American Sign Language Classes Online

Homeschool Connections is very happy to announce that we will offer American Sign Language as a live, interactive course again for the 2016/2017 school year.

To enroll click here: HSC Registration Page

American Sign Language (ASL) I, Part One
This is Part One of a two-part (full-year) course covering a year's worth of content for beginning ASL, presented over eight weeks in the Fall Semester and eight weeks in the Spring Semester. Students are expected to register for Part Two in the fall.
Class Dates: Mondays, September 26 to November 28, 2016. No classes Oct. 31 and Nov. 21.
Total classes: 8
Starting time: 11:00 AM Eastern (10:00 Central; 9:00 Mountain; 8:00 Pacific)
Duration: 1 hour
Prerequisite: None
Suggested grade level: 6th to 12th grade
Suggested credit: 2/3 semester ASL or Foreign Language. Note: ASL meets many states’ requirements for foreign language.
Fee: $120 if you register on or before July 15, 2016; $130.00 after July 15, 2016, for all 8 classes.
Instructor: Dr. Kerrie Berends, PhD
Weekly Outline:
Class 1: Fingerspelling and Greetings
Class 2: The Family and Deaf History
Class 3: Around the House and Deaf Culture
Class 4: Numbers and Time
Class 5: Questions
Class 6: Building Vocabulary: Nouns
Class 7: Building Vocabulary: Verbs
Class 8: Conversations
Course description: This course is a first year American Sign Language (ASL) course for those who would like a strong foundation in learning to communicate with American Sign Language. Students will learn and practice fingerspelling and identify and sign words used in everyday life, including the following: the special structure of sentences in ASL; asking questions, the role of expression (non manual markers) in communication; the foundations of ASL