DawnSignPress is the most amazing producer of learning materials, for children and adults, to learn American Sign Language (ASL). The books, movies and activities they offer were instant favorites in our home. I’m still working with my girls to teach them, but the fact that they gravitate toward the books we have from DawnSignPress make it easy to teach a couple new signs a day. If you’re looking for a way to teach your kids, or maybe learn yourself, I highly recommend you check out dawnsign.com and get their materials. I’ve used lots of different books to learn ASL and I am so impressed with the DawnSignPress materials, the illustrations and how engaging they are. 
There are, sometimes, obvious reasons to teach a child sign language; maybe they are hearing impaired or deaf or maybe their parent, sibling or other family member is hearing impaired or deaf. Sometimes, it’s none of those things and a parent feels that teaching a child some basic signs for everyday communication will allow their child to convey their thoughts earlier than they are able to speak the words.
I am not a doctor or speech therapist, so I can’t speak for the real, science-based, developmental benefits, or lack-thereof, for teaching your child to sign. However, I am a big believer that teaching your child another language is always important.
I know some sign language; I studied it in college in Washington, DC. Like most other students, I always studied a foreign language in middle school & high school (we started languages in 7th grade back then). When I got to university in Washington, DC, also home to Gallaudet University, I was exposed to this whole new community of deaf students and I realized that although I could speak foreign languages, I wasn’t able to communicate with some of my peers who were using American Sign Language (ASL).
Quick story: I was out at a nightclub in Washington with a friend, who happened to be fluent in ASL and even worked as an interpreter. As we were leaving the club, she noticed this guy by the coat check who was being yelled at by the person working behind the counter, “I can’t understand you,” the woman was yelling at this guy. My friend immediately recognized that he may be deaf and walked over and proceeded to ask him in ASL. The relief I saw in his face was priceless. She helped the guy out who had just lost his coat check ticket, so my friend explained to the person behind the counter what the jacket looked like and then the two hugged and he was on his way. That was the moment I wanted to learn and I enrolled in classes as soon as I could.
I guess the point of my story is that if you are thinking about teaching your child ASL, but you’re going back and forth because you don’t know if it will help them communicate with you or if there will be developmental benefits…the worst that will happen is that it won’t have the developmental benefits you were hoping for, but they’ll still know another language before they even get to school and be able to communicate with a whole community of people within their own country.
DawnSignPress has been generous enough to offer our Smarty Readers a huge bundle of materials for your little ones to learn sign language. Read on to find out how you can win and start opening up your little one’s world.
Smarty Giveaway: DawnSignPress Bundle
One lucky Smarty will win this awesome bundle of books and materials (pictured here) to help teacher your child ASL. Total value is $50. Entering is easy. Simply do the following:
1. Subscribe to our newsletter
2. Follow CSP and DawnSignPress on instagram.
3. Leave a comment below on why you would love for your kids to learn ASL.
A winner will be chosen at random on October 1 at 12pm and announced by 5pm on this blog post and an instagram post.
Winner must be located in the continental United States.
