Signing Time! Volume 1: My First Signs VHS | 
| Directors: Emilie De Azevedo Brown, Jon Pierre Francia
Actors: Rachel De Azevedo Coleman, Alex Brown, Leah Coleman
Studio: Two Little Hands Productions
Buy Used: $5.81
New (1) Used (11) from $5.81
Rating:  208 reviews
Sales Rank: 12951
Format: Ntsc
Language: English (Unknown)
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 30 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 4.2 x 0.7
UPC: 823860000016
EAN: 0823860000016
ASIN: B000068GQV
Release Date: May 1, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Description
The first in the Signing Time! Series. Cousins Alex Brown (who can hear) and Leah Coleman (who is deaf) invites babies and children of all ages to "Come sign with us!" My First Signs presents 18 basic American Sign Language (ASL) signs to your family in a fun and memorable way. It's Signing Time: My First Signs -- ASL signs you can use everyday! Signs in this volume include: * Eat * Milk * Water * Ball * More * Bird * Dog * Cat * Fish * Car * Airplane * Want * Shoes * Flower * Mom * Dad * Baby * Sleep
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| Customer Reviews: Read 203 more reviews...
 Well-Produced, but Very Thin on Depth of Content April 16, 2005
Matthew Wall (Monterey, CA USA)
114 out of 195 found this review helpful
This is a well-produced video that is a moderately entertaining introducton to ASL for kids, but which is disappointingly thin on content and not of a great deal of use for learning sign for either kids or parents wishing to teach their babies some sign.
Signing is introduced one word at a time, with only a dozen or so words making it into the brief 30 minutes. Those signs that are shown are covered well, with multiple toddlers, the adult guide, and sometimes cartoon characters making the signs, all to a mixture of backdrops of live-action and animation. For instance, 'cat' shows a cartoon cat, real cats, and the adult and several kids making the sign interspersed.
But there's just not enough material here to be useful. The video neither explains in depth how to go about learning to sign, nor does it address specific audiences -- for instance, baby-sign learners (all the kids using signs are older), those seeking to learn full ASL as a second language, or parents.
As such, it has some entertainment value, but is not that useful. I hate to give a nicely-done video a low rating, but there's no real educational design here or way to make it fit into learning sign except as supplemental material -- and even then, it's just not got a lot of depth.
The DVD has basic chapter features, but the "extras" are misleading. The "song" the packaging promised, for instance, is just over the closing credits, not an extra sing-along while signing -- and it's far too sophisticated for beginners.
For baby-sign learners, I'd recommend instead the Joseph Garcia book and video as an introduction -- and a decent basic reference -- the video is only in VHS but has about five times as many words as this DVD, and the accompanying book has decent illustrations, all for a price comparable to this DVD. For learning ASL, any kid old enough to read or adult can use one of the ASL-as-second-language textbooks designed to teach it as a natural language.
 Educational and Entertaining! Great gift for any child! June 27, 2002
Andrew and Caroline Osborne (Toluca Lake, CA United States)
26 out of 26 found this review helpful
This is such a fun way to teach your child better communication skills and a second language. We started teaching our son some basic signs that we had seen in a baby book when he was one year old (I wish we would have started even younger). We were amazed at how much it helped us to know what our baby wanted. He could express some of his wants without crying (like to tell us he wanted more of something or that he was all done) and we didn't have to play guessing games to figure out what he wanted. Now that we found this Signing Time video, at age 22 months, our son's signing and speaking vocabulary has expanded immensely in just a few viewings. He loves the video and asks to watch it instead of his old favorites. This video is so well done with a mix of animation, real kids and music. Our 5 and 7 year old nieces love it too and remembered many of the signs after just one viewing. It is great quality, a super educational opportunity and exceptionally entertaining (even for adults). Every baby and young child should have one and parents can feel good about teaching their child a second language and helping them develop positive communication skills.
Very Educational. February 26, 2004
apoem (Bosque Farms, NM USA)
23 out of 29 found this review helpful
I would rate this a very high four or a lowish five.
