These Words Sound Alike: Juice, Shoes, Zoo, Blue

Thank goodness for American Sign Language and the fact that it has given me the ability to give my children the ability to interpret their toddlerese into words I can comprehend.

Many parents of toddlers know that JUICE and SHOES are top of the list of favorite things. And it just so happens that the sound of J and the sound of S let alone SH are challenging for toddlers to make so those two words JUICE and SHOES sound an awful lot alike coming from the mouths of babes.

I'm not sure how many times over the course of parenting 3 little ones I thought my child had said juice and it was in fact shoes or vice versa, but it was a lot. Enough that I knew to share with parents in my classes that these are words to consider listening for and looking for and bother teaching their baby/toddler the signs for to avoid a common frustration in communication breakdown.

Sometimes it ends up being words that rhyme that sound alike (but not always), so as my toddlers vocabulary grew and ZOO and BLUE were added, those became words I would at times need to ask "Can you sign it?" Usually that was after they had said JUICE cup for example and I thought they were asking for the BLUE cup. Silly things like this result in tantrums in many households where they don't have a tool to navigate the words that are being misunderstood. Many times I could just pause and ask my children to "show me" what they wanted. In our household "show me" could either be 1) show me the sign OR 2) show me the item --- and then I'll show you the sign so we avoid future communication breakdowns.

Stay tuned for more stories of words that sounds alike coming from the mouths of babes ; )

Joann Woolley is owner and instructor of Sign4Baby in San Diego teaching parents how to communicate with their pre-verbal baby using American Sign Language. With her in depth knowledge of ASL as her first language she takes you beyond just the basics in signing, also filling your parenting tool belt with parenting tips and tricks coupled with signing as a great boundary teaching tool for toddlers. Want to know which signs most parents start with but gets them stuck in the mud? I'll send you that hundred dollar tip for FREE.

Get into the Pumpkin Spirit

Halloween is the second most celebrated holiday, only behind Christmas... probably because it is centered around children and children know how to have fun! Amberly's Kindergarten class went on a field trip to Bates Nut Farm yesterday and she returned with a great big pumpkin. Owen had been signing something yesterday during the day while it was just the two of us at home. Only today did it click for me what he was signing.... he'd been shown the sign for PUMPKIN just a once or twice, but had been hearing about Amberly's field trip coming up for at least a week. During the day when Amberly and Kyle are at school, Owen will sometimes stop and wonder about them and announce their names as if to confirm that they are still in the place where we left them that morning. Today as we were playing with the pumpkin on the floor Owen signed and said pumpkin (in his own toddler fashion) and immediately I knew what he had been trying to talk to me about yesterday! He'd wondered if Amberly was going to the Pumpkin Patch as he'd heard several times. This morning I did not show him the sign but once to see if he wanted me to bring it down from the counter to look at it. Children are able to retain information that is of value to them, and in this case Owen was very interested in knowing what his sister was up to yesterday. Remember as you are showing your child new signs, it may not be something they start using right away, but when they are ready to talk about it because it has value to them, they will surprise you with the sign, and you may have forgotten you even showed it to them! Enjoy this little clip of Owen playing with the PUMPKIN and practicing his sign.

Here's another video with a little more clear sign of PUMPKIN

If you're a big fan of Halloween you may want to submit pics of your little one in costume as I get ready to share a new facebook cover image showing off all our cute signing babies is costume. Here's a couple of our Sign4Baby Graduates showing off themed costumes! Aren't they adorable?

Joann Woolley is owner and instructor of Sign4Baby in San Diego teaching parents how to communicate with their pre-verbal baby using American Sign Language. With her in depth knowledge of ASL as her first language she takes you beyond just the basics in signing, also filling your parenting tool belt with parenting tips and tricks coupled with signing as a great boundary teaching tool for toddlers. Want to know which signs most parents start with but gets them stuck in the mud? I'll send you that hundred dollar tip for FREE.