LMNOP – Laugh, Love & Learn

I first learned the signing alphabet and a few signs from my best friend in elementary school who had a younger sister with special needs, including deafness.  Since then, I have always been interested in sign language and when I saw the opportunity to take a local baby sign language class with a WeeHands trained instructor with my oldest, we attended every week during my maternity leave.  Now, I am excited to pass along what I know (and learn more) by helping lead the LMNOP class at GiGi’s Playhouse New Orleans!  

 LMNOP is an interactive and engaging program for children age newborn to 36 months old. It guides parents and young children through learning basic sign language and other forms of communication using music and language-based activities. LMNOP supports the therapeutic-based development of young children with Down syndrome with goals of achieving the following:  

• Introduce and practice the use of basic signs/gestures/pictures to support language development.
• Increase language development, with focus on vocabulary development, following basic directions and social interaction with peers using music, stories and play. 
• Introduce transitions and circle time; key skills needed to prepare children for pre-school and beyond.

 We had a great inaugural program of LMNOP on Wednesday morning!  We hosted 3 families: 12 people in all!  Our theme was Thanksgiving.  We learned signs for Happy Thanksgiving, turkey, family, table.  We sang songs about thankfulness and turkeys and read a few Thanksgiving themed books.  We also learned our “Hello, Hello! How are you?” and “It’s Time to say Goodbye to Our Friends!” songs!  It was a great first program! 

The signs we use in LMNOP are American Sign Language (ASL).  There is also sign language called Signing Exact English (SEE), but this is not the sign language used for baby sign language classes that I have seen.  There are a few resources I recommend if you want to try to incorporate some signs into your routine at home:  

• This is the website where GiGi’s Playhouse Inc. gets its LMNOP lesson pictures.
• Here is another video sign language dictionary from WeeHands.
• Patty Shukla has videos online of singing while signing; here is a link to one
• Many booksellers carry baby sign language books.   

We look forward to seeing more friends join us at LMNOP in the future!  Please RSVP for our free GiGi’s Signature Programs on the GiGi’s Playhouse New Orleans calendar on our website.  See you at the Playhouse!