First the positive:
I like that first the written word is flashed on the screen- Ball (for example). Then you see the item on the screen in a natural setting or as a cartoon. Then you see a mother doing the signing. After that you see kids doing the sign language as you see a wide variety of examples of that item. Big balls, little balls, orange balls and green balls. Then you see more kids doing the sign for the item. And at the end of the segment, the mother doing the sign for ball again. WE were quickly able to pick up several of the signs and begin using them in our daily speaking. With a little bit watching every day, we picked up many signs that were easy to use and encorporate daily. The negative:
Very few negatives. One negative was that there was no sign taught for please and thank you. These are easy signs and should have been included in the first video I believe. The other negative for us, and my kids are a bit older and wanted to learn how to put some of those signs together. For example, it taught mother and it taught dog. They would have liked to see someone do mother dog. However, this is a starting video and I can understand why it didn't do that- it was just a negative for my children. Overall, a great video. Very educational and very helpful in learning to sign. Well worth the money. Enjoy.
THE ABSOLUTE BEST SIGNING PRODUCT AVAILABLE!!! February 20, 2003
Janie (Siloam Springs, Arkansas United States)
20 out of 20 found this review helpful
We LOVE these videos!! A year ago, I had purchased the "Sign with Your Baby" kit. It was really hard to stay dedicated to it, because it's only geared toward parents. I was disappointed. But just a week ago, I found and purchased these "Signing Time" videos , and my 21-month old son and I LOVE them!! We are both learning so much from them, and he has already signed 5 words! He loves to watch the children and babies using signs and imitates them, and when the songs are playing he gives 100% of his attention. I logged on to their website (signingtime) and purchased the 3 volume set and music CD. They have a few video clips so that you can see what you are purchasing. Check it out! They're very cute and soooooo worth it!!! By the way, my son has been requesting these videos, even over Blue's Clues and Baby Einstein.
 Correction December 19, 2003
19 out of 19 found this review helpful
I'd like to correct the reviewer who said that the Signing Time videos don't teach the words "please" or "thank-you". I own all three DVDs in the set, and I know those words are taught. Volume 2, "Playtime Signs", teaches both of those words. It even includes a song about them, called, "Magic Words". Currently, the desciption of the Volume 2 DVD on Amazon.com lists the wrong words, so don't trust it. For accurate information about the videos, visit the Signing Time website at www.signingtime.com. You can also see video clips there.A strong point of the Signing Time videos is the fact that each word is demonstrated by several different people. This is important, because everyone signs a little differently. Other videos, which generally use only one demonstrator, have left me wondering how exact I have to be in imitating the sign in order to have it recognized as the intended sign. This video is the first one in the series, and was made a year or two before the latter two videos. The producers appear to have learned a lot from making the first video, and the latter two are even better (they've added songs, present words in groups, have better filming, and moved the "Introduction" by Rachel into it's own segment, so you don't have to watch it every time you play the main feature). The latter two videos also include more words - about 30 each, instead of just 18, as in this video. One thing that has disappointed me about the Signing Time videos is that they leave out a lot of important words that are commonly used with babies & toddlers (which is why I only rate it with 4 stars). I would rather learn "diaper" and "bottle" than "fish" and "bird". Happily, I discovered the "Baby See 'N Sign" videos, which do a great job of filling this gap. I would recommend "Baby See 'N Sign" to all serious baby-signers, in addition to the Signing Time series. The second "Baby See 'N Sign" video was made specifically from words that were requested by parents. The "See 'N Sign" videos aren't as cute as the "Signing Time" videos, but they are well-done, and they still hold my baby's attention. They also cover A LOT more words (60+ on the first video, and 100+ on the second). They're only available on VHS, which was a slight disappointment for me, but they are well worth having. Currently, Amazon.com only sells the first video, but you can order the second one from www.babyseensign.com. I certainly hope the Signing Time people keep making more videos. It would be great if they would teach simple phrases, like "come here" and "I'll be right back", instead of just single words. I would also like to see more video snippets of children using signs as they play together, or interact with their parents, instead of just seeing children doing a single sign by themself. I also think they should show the object being signed in the same picture with the person who is doing the sign, instead of showing the sign, then the object, then the sign - each in separate clips. (To be fair, there are a few examples of someone doing a sign with the object present - but most of the time, that is not the case - and in some of the cases, they show a cartoon of the object instead of a real object, which I think isn't as effective.) Overall, the Signing Time videos are well worth having, since the manner of presentation is very engaging, and they do an excellent job of holding a baby's attention.
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