If you have a child who is excited to learn American Sign language, you are in the right place.  American Sign Language is a living, visual language used by the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community.  It is recognized as a "foreign language" in the United States and satisfies the requirements for a foreign language in grades 7-12.  In this 8 week course, we will build new vocabulary each week and learn how to use it conversationally.  Fingerspelling is an integral part of American Sign Language.  Therefore, it is recommended that students first take my one time classes that cover the alphabet and numbers 1-100.  Fingerspelling will give them a good foundation for learning the language and make it easier to understand conversational sign language.  This will be an interactive class where I will be working with each student to ensure they are making the signs correctly.  It will be imperative that cameras remain on for the duration of the class so that I know if everyone is understanding the new material and ready to continue on.  Students will be interacting with me and with each other as we practice our conversational phrases and vocabulary.  My teaching style is to help my students enjoy learning something new.  I use a variety of games and music to help students remember the new vocabulary each week and it makes learning so much more fun.  This beautiful language is more than just vocabulary.  It is an entire method of communication.  So, we will learn how to use our vocabulary in a conversational way.  For example, we may learn the vocabulary words PLAY and BALL and WANT, then learn how to interpret the sentence "Do you want to play ball?" into ASL.  Our topics will include:
-Greetings, names and name signs
-Activities
-Food
-Family and Friends
-Emotions
-Colors
-Calendar
-Animals
Vocabulary lists, games and music resources will be provided.