This week I began to expand my learning in American Sign Language. I knew when I began this learning project that I wanted to search for resources that I could use with my now 15-month-old daughter. This first week I decided to focus in on Baby Einstein’s YouTube channel on their videos for ASL.
Baby Einstein has a few videos available for ASL ranging from half an hour, to hours long. I went into the channel and went onto the “Baby’s First Sign Language” playlist to find the resources I wanted to use. There I found the video listed below to watch with my daughter.
As I chose this skill to learn not only for myself but for my daughter as well I am going to rate each resource for adult learning, as well as for toddler learning. For adult learning, baby Einstein videos are clear and easy to understand- but there is a lot of time in the video spent on skits that do not include any sign language. While I do not think this is a bad resource, for adult only learning I may recommend another source to be a quicker way to learn more words. In addition to time, baby Einstein has signs targeted towards the first words of toddlers. In this video, some of the words included “kiss”, “mommy”, “daddy”, “baby”, “eat”, and “play.” While these words may come across on occasion in adult conversation, a different resource would be more appropriate for adults wanting to learn sign language quickly. The teaching method in these videos was clear and concise leading to a quick learning experience. Even after the first time watching the video I was able to recall over 50% of the signs taught in that video!
Now to rate this video as a parent teaching their child ASL. Baby Einstein videos are a great resource for parents wanting to teach their littles ASL as a first language! The words taught are applicable to their age, and the many skits keep the child engaged in the video long enough to see multiple words. My only suggestion that may make the Baby Einstein videos a better resource would be to include more music within the video as songs are one of the quickest ways to learn a new skill!
Next week I will be continuing on my YouTube journey to learn more ASL with another channel. As we continue on throughout the weeks I will be referring back to this post to compare the different resources available from both the perspective of a learner, and a parent teaching their child.
Thanks for reading!
Brianna
It’s amazing that you have gotten such a good start on learning ASL! I hope that it was also fun to watch those videos and learn alongside your daughter. I considered learning ASL for my project, but decided on crocheting instead. However, ASL is something that I would like to learn eventually, so I might have to write down the resources you use. Good luck with your journey!
Hi Brianna!
I love how you are teaching your daughter how to do ASL, I think that is a great skill for all students to have. I am also trying to learn ASL so it is nice seeing what you are doing and the resources you are using so I can check them out for myself! I think those videos are great also and good for young learners, I will be looking at more of those even to show my students!
Great post!
Hi Caitlyn! What age of students do you teach? I’ll make sure to mention it to you if any of the resources I find seem the best for that age group in my future posts!
What a fantastic start to your ASL learning journey, Brianna! It’s so inspiring to see how you’re not only expanding your own skills but also incorporating it into your daughter’s early learning. Your suggestion to include more music is spot on; songs can make learning even more enjoyable and memorable for toddlers. I can’t wait to hear about your next resource and how it compares. Keep up the great work! Can’t wait to follow you on this journey!
Hi Brianna, I think learning ASL would be an amazing tool to have especially as a teacher. I really love the idea of teaching your daughter ASL and honestly I am going to follow your journey because I would love to teach my daughter as well. I think there would be a lot of tools out there to learn ASL and I think this would be amazing to explore. I know common words such as please, thank you, more and hungry but I would love to widen my knowledge. I look forward to following your journey, take care!
Hi Brianna! I used to work in a daycare and we started to teach the babies and those who couldn’t speak very well just yet the basics of ASL and it was the incredible. Babies are so smart, it was a good way for our facility to communicate with kids at younger ages to understand what they wanted!! Best of luck in the next weeks of your learning!!
Hello Brianna, My name is Fathima. my first choice was to learn ASL but lately i decided to blog on cooking. But still i will keep following on your post so that i can learn ASL while i am working on my project.
Fathima Farook