact someone at a deaf preschool anomiously too contact the parents and reach out to them, you will keep your job, they will have the resources needed and everyone will be happy.
 
sonocativo said:
Keyword is, you can't. Contact someone at a deaf preschool anomiously too contact the parents and reach out to them, you will keep your job, they will have the resources needed and everyone will be happy.
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Yes.... Maybe contact the state Deaf School and explain your issue and concern....this really is an area of major concern.
 
I understand that most deaf school do have program for infant to toddlers activities there.
 
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