I was recently asked to speak at BlissDom Canada, a conference for women bloggers, on viral marketing. I was honored to be on an amazing panel with Eric Alper, Jeff Pulver and Alison Kramer. Eric, Jeff, Laura and Alison I was wondering what I was going to tell the audience about viral marketing. I was lucky that my video went viral and my channel became so popular but I didn’t have a magical recipe to share on how I made that happen. Then it hit me… why did I make my videos in the first place? I made them to … Continue reading →

When I taught my daughter how to read I used the ASL alphabet. She was more interested in learning those letters than she was in learning the written ones. When I first started teaching her the ABCs this is the process I used: I started by just singing and signing the ABCs to her. When I saw that she was singing along with me and trying to sign it then I taught her how to identify each letter. This was a long process as you have to really take your time and not push the learning. You need to make … Continue reading →

Please allow me to introduce myself… My name is Laura Berg, I’m the founder of My Smart Hands™. I have an undergraduate degree in Sociology and Child Studies a Master’s of Education and a certificate in ASL and Deaf Studies. My You Tube channel is in the top 40 of all of Canada, my Facebook group is the largest baby signing Facebook group! I have successfully pitch My Smart Hands™ on the CBC’s Dragon’s Den. I am now excited to be a part of the PTPA panel of bloggers! And now a brief interview with PTPA! PTPA: When did you … Continue reading →

Both of my children love babies. My two year old son is fascinated by them. He not only loves real live babies but he loves baby dolls. My daughter saw that my son loves babies and when we were at a playgroup where there were little babies she showed him how to sign baby. He was tickled by this sign. Firstly, it was easy for him to do and he picked it up right away. And secondly, I think he loves the way it feels to make the sign. He does it like he is hugging himself and swaying back … Continue reading →

What are some of the advantages of teaching my child baby sign language? The main advantage that appeals to everyone is the lack of frustration your baby will experience if they are able to communicate his/her needs to you.  This, obviously, leads to less frustration on the parents’ part as well, not having to play a guessing game with their baby.  One story I always share with people is when my daughter was ten months old she was eating Cheerios and signing ‘more’. I’d give her more and she would throw them on the floor and sign ‘more’ again. I … Continue reading →

As parents many of us are often curious about our children’s milestones and if they are on track. I always tell parents to remember that each child develops at different stages. Just because your friend’s baby started talking at nine months doesn’t make your baby a late talker if she doesn’t start until twelve months. Still, I find parents are curious as to the general milestones a baby should be at. I’ve found a great resource from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association that has the important speech milestones to look for in babies. I’ve posted this information in a chart on … Continue reading →

Try to be consistent. The more consistent you are, the faster your baby will learn the sign. If you make the sign every time you say the word, then your baby will quickly realize that the sign and the spoken word are the same thing. Once your baby realizes that a sign can help him get what he wants, then it will be much easier to teach him new signs. Once my daughter understood that everything has a sign, we would only have to make a new sign once and she would pick it up. However, if you aren’t in … Continue reading →