Signing at home, one ordinary day at a time

Dear reader,

This week I want to tell you about story time, which is my favourite part of the day.^{Note 11}1 Story time: a regular time when an adult and a child sit together with a book, usually before bed. After supper my son brings a picture book to the sofa, climbs up beside me and puts it on my knees. We have done this nearly every evening for two years, and I have never wished it shorter.

I do not read the words to him.^{Note 22}2 Signs: hand shapes and movements that stand for words and ideas, used by deaf families to talk to each other. I tell the story with my hands, my face and the pictures. When the bear is big, my signs are big. When the mouse is hiding, I make myself small. He watches the page, then me, then the page again, and sometimes he takes over and tells me what happens next. His version is usually better.

It took a while to get comfortable.^{Note 33}3 Making up a sign: when no one knows the sign for something, a family agrees on a new one, and it becomes theirs. At first I looked up signs while the book sat open. Now I choose a book I know, learn five or six new signs from it in the afternoon and show him the pictures first. If I do not know a sign, I point, I draw or I make something up, and we agree on it together. The sign we invent often becomes our sign for good.

If you want to try it, pick one short picture book and one sofa. Learn a few signs for the main characters and tell it your own way. Next week I will write about bath time and bedtime, which is a lot of hands and a lot of water.