Easy as 1, 3, 4
We’ve taught Abbie several signs so far. She knows “milk” (hands in fists, held together, shaken up and down), “help” (hands in fists, held together, shaken up and down), and “martini, shaken not stirred” (hands in fists, held together, shaken up and down). These signs are useful to us in determining what she wants, such as help with her milk, but they have a limited useful lifetime. As soon as she starts talking, she can verbally request things instead of forcing us to play a game of hot and cold with every word that looks the sign she just displayed. When she goes verbal, we can end this game and she’ll drop the signs faster than a cycling sponsor drops their star after a positive drug test.
We’ve been teaching her a more permanent set of signs recently: Numbers, as in holding up one finger for “one,” two fingers for “two,” etc. We’re going up to five for now, but once she masters five it should be easy to add the second hand to take her counting all the way up to ten. That way she can request up to ten more crackers at a time instead of being limited to five each time she asks.
Ellie’s original impetus for teaching her numbers was to let her show others how old she is. She had dreams of a smiling toddler, too shy to speak even if she could, holding up the correct number of fingers when a stranger asks, “How old are you?” These signs will have other value when she can speak, such as helping her do older activities like first-grade math, ordering two beers, and signaling fourth down.
She’s learning, but the basketball game’s official scorer will still have a hard time telling the difference between a foul on #3 and #5. She does a good job signing “one.” That involves holding up the index finger, which is the same motion she’s been using for months now to point out ducks, balls, and other important items seen in books. Her problems start with “two,” as she doesn’t want to tuck in her thumb. This makes her “two” look like a Euro-style “three.” In the same way, it makes her “three” look like a “four,” “four” look like a “five,” and her “five” … actually her five looks pretty good. She’ll be in good shape to answer the age question in three years.
Our primary time to practice number signs is while reading. The obvious targets are books with names like “Happy Baby 123,” “My Little 123 Book,” and “Beyond 123: A Resource for the Gifted Baby.” She points to a number, I announce its name, and she holds up the proper number of fingers as long as I don’t count the thumb. I then encourage her efforts, remind her to tuck in that thumb, and move on to the three rockets, even though she would rather count those three tiny stars hidden behind the rockets.
Other books offer counting opportunities. “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” has a section where you can count how many pieces of fruit the caterpillar maliciously destroys. She has a book about shapes and colors, creatively titled “Shapes and Colors,” that asks you to count how many circles, squares, dodecahedrons, or whatever you see on each page.
Even non-counting situations allow Abbie to show off her number prowess. When Dora announces in a book that she has plenty of fruit for everyone, Abbie holds up an index finger to show she heard “one,” then cheers for Dora’s fruit collecting abilities. When she hears that it’s Tuesday, she might hold up two fingers to show her knack for creative spelling. When I tell her she can read one last book before bedtime, she signs “one” and smiles to show that she understands how many more books she can read. That and she wants me to delay her bedtime by acknowledging her sign. Just because she can’t talk doesn’t mean she isn’t smart.
We’ve been teaching her a more permanent set of signs recently: Numbers, as in holding up one finger for “one,” two fingers for “two,” etc. We’re going up to five for now, but once she masters five it should be easy to add the second hand to take her counting all the way up to ten. That way she can request up to ten more crackers at a time instead of being limited to five each time she asks.
Ellie’s original impetus for teaching her numbers was to let her show others how old she is. She had dreams of a smiling toddler, too shy to speak even if she could, holding up the correct number of fingers when a stranger asks, “How old are you?” These signs will have other value when she can speak, such as helping her do older activities like first-grade math, ordering two beers, and signaling fourth down.
She’s learning, but the basketball game’s official scorer will still have a hard time telling the difference between a foul on #3 and #5. She does a good job signing “one.” That involves holding up the index finger, which is the same motion she’s been using for months now to point out ducks, balls, and other important items seen in books. Her problems start with “two,” as she doesn’t want to tuck in her thumb. This makes her “two” look like a Euro-style “three.” In the same way, it makes her “three” look like a “four,” “four” look like a “five,” and her “five” … actually her five looks pretty good. She’ll be in good shape to answer the age question in three years.
Our primary time to practice number signs is while reading. The obvious targets are books with names like “Happy Baby 123,” “My Little 123 Book,” and “Beyond 123: A Resource for the Gifted Baby.” She points to a number, I announce its name, and she holds up the proper number of fingers as long as I don’t count the thumb. I then encourage her efforts, remind her to tuck in that thumb, and move on to the three rockets, even though she would rather count those three tiny stars hidden behind the rockets.
Other books offer counting opportunities. “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” has a section where you can count how many pieces of fruit the caterpillar maliciously destroys. She has a book about shapes and colors, creatively titled “Shapes and Colors,” that asks you to count how many circles, squares, dodecahedrons, or whatever you see on each page.
Even non-counting situations allow Abbie to show off her number prowess. When Dora announces in a book that she has plenty of fruit for everyone, Abbie holds up an index finger to show she heard “one,” then cheers for Dora’s fruit collecting abilities. When she hears that it’s Tuesday, she might hold up two fingers to show her knack for creative spelling. When I tell her she can read one last book before bedtime, she signs “one” and smiles to show that she understands how many more books she can read. That and she wants me to delay her bedtime by acknowledging her sign. Just because she can’t talk doesn’t mean she isn’t smart.
posted by Matt at
10:22 PM
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