Signing with Children

Many people are keen to learn NZSL but often unsure on how to get started. This session will be fun, interactive and will support you in practical ways to integrate NZSL and visual communication into your teaching

Description

Facilitated by The Champion Centre, in Collaboration with MHERC:

The Champion Centre provides early childhood intervention services to children with disabilities and developmental delays. We help every child reach their potential by giving today. We are more than an early intervention service, we’re a lifeline. For our tamariki with complex developmental challenges, we provide not just expert therapies, but hope. Through a team of expert teachers and therapists, the Champion Centre helps children and whānau discover their voice, their joy, and their place in the world. We provide weekly, centre based sessions, where a range of specialists and therapists work collaboratively with parents and caregivers to meet each child’s individual needs. 

Overview:

We are excited to offer 'a Signing with Children' evening session for families and preschool staff. Using signs and features from NZSL with young children is a powerful and natural way to increase receptive and expressive communication. We know that many people are keen to use NZSL but often unsure on how to get started.  This session will be fun, interactive and will support you on practical ways to integrate NZSL and visual communication. James and Liz Townshend are the presenters. James' first language is NZSL and is well-respected in the field of Deaf Education. Liz works as the NZSL Facilitator at the Champion Centre. Liz and James have raised their daughter with Down Syndrome in both English and NZSL.

Learning Intentions:

In attending this course, you will learn:  

  • Some signs and phrases to use in your ECC

  • What signs are best to start with? 

  • How I get children to look at the sign? 

  • How can books and songs maximise sign language learning? 

  • What children’s early signs look like

  • How to support a child who is using sign as their main mode of communication

Please Note:

This workshop is being run at the The Champion Centre - Gate 1, Burwood Hospital, 300 Burwood Road.