Beavercreek News Current 
by Diane Phillips
Thursday, July 19. 2001, Lifestyle Section, page 5.
(Greene County News Service)

BHS graduate produces baby signing video

     Through a twist of fate, Kathy Kronz Faber has found herself writing and producing a video that is far from the news writing and production she trained for at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University.  Faber, a 1985 Beavercreek High School graduate,  just finished making "Baby See 'N Sign," a video that teaches American Sign Language to parents and babies.

     Her interest in sign language was rekindled when she became a mother in 1999.

     She wanted to communicate with her son and knew that babies could "talk" using sign language before they could communicate verbally.  She had previous experience with this when her family tried to learn American Sign Language to communicate with her younger sister Elizabeth, who is Downs Syndrome.

     Unfortunately that was a frustrating experience because the drawings depicting the signs were difficult to decipher, and the family finally gave up.    

     However, Faber knew that the idea was good, so she set out to find material that would help her. But was again she was frustrated because the books she found were one-dimensional, illustrations were difficult to follow, and baby vocabulary was practically non-existent.

     In her search Faber discovered Baby Einstein, created by Julie-Aigner Clark along with Baby Mozart, Baby Bach, Baby Shakespeare and Baby VanGogh.  "She is my inspiration," said Faber.  "You can't prove that these books (videos) raise a child's I.Q., but the exposure can't hurt."  And so the idea was born to create her own "book" (video) for teaching babies how to communicate through sign language.

     Using her training in journalism and her background as a videographer and producer of educational videos for schools, Faber decided to put together a video that would teach adults and children in an entertaining way.  "The video makes learning easy and fun for both parent and child.  It provides 3-dimensional images so one can easily decipher how to make the sign," said Faber.

     Faber worked with Johanna Larson-Muhr, an instructor of American Sign Language at the University of Oregon, who specializes in disorder, placement and communication.  Muhr's parents, who were deaf, taught her how to sign and she shared that "language" with her two hearing children when they were very young.

     Muhr is the sign instructor on the Baby See "N Sign video.

     Parents can begin signing with children as early as 6 or 7 months, and some babies attempt to sign back at 10 months, according to Faber.  "Babies can communicate physically before they can verbally.  Signing allows babies, bother hearing and non-hearing, to express their needs and thoughts before they are able to talk.  This is a huge step towards eliminating frustration and gives babies a means to express themselves," said Faber.

     Signing can be used for children of all ages, hearing, deaf, Down's or autistic.  "New studies indicate children exposed to signing actually score better on intelligence tests and seem to verbalize sooner than non-signing children," added Faber.  "Signing does not hinder speaking, but actually helps to accelerate verbal communication."

     Faber's video is based on American Sign Language because she doesn't feel "made up" gestures should be used.  Faber focuses on seven categories such as food, toys, clothes and animals.  More than 50 iconic signs, which look like the things they are and are universal signs, are repeated three times for ease in learning.  The video is great fun and a good way for parents to spend quality time with their babies.

     Faber, who lives outside Eugene, Ore, with her husband Eric, son and daughter, is in the preliminary stages of marketing the just-completed video.  For more information about "Baby See ‘N Sign", visit Faber's website at www.babyseensign.com.

Sign Language for Babies Catching On                                    
by Diane Phillips "Stirring Things Up" 
Beavercreek News Current
August 2001

     Today's mothers face a challenge past generations rarely considered: to be or not to be a stay-at-home mom.

     Changes in our society have raised questions unasked before.  Do my children really need me full time?  Is my income essential to my family?  Will society value me more if I am out therein the work force?  Isn't it s waste not to use the education and training I struggled so hard to attain?  If I can manage being a full-time mom and employee, why shouldn't I?

     Is there a solution to this dilemma?  Recently I interviewed a young mother who seems to have solved this problem for herself.

     "I finally found my path," said Kathy Kronz Faber, a 1985 Beavercreek High School graduate.

     Kathy was in town visiting her mom and finishing up work on a new video she recently produced called "Baby See 'N Sign" which teaches parents how to use American Sign Language with their babies.

     "I thought I would end up in news, but was disillusioned," said Kathy, who has a degree in journalism from Arizona State University.  While working on her master's, Kathy co-anchored a show for the university, "CNN Week in Review."  That was followed by an internship in Phoenix for KPNX, Channel 12, where she learned that media work is cut-throat, demanding many weekend hours, and not conducive to family life.

     Kathy wanted a family.  She married Eric in 1993 and began working for EMG, Educational Management Group, producing educational videos for schools.  In 1998, they moved to Oregon and in 1999, her son was born, followed by a daughter in 2000.  Another baby is due in February.

     Kathy loves her work and being a mom, and she found a way to do both as a mom-preneur.  "I made the decision that if I had kids, I would stay home.  Moms like me were groomed to go to school and then into business.  I think there's a shift in thinking about that.  I decided to sacrifice the second income and stay home with my babies.  Many of the moms I'm meeting now feel they want to be there to talk to their babies and teach them values and morals.  We want to have family dinners again.  We don't want to dump them in day care."

     But these mothers enjoyed their careers.  Putting her training together with her interest provided the perfect solution for Kathy.  She researched baby signing and decided she could bring it to life using her skills as a videographer and producer.  Much of her work was done at home via the computer.

     Wouldn't it be nice if young mothers had more opportunities to use their job skills while still being able to care for their children? While it is unrealistic to expect all mothers to stay at home, it is also unrealistic to expect children to raise themselves.  The American family is going through a huge transition; let us hope that young moms like Kathy can find ways to keep it from being a thing of the past.

     Here's a recipe from Kathy's mother Laura, that is not only healthy (spinach is good for your eyes), but delicious on a hot summer day.

SPINACH SALAD
Ingredients:

• -1 bag fresh spinach
• -1 can bean sprouts
• -2 hard boiled eggs
• -5 slices bacon, fried or boiled
• -Shred (or chop) ingredients into a a large salad bowl.
• Then add the dressing:
• -1 cup oil
• -è cup white sugar
• -½ cup catsup
• -½ cup vinegar
• -salt to taste
• -1 medium onion chopped
• * You can add fresh sliced mushrooms (shiitake are excellent) too.

Store in refrigerator

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