Being with American Sign Language (ASL) 3 Day Course

Suitable for all early learning professionals and parents.

Presenter: Annabella Cant

An Imaginative Education approach to learning ASL and Introducing it to young children.

This workshop series will introduce participants to ASL through the lenses of the theories of Imaginative Education and Unswaddling Pedagogy. Children learn through embodiment, their senses, emotions, rhythms, curiosity, wonder, metaphors, etc. Dr. Annabella Cant, an ASL learner herself, will introduce the language through “cognitive tools” that are very familiar to educators. She will engage the participants holistically, through song, movement, play, emotion, humour, and imagination. The participants will learn important facts about inclusion, about how to stay respectful toward the deaf community, and how to approach this new language in an ethical way.

The workshop series will also approach all the principles of the BC Early Learning Framework.

So, let us enter together this wonderful world of ASL!

Session 1: introduction, theory, history of ASL, communication to parents about learning ASL, alphabet, and numbers.

Session 2: frequently used words with young children, sentence and question formation.

Session 3: ASL through songs, stories, transitions, and games.

Join us 9:00-9:30am for light refreshments!!

Dr. Annabella Cant is a professor in Early Childhood Education at Capilano University. In 2022 Annabella was nominated for the BCTLC West Coast Teaching Excellence award. She has previously received the 2019 Teaching Excellence Award from Capilano University. She is also the initiator and editor-in-chief of the online journal: Childhoods and Pedagogies. Annabella has been practicing ECCE since 1994; in 1999 she started opening her own childcare centres in Europe (her schools were dedicated to children with very diverse backgrounds and abilities). Her newest publication, Unswaddling Pedagogy, is a book for educators and parents. Her new pedagogical lens—the Unswaddling Pedagogy—is inspired and fueled by the stories she has lived.