KOINONIA KIDS SIGN LANGUAGE

TUTORED BY

Jessica Kooiman	jkooiman@earthlink.net
7994 Jericho Ave NE	866-6427
Rockford MI 49341

ABOUT THE TUTOR

I live with my sister, Rachel, and parents, Dave & Donna, in Rockford.  Over the past few years, I have been teaching small homeschool groups sign language and look forward to teaching at Koinonia.  I like playing/teaching piano, singing, sewing, cooking, volunteering at Bishop Hills Retirement Home and serving Jesus as I walk with Him through my everyday life.  Through my teaching I hope to share His light with others and encourage them to use their talents for Him.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SIGN LANGUAGE

I am a homeschooled graduate and am dedicating my career to the education of children mainly in sign language and piano. My sign language teacher was deaf and through her and the classes I took, I have developed a real passion for spreading the word about the opportunities available for those who learn sign language to communicate with deaf people. An article from Lifetime Books by Carol Singleton shares, "I believe sign language is a good language to learn. I can imagine few things more isolating than deafness and have felt helpless in making the deaf mother of a new girl in our church's vacation Bible school fell welcome. We could chat with the other mothers, but not with her. Her daughter felt the burden of always being translator.

Not only is sign language a valuable tool to learn to minister to the deaf, it is also an invaluable tool to enable one to work with people with Down’s Syndrome, speech-language disabilities, some mental retardation disabilities, and as an aid in expressing worship. Another bonus is that sign language is now recognized as a foreign language credit for high school and college requirements.”*

Sign language is also great to know when trying to communicate with an elderly person who is hard-of-hearing and who will not use their hearing aids. I am currently working with a retirement home that wants to teach their residents and staff some sign language to better bridge the gap of not being able to hear.

For these reasons and more, I think sign language is a wonderful language to learn. You will be greatly rewarded for your efforts when you can use the talent of signing to help someone “hear” again.

ABOUT THE FEES

Materials Fees:
I have asked that every student buy the Bravo ASL! Student Workbook, which costs $35.00. We will be using it in class a lot. This is a great resource for the students to have when they are studying at home. It has a picture dictionary in the back and helpful notes about the things we will be covering in class (this will help the parents better understand what their child(ren) are learning). For more information about ASL products and the deaf culture visit http://www.harriscomm.com/catalog/default.php?cPath=1192

The $5 material fee will cover the cost of copying the tests we will be regularly taking (for the benefit of both the student and parents).

*Farewell, Bob and Tina. The Always Incomplete Resource Guide & Catalog. Lake Wales : Lifetime Books & Gifts, 1997. Page 156.