Our logo at Baby Fingers was initially designed with help from our founder’s mom. It was re-designed this year with help from one of our friends, Sal Sanchez, who is a Deaf artist. The blocks represent three primary components of our programs: Music, People, Language. The people part always means developing relationships with those whom we provide a service. For many of our students and clients, the people part also means family connections and parent-child bonding. Additionally, for us it means collaborations with the Deaf community. And with most of our programs, language support includes ASL.
At Baby Fingers, our students of all ages are hearing and Deaf. Music is an essential component of our program, providing natural repetition, ease of focus, memory aid, rhythmic support, vocal exploration, and overall joy!
Music provides a multi-modal approach to learning.
It is highly motivating, yet it can simultaneously have a calming and relaxing effect providing a sense of safety. Music can support transitions, aid in memory, strengthen self-esteem and foster relationships. The brain processes music through both hemispheres, heightening the opportunity for learning, communicating, and growing through play.
Parent-Child relationships are the key to healthy development. At Baby Fingers, we believe that engaging together in music and ASL will help to foster that bond.
A secure attachment fosters trust in you, so baby can feel safe with you, communicate their feelings to you, and eventually trust others. As you and baby connect, your baby develops a sense of self and experiences a loving, empathetic relationship. Secure attachment facilitates growth in the parts of your baby’s brain responsible for social and emotional development and communication. Qualities that you may take for granted in adult relationships—like empathy, understanding, love, and the ability to be responsive to others—are first learned in infancy. Nature has programmed parents and their infants to have a “falling in love” experience through secure attachment. The bonding process releases endorphins in your body (so does singing!) that motivate you, give you energy, and foster feelings of joy.
Myths surrounding the use of ASL create barriers between the Deaf and hearing communities and in successful education practices for children who are Deaf, have progressive hearing loss, speech disorders, and language delays. In addition, it is not understood that many Deaf children CAN enjoy and benefit from involvement with music.
Baby Fingers aims to provide accessible language for Deaf and hearing children and their families through music and sign language.
We offer programs that include ASL to jumpstart language acquisition, to provide accessible language and an outlet for self-expression when or if speech is not accessible, to offer 2nd language learning at any age. Our curriculum is rooted in real language and culture, supported by research and evidence based practice. We help lay the foundation for expressive and receptive language, fostering bilingualism, literacy and self-expression,supporting cultural identity.
More support for sign language in overall education for all, check this out.