Tiffany Harkleroad, youth services librarian at the Butler Area Public Library, prerecords each story-time session by singing and using sign language to the song, “Hello Friend.” The library will post stories narrated by Harkleroad on the library's Facebook page during the next six weeks.

Tiffany Harkleroad begins each of her virtual story times on the Butler Area Public Library's Facebook page the exact same way: by singing a “hello” song.

Lyrically, the song is fairly simple and goes like this: “Hello friends, hello friends, hello friends, it's time to say hello.”

While singing, however, Harkleroad also signs along with the words, using American Sign Language. She salutes for “hello,” interlocks her index fingers for “friend,” taps her wrist for “time” and points to her mouth for “say.”

In her four years as the youth services librarian at the Butler Area Public Library, Harkleroad said she has always sung a “hello” song to begin story time but just started incorporating sign language when she had to move online during the pandemic.Harkleroad said she started doing sign language as a way to keep the story times interactive for the children when they watch online.“ASL is another way to work on literacy skills with the children,” Harkleroad said. “It's a supplementary tool in speech and language.”Harkleroad prerecords the story times, originally from her attic at home, but now back in the library, and posts two on the library's Facebook page each week: one for toddlers on Tuesdays and another for preschoolers on Thursdays.Harkleroad said ASL started being used in youth education in the late 1990s and early 2000s when educational theory started to change.“ASL is a skill that can be continually used later on in life,” Harkleroad said. “There's a benefit in general, even in children with typical hearing abilities.”Learning varies from child to child, according to Harkleroad. For some, learning sign language helps them to express themselves when they might not know what words to use.For others, it can even help them to develop their verbal communication skills. Overall, Harkleroad said the children pick it up pretty quickly.“I have found that a child will come to story time and not know any signs, and after a few (story times) they'll be able to anticipate what I'm going to do,” she said.

Just around the corner at the Covenant United Presbyterian Church, Samantha Drohan also uses sign language when teaching young children, incorporating ASL into her Kindermusik classes. Kindermusik is an enrichment program for young children that teaches by stimulating multiple senses.“Our focus is on all areas of development,” Drohan said. “Music is the catalyst for all of it.”Drohan started teaching Kindermusik classes in Butler in 2003 after taking the class with her oldest child. She opened a second location in the Heritage Square Professional Building in Adams Township in 2018. She teaches sign language at all levels of her Kindermusik classes, even to pre-verbal babies.“It's an added level of learning into all of our classes,” Drohan said. “Babies don't have the muscle development in their mouths to express themselves with words and end up getting frustrated. With sign language, they learn another avenue to communicate.”

Drohan explained that there are two kinds of language: receptive, or our ability to understand meaning, and expressive, our ability to convey meaning. Children of all ages have receptive language, but do not always have many ways to express themselves.A popular sign that Drohan teaches children and their parents is the sign for “stop,” accomplished by holding your left hand flat and bringing your right hand down on it in a karate-chop motion. Drohan said even a simple sign like that gives children a way to express themselves and gives parents a communication tool to use at home.“Toddlers experience great highs and great lows (emotionally),” Drohan said. “Using sign language can help them to manage their feelings and relationships, and develop empathy.”Drohan's classes are 45 minutes, once per week. A Kindermusik course would typically be the length of the school year, but Drohan has started teaching 10-week courses during the pandemic.More information about Kindermusik and how to sign up for classes can be found at www.kindermusikwithsamantha.com or on Facebook at Kindermusik with Samantha Drohan.Harkleroad's virtual story times can be found on the Butler Area Public Library's Facebook page, @ButlerAreaPublicLibrary.

Tiffany Harkleroad, youth services librarian at the Butler Library, prerecords each story-time session by singing and using sign language to the song, “Hello Friend.” The library will post stories narrated by Harkleroad on the library's Facebook page during the next six weeks.

Tiffany Harkleroad, youth services librarian at the Butler Library, prerecords each story-time session by singing and using sign language to the song, “Hello Friend.” The library will post stories narrated by Harkleroad on the library's Facebook page during the next six weeks.

From left, Annie Pitschman of Butler holds her 3-year-old daughter, Jacey, while Courtney Uhl of Butler holds her daughter, Sawyer, 2. Debbie Macadaeg of Cabot holds her granddaughter, Madelyn Moorhead, 2, of Butler during a Kindermusik class at Covenant United Presbyterian Church.

At right, Instructor Samantha Drohan uses sign language as part of a Kindermusik class at Covenant United Presbyterian Church.

Above, Debbie Macadaeg, of Cabot, plays Wednesday with her granddaughter, Madelyn Moorhead, 2, of Butler, during a Kindermusik class at Covenant United Presbyterian Church. At right, instructor Samantha Drohan uses sign language as part of the class.