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Baby Signs: How to Talk with Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk, New Edition

The bestselling parenting guide featured on "Oprah" and "Dateline" is revised and updated with new signs
For every parent or caregiver who has struggled unsuccessfully to decode baby grunts and grabs, resulting in tearful frustration for both adult and child, there is Baby Signs. Based on 20 years of research, this one-of-a-kind classic shows you how to encourage your baby's use of nonverbal gestures to enhance communication. Simple hand movements signify objects, events, and needs, so your infant can enjoy interactions with you that otherwise would have been impossible until they could talk. New features of this revised edition include helpful tips on incorporating Baby Signs into the day care setting and more than 50 additional illustrated Baby Signs.

What do puffins -- colorful-billed birds looking like miniature penguins -- have to do with the work we do at NASA?

That would be a good question to ask Maria Frostic, an earth science film producer at Goddard. Better yet, catch her documentary, “Plight of the Puffins,” on PBS next week to get the scoop.

On a Fulbright scholarship, Maria took leave from Goddard for July and August 2007 and traveled to the Westman Islands of Iceland to make a documentary on the shrinking population of puffins. Originally, she had planned to produce a film on medieval Icelandic sagas, but her plans changed after hearing the story of the islands’ native bird.

Maria explained, “Upon my arrival in Iceland, I was introduced to a puffin biologist who had just launched a study to understand why Iceland's Atlantic puffin population, which is the largest in the world, is threatened. I learned that the birds' food source has shifted due to climate change, and I thought this would make an interesting film.”

While Maryland and Iceland may be geographically, geologically, and culturally different, Maria felt interconnections between her work in both places. As an Earth Science producer at NASA, all of her projects have involved climate change in some way.

For instance, Maria recently produced new science data visualizations from the Sea-viewing Wide Field of view Sensor (SeaWiFS), a unique instrument that observes global levels of phytoplankton. SeaWiFS gathers data on ocean color from space, which enables researchers to understand the oceans' role in the global carbon cycle, as well as other biogeochemical cycles, through a comprehensive research program. One of the mission’s findings has been evidence that increased sea surface temperatures result in lower amounts of marine phytoplankton.

Most marine life depends on phytoplankton, including the fish that sustain Iceland’s Atlantic puffin population. In the past year, researchers linked the disappearnce of the birds’ missing food source to Earth’s changing climate. Some baby puffins, known as pufflings, are dying of starvation -- their food source, a fish called the sandeel, is now scarce where it used to be abundant.

The people of the Westman Islands have strong ties to puffins as a part of their culture and express concern about the fate of the birds. Once an important food source for survival, the puffin is now a revered mascot, and images of the birds grace signs, buildings, and busses throughout the town of Heimaey.

In late summer, baby puffins must make their first flight to sea. The baby birds are often drawn to the town’s lights, and wind up stranded and disoriented. The children of Heimaey have an annual tradition of catching the vulnerable pufflings and releasing them at the water’s edge. Island adults recall rescuing the birds in droves; in the last three years, puffin reproduction has plummeted, and far fewer birds are venturing out toward sea.

Fascinated by the people and their connection to the puffin, Maria did as the Icelandic people do. She pulled herself up the precarious cliff sides using the old ropes hung by the locals. There she filmed the puffin nesting grounds as unobtrusively as possible, valuing truth in her work.

“I strive to create films that are entertaining and informative but have scientific integrity,” said Maria. “It’s not always easy to balance each of these elements, but I work closely with the scientists I document to ensure that they are comfortable with how I portray them and their work.”

Maria believes that audiences enjoy nature documentaries. The recent unexpected success of the Discovery Channel’s Planet Earth is a big indicator of the kind of programming the general public want to view.

“Planet Earth was wildly popular and proved to the large networks that the public cares about the natural world and stories related to the natural sciences. There is also a large green movement happening around the globe, which coincides with a widened platform for making and distributing documentary film,” said Maria. “It is an exciting time to be involved with making science films.”

There may not be a more fitting person than Maria to make those films. Originally from Richmond, Virginia, Maria received Bachelor’s degrees in Biology and English Language and Literature from the University of Virginia. She earned her Master of Fine Arts degree in Science and Natural History Filmmaking from Montana State University in Bozeman. She has worked as a newspaper reporter; teacher; park ranger; and marine science researcher.

Finding science filmmaking allowed Maria to combine all of her interests and experience. Having always been drawn to nature and science, she is appreciative of the opportunity to close the gap between science and communicators. When the opportunity to do just that arose at Goddard, she thought there would be no better place to communicate science stories than at NASA.

To hear her story on puffins, check your local listings for airtimes

*A Joyful Visit with the Grannies*

*and Children in Xi'an*

by Rita Taddonio, Director of Spence-Chapin's Adoption Resource Center

For the past five years, Spence-Chapin has been sponsoring a granny program
at the Child Welfare Institute in Xi'an, China. I have visited four times to
offer trainings to the grannies that would enable them to help with the
children's development. This summer I returned with Susan Campbell, an
occupational therapist and Joan Radigan, a special educator. I was extremely
excited because one of our goals was to support an additional granny program
for children between the ages of three and five.

