Sign with Baby (Book/Video Set) by Joseph Garcia

[JustMare]

Anyone have this?? Is there any difference between this and the Signing Times series??

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0966836707/qid=1069360638/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/002-3400704-4425642?v=glance&n=507846

They have this set in my Barnes & Nobles and I'm thinking of putting it on my family christmas list. (I have no idea what else to ask for???)

[sntm]

i don't know much about signing times, except that those seemed to be aimed for the kids. sign with baby is designed for the parent.
i think it is excellent. good explanation at the beginning of why it helpful with several families talking and their babies signing. video ends with a video "dictionary" of dr. garcia demonstrating each sign.
very straightforward, a little dry but not boring, good if time is limited. based on ASL, which i like a lot (i think signing times diverges more, but maybe someone who has it can comment)

definitely worth the $$ and easily sharable.

shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03
mama to Jack 6/6/03

[Momof3Labs]

Signing Time is for parents and baby to watch (and learn) together. Signing Time is ASL, I think that Sign with Baby is the one that diverges.

[Karenn]

There's a big difference between this and Signing Time. :) I have both.

This book is a how to manual for parents. The video is more of the same- it's basically the author demonstrating how to do particular signs and explaining why it's helpful to sign with your baby. I was glad to have the book but I honestly haven't used it that much. I read it once, and that's it.

Signing Time is a series of videos that feature children and music and are designed to teach sign language to babies and children. Colin LOVES these videos and would watch them all day if I let him. I credit them for the fact that he has learned as many signs as he has. These videos (from Signingtime.com) are worth every penny!

In my opinon, the Garcia book is a good resource for mom and dad and the Signing Time videos are a great teaching tool for baby.

HTH,

[Karenn]

Actually, Garcia (Sign with your baby) uses ASL too. You might be thinking of Babysigns. The authors of this book do use some signs that are different from ASL.

[JustMare]

Karen,

Thank you so much for the explaination. I couldn't figure out what the difference between all these signing books were. I never knew there were so many out there!

Can you get the Signing Times videos in an actual store anywhere? If I put it on my family xmas list (we do a secret santa with gift "suggestions") I have older relatives that will only shop in retail stores.

[Karenn]

Mare,
I'm glad I was able to help a little! I've never seen the Signing Time videos anywhere except on-line. I think they could make a ton of money if they put them in stores, but so far, I haven't seen any.

[August Mom]

I bought the Garcia set and read the book once. Honestly, I wish that I had checked it out from the library instead. I find the Signing Times videos very helpful in teaching me various signs and what the signs will look like when a child signs them. I did look for the videos in bookstores but never saw them.

[sntm]

Karen
Are they compatible? Signing times and Sign w/baby, i mean. Do they use the same signs?
If so, I would definitely get them and maybe a donation to the daycare so that they could use them there.


shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03
mama to Jack 6/6/03

[Karenn]

I'd say they're compatable. I know that they use many of the same signs and that both resources use ASL. I have to be honest though, I really haven't looked at my Garcia book since I read it almost a year ago, so I don't know how many of the signs overlap! It provided some nice foundational knowledge, but I just didn't use it to teach Colin sign language.

I know your daycare would love the donation so that's probably a good way to go, but I think that if I had to do it over again, I'd do like August Mom suggested and just get the Garcia book and video from the library.

[cdlamis]

I agree with AugustMom and Karen. The Garcia book is a good tool to teach the parent the reasons for signing with babies and how to go about it. The book also shows signs for many common ASL signs that you would use with a baby. I too would recommend getting it from the library or borrowing it. I have only read it once and never really used it to learn more signs.

I am glad I read the book to get some backfround in signing with babies but I learned all the signs much quicker watching the ST videos with Julia. The videos are what have really helped us learn the signs. Definitely get the videos! For signs that aren't on the videos, I go to the on-line ASL dictionary like:

http://www.signwithme.com/main_signs.asp?ID=6
or
http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm

Hope this helps~


Daniella
Mom to Julia 6-13-02
http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b32dc745c42b

[egoldber]

Both Signing Time and Garcia use ASL. BUT like any language, ASL has some variability, there are dialects and idioms. So there are variations in how some of the signs are done between the two videos, but is is usually very small variations. I don't know where Garcia learned his ASL, but Rachel Coleman (the woman who does the videos) and her daughter Leah (who is deaf) used the School for the Deaf in Nevada as their resource for the video.

If I was only getting one set, it would definitely be Signing Time. Sarah still enjoys them immensely and asks for them by signing "Leah" or "Signing Time". Very cute. :) I borrowed the Garcia set and was glad I didn't buy them.

HTH,