Now your childcare center has the opportunity to enhance revenues and strengthen your competitive position by building your reputation as the signing expert in your area. The Sign2Me Northlight Childcare Advantage Program (NCAP) was designed and developed for childcare centers that recognize the significant benefits obtained by incorporating an American Sign Language (ASL) program into their regular curricula. NCAP membership gives you the resources, tools and support to facilitate a quality ASL signing program utilizing the resources and services brought to you by the award-winning team at Sign2Me.
The concept of signing with hearing children in a childcare environment is expanding rapidly as the awareness of its many benefits continues to build. While not only improving communication between your hearing students, families, and staff, Sign2Me NCAP also provides your center with a host of additional benefits such as increased revenue, product discounts, marketing support materials, technical assistance, and the driving of new customers to your facilities. As a Sign2Me NCAP member, you will also have insight into new products and programs.
It's easy to become part of the only Childcare Channel Marketing Program that focuses on the development of communication with hearing infants and toddlers using the third most popular language in the United States - American Sign Language.
Membership Benefits:
Members-only product discounts on the products produced by Sign2Me
Special Getting Started package Access to marketing tools and materials
Website listing of your center(s) in the Sign2Me Northlight Childcare Facilities Locator
Cooperative marketing funds and rebates
Access to our Instructors' Network to assist you in training staff and families
Opportunities to participate in special promotions throughout the year
Access to NCAP members-only discussion and chat forums
Potential opportunities to beta test new products before their release
The Products of Sign2Me are revolutionizing the way adults view and interact with preverbal babies. For perhaps the first time in history infants and toddlers are able to express their wants, needs, pains, and observations in a frustration-free manner that is clearly understood by their adult allies. Recent research coupled with the observations of childcare professionals is confirming that using ASL signs with young children offers a host of significant benefits to any early education program, including:
- Builds a common foundation for third most popular language in the United States
- Reduces noise levels in your classrooms
- Minimizes stress and frustration for both your children and your staff
- Significantly reduces aggressive behavior, including a great impact on biting problems
- Demonstrates the fact that your childcare facility actively participates in each child's development
- Accelerates development of verbal language
- Improves integration amongst diverse populations
Incorporating signs into your program does not require learning all of American Sign Language. Educators use simple signs, ASL vocabulary, while they speak to their children. They sign "EAT" when it's snack time or lunch time. They sign "MORE" before giving more.
Typically, the educator introduces single signs while speaking an entire phrase. For example, while asking "Do you need help?" she might only sign "HELP". By reinforcing key spoken words with signs, educators provide children with messages both aurally and visually, helping to focus a child's attention while strengthening that child's understanding of the words and concepts. This helps preverbal infants and toddlers discover the meaning of these words sooner while simultaneously giving then a modality to express their needs, desires and observations. This can happen long before they develop the fine motor skills required for verbal speech.
Preschoolers and kindergartners get a fun multimodality experience that has been scientifically proven to grow their spoken vocabularies (see supporting research). Children with special needs gain a means of expressing themselves and connecting with their care-giving adults as well as with typically developing children familiar with ASL signs. Moreover, all children exposed to signs are building a foundation for a second language, American Sign Language, the third most used language in the United States.
"We have signed with the children in our child development center for years. They are using the signs regularly and it is very rewarding and exciting to see them effectively communicate with us. New staff members are excited about the many benefits that signing can offer and eager to learn this method of communication. One of the benefits is that the children in our childcare center are less frustrated because they can 'tell' us what they want. Their parents are frequently amazed and very excited about this process. Most of them use the signs at home as well. I wish that I would have known about signing with babies when my four year old was an infant."
-Casandra Hulse - Lead teacher of the infant program in a Childcare Facility, Alaska
The Sign2Me Northlight Childcare Advantage Program was designed and developed for childcare centers that recognize the significant benefits obtained by incorporating an American Sign Language program for hearing children into their regular curricula. Sign2Me NCAP provides the resources, tools and support to facilitate a quality signing program utilizing the products and services of Sign2Me.
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