Joannie Buffo, of Pleasant Hills, brought her 11-month-old, Ella. One perk of learning sign, Mrs. Buffo said, is "when we go out, I can sign and I don't have to yell."

Such well known children's tunes as "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" had the children, age 18 months to 3 years, happily singing, dancing and, to the delight of their parents and Shawna Shannon, a speech therapist who runs the class, using sign language to communicate. "Twinkle," for example, can be signed by holding hands palms out and shaking them side to side.

Some mothers put their child's hand in their own to help the child learn signs for words, such as "cheese," which is signed by holding hands horizontally and rubbing the heel of the palms against each other.

"I have a child who is experiencing some delays in speech and these signs are helping him," said Julie Betz, of Brentwood. "I love putting the signs to song."

Some other signs the little ones learned included:

- Opening and closing the hand as if milking a cow, for "milk."

- Using thumb and index finger to imitate a bird's beak and opening and closing it twice, for "bird."

- Using the hand to make a circle on your chest, for "please."

"There are similar programs for toddlers and up," said Dolores Colarosa, head of children's services at the Brentwood library. "But this one is for babies, too. That's what drew me to it. We had it last year for two weeks and we thought mothers could get more out of it, so we asked Shawna back to do a four-week program." Ms. Colarosa said.

More than 40 usually attend.

"It's awesome. We need more programs like this at libraries," Ms. Colarosa said.

There are various reasons that parents want their children to study sign language, including communicating with their children before the little ones learn to talk, and stopping the frustration children sometimes feel when they cannot make themselves understood.

Most of the signs are derived from American Sign Language, and while there are specific ways to make each sign, it's fine if a child modifies it to make himself understood.

The classes don't delay verbal skills, but promote them, Mrs. Shannon said.

She has worked as a speech therapist for the Early Learning Institute in Whitehall since 1995. She has done similar programs at the libraries in Whitehall and Mt. Lebanon and is planning one for the Upper St. Clair library.

The children usually drop the sign language as they grow older and speech comes more easily, Mrs. Shannon said.

"I really enjoy myself. I hope they do, too."

By Al Lowe
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06019/640090.stm