Why Do You Want To Use SignWriting?
Sun, 18 Apr 1999
1. Why do you want to learn SignWriting?
1. Goldilocks & The Three Bears, Reading Level 1, Workbook & Coloring Book
Did your student like this book? Did she write rows of
symbols and signs?
"I really think it is wonderfully put together."
2. Goldilocks & The Three Bears
3. Sutton's American Sign
Of course the pictures helped because the deaf are so visual. I think this is a wonderful reference tool.
4. Lessons In SignWriting Video Series
I found it very helpful in the beginning, to help me understand
As a teacher, were the videos helpful?
5. Lessons In SignWriting Textbook
___4___Cinderella, Reading Level 1 (Beginners)
___2___Cinderella, Reading Level 2 (Beginners)
___1___Goldilocks & The Three Bears, Reading Level 3 (Intermediate)
___3___Goldilocks & The Three Bears, Reading Level 4 (Advanced)
I only have one student, and we are ready for the next set
SignWriting is a new idea and sometimes new ideas can be complicated. Did our publications give a positive and optomistic impression about writing ASL? What issues, if any, came up? Any suggestions for making the road smoother in the future?
I think your publications gave a very good impression. Anything new is looked at with suspicion. I think in time SignWriting will be used as an equal to English in schools, As soon as the education system sees that the children use SignWriting as a tool to help them read and grasp Language.
Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1999 12:41:02 EDT
We watched the videotapes together today. I have never had so much interaction between my child and a video before. She was correcting my handshapes as we watched and tried to sign some of the words. She signed to me that this was cool. She laughed as we browsed the Goldilocks and the Three Bears story book. Then she spotted the flash cards. WOW, she signed almost every one without even knowing what the words were. She was reading the pictures. I haven't even started the lessons with her and she loves it and is reading it. She said she understands the pictures. I'm so excited....
Date: Mon, 27 Dec 1999
Here is an example of one of the ways I use SignWriting. I have been working on an interesting program. My sister in law has a son with CP& they have a program that will print out pictures with the corresponding words. I am trying to print out all the pictures I can, and add SignWriting below. This will help improve Language skills.
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000
I was stunned to realize after eight years in school; she had no working knowledge of what words really meant. I introduced to her several pictures of things with out the words present. She would know what it was.
Then I would introduce the written word for it without a picture, she did not know what it meant. I was astounded.
How did she go through school knowing how to spell words therefore reading words. BUT not truly know what they meant.
I was also devastated, HOW COULD I HAVE NOT KNOWN THIS. As I went on with discovering where Nicole really was in school and how much help she really needed I felt overwhelmed and began to question my ability to teach her. There were days when we were running through the house and I would grab the lunch meat and show her this, this is lunch meat. For a long time we had index cards with drawn pictures (the best I could do; lol) with matching words on our lamps and T.V. on our desks and tables and chairs and walls and oven and sink and bath tub. people would walk in our house and just and look around with confusion on their face. I would just laugh and say were learning what words really mean.
One day we sat down and watched television, here in Michigan
we have a station that focuses on the Deaf. At a certain time
during the day you can see the news told by Deaf and so on. While
we were watching this station, on came Sign Writing. I couldn't
believe my eyes. That was the answer. Symbols to make words
come alive for the Deaf, they can read their own Sign Language
on paper. That's it.
I am so proud of Nicole and the work she has done in the last year. I wouldn't change a thing about the struggles we encountered along the way to get here.
Sign Writing for Nicole and I became; sort of a lifeline, it gave me a opportunity to bridge a gap that was causing knowledge to be lost. Sign Writing became the missing link between my Written Language and Nicole's Signed Language. We are currently trying to get through the first set of materials so we can move on. For us this is somewhat a slow process; because I must know Nicole is retaining the information she is learning; before I move on. She is... Nicole is almost ready for the next packet. Hope you all check out some of our recorded experiences on our site. They will be sent to Val sometime in late March. This is my personal story; Nicole's experience is not typical of public schools;