It was a joy to return to Xi'an and see the children sitting on their
grannies laps to hear a story read or grabbing their grannies' hand to pull
them to see the new toys we brought. The obvious signs of attachment the
children have with the grannies and the sense of comfort they derive from
their presence makes me aware of the meaning and power of this program. It
is particularly moving because I am conscious that most of these children
will remain at the orphanage and so having an adult who lights up when they
come into the room or is completely interested in their painting is most
important.

The success of the first granny program for infants to age three is the
reason we were determined to extend the granny program to cover children who
are between the ages of three to five. Continuity in care and attention is
so important that it was clearly the right thing to do. We found children we
recognized as having been in our Birth to Three Program now happily playing
with grannies hired for the new program.

Our visit in July 2006 lasted two weeks. The first week we spent training
the grannies and staff in the Birth to Three Program. Eleven out of fifteen
grannies were new to the program so we reviewed basic developmental stages,
how to encourage age appropriate skills and basics about how attachment
forms

The second week we focused on training the grannies and staff who work with
the three to five year olds. Again, we reviewed basic child development, how
to encourage creative play, interaction between the children, language and
other age appropriate skills. Every time we passed the children's room, they
started clapping and waving because the activities we did with them were so
much fun.

When we asked the grannies to evaluate the training, their responses were
very positive. One granny said, "I am so happy that I know how to help my
baby. Before all I could do was hold her because I thought she could not
move on her own but now I am able to get her to crawl to me." The grannies
were particularly interested in how to stimulate infants and how to help
special needs children.

I had the opportunity to meet with government officials, notably the head of
Child Welfare for Shaanxi Province. He was very impressed with our program
and asked that Spence-Chapin consider opening more granny programs in his
province. When I asked how many he thought were needed he said he thought
every orphanage in his province should have a program such as ours. That was
quite a compliment and offer of support especially since it came from a
government official. He suggested that I visit a more remote orphanage to
see the kind of need he was describing. So I took myself to AnKam— a days
train ride followed by a long car ride—to see the orphanage.

I found AnKam to be a fairly typical rural orphanage, situated in a new
building which provides light and space for the children. However, there
were only two caretakers for 38 children and no developmental toys or
activities in their daily routine. A perfect place for us to consider
establishing a granny program..

Returning every year to China to support and train and grow the Granny
Program has been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. A
personal thank you to everyone who has enabled Spence Chapin to make such a
profound difference in the lives of children.

The Baby Signs Potty Training Kit has everything you and your baby need to make potty training fun and easy! This exciting new program combines the power of the Baby Signs (R) Program with developmentally appropriate practices that help babies begin potty training as early as 12 months. Highly motivational products with the "Potty Train" theme make this program ideal for children of all ages. The kit contains:
Parent Guide-This straight forward guide from trusted child development experts will help you confidently lead your baby to potty success.
All Aboard the Potty Train DVD-With its catchy tunes, delightful animation and real kids, this exciting DVD will teach your baby five potty-time signs and reinforce each step of the potty routine.
All Aboard the Potty Train Lift-the-Flap Book-Your baby will love discovering the potty-time signs hidden under each flap in this fun and interactive board book featuring the DiaperDoodlesTM.
Job Well Done! Stickers-These colorful reward stickers feature fun images and positive messages such as "Good Job" and "I'm on the Potty Train!"
All Aboard the Potty Train Conductor's Whistle-Whether to signal it's time to go potty or to "sound the trumpet of success" this fun-to-blow whistle will put a smile on your baby's face when it's potty time.
Potty Training That's Better for Babies, Parents and the Environment
Up until the 1960s, 95 percent of all children were potty trained by the age of 18 months. Today, this figure has risen to 46 months. The problem with later potty training is that it's more difficult for parents, creates emotional and health problems for children and contributes billions of pounds of unnecessary diapers to our landfills. By bringing the power of the Baby Signs Program to potty training, babies can start toilet training as early as 12 months.
The Baby Signs Potty Training Kit has been field tested by parents with children from 9 months to 4 years old across the country with great success. Jennifer Macris, a mother of a 5 says "I potty trained my four older children before using this program with my youngest son, and I can definitely say that this is the most fun and effective program out there. It works."
About the Baby Signs Program
The Baby Signs Program is the world's leading sign language program for hearing babies. Built upon two decades of research conducted by Dr. Linda Acredolo and Dr. Susan Goodwyn, much of it funded by the National Institutes of Health, the program helps babies use simple signs to communicate before they can talk, thereby decreasing frustration, enriching the parent-child bond, fostering both emotional and intellectual development-and helping babies talk sooner.