👋Welcome to this beginner ASL course for learners ages 8-13 twice a week for 4 weeks! This is an introductory beginner class, no prior ASL experience is required. 

🤟🏽I love learning and teaching American Sign Language and look forward to sharing my passion with all my students!
This is an exciting and fun introductory course where your child will learn a basic overview of American Sign Language. Students will learn over 150 signs as well as over 25 sentences. 

These classes will be very interactive. Students will be encouraged to sign the vocabulary words and sentences as well as be given the opportunity to come up with their own sentences/ask questions to myself and other students during class.

Through videos, demonstration, games, and participation, and hands-on learning, by the end of the course, each learner will be able to sign their alphabet, colors, numbers, family signs, food and drinks, animals, and simple sentences and phrases. The phrases that will be introduced will be phrases useful in everyday social situations. Each week, each learner will have ample time to learn and practice the signs.  Proper finger and hand formation will accompany each new sign.
 I hope to see your child in my classroom! 😊

The class time will go as follows: 
Introduction (3 minutes), Warm-Up/Review (3 minutes) Lesson (25 minutes) Game (6 minutes) Wrap Up/Practice with Others  (5 minutes), Closing/Homework / What's Next (3 Minutes). 

📅Week 1: 
Class #1:  ASL Alphabet + Alphabet signing song + finger spelling our names 
Class #2: Review the Alphabet, Introduce ourselves, and learn the phrase "What is your name?" + "My name is ___". Practice fingerspelling words, game: guess the word

📅Week 2: 
Class #3  Numbers (1-30), learn the phrases "How old are you?" + "I am ___ years old"), game: number hunt, count to 21
Class #4 Family Signs (mom, dad, brother, sister, grandpa, uncle, aunt) and common word signs (hello, sorry, please, thank you, bathroom, how are you? I understand, I don't understand, please, etc.), game: Simon says + guess the sign

📅Week 3: 
Class #5  Colors (rainbow colors), learn the phrase "What is your favorite color?" + "My favorite color is ___", game: color scavenger hunt 
Class #6 Animals: common animals (horse, dog, cat, bird, lion) + game: guess the animal 

📅Week 4: 
Class #7  Food: meal times and common foods, learn the phrases "What food do you like to eat?", do you like to eat (apples)?", "I like to eat __."
Class #8 Practice + Review (games- simon says, 21 questions, bingo, informal quizzes, and review of our signs learned in this class) 

We will end each of our classes with a game and I will ask students if they remember the signs for different words we learned. Students will also be encouraged (but not required) to interact with each other during the last 5 minutes of each class to practice the new signs introduced during that week's class, as well as post questions and comments on the Classroom Message Board.

On the final day of the course: we will review all of the signs we learned in this course with games and practice. Additionally, students who have attended at least 7 of 8 classes will receive a certificate of completion, featuring their names written in ASL!

🧠Why learn ASL? Benefits of Learning American Sign Language 
•Develops gross and fine motor skills
•Foster early language development
•Assists with letter recognition
•Helps build vocabulary
•Promotes better awareness and sensitivity to the deaf and hard of hearing community
•Develops focus and concentration 
•Boosts self-confidence
•Supports letter and word recall
•Strengthen memory and problem-solving skills 
•Strengthen teacher/caregiver bonding
•Fosters a love of learning

📓Class policy: Since ASL is a visual language each student must have their camera on during this class so that I can help them with the correct hand forms and locations, this is an essential part of learning in this course. Students will also be engaging and practicing their ASL signs and their hands must be seen for this.

Additional Notes: 
Many signs have multiple versions, similar to regional words in English. In this class, I will teach the versions that I was taught, but you may see a different sign for the same word in classes with other teachers.
While I have significant knowledge of ASL, I am a part of the hearing community and have different experiences than those of the deaf community. If you are seeking a truly immersive ASL learning experience, I highly encourage you to learn with Deaf teachers on Outschool or in your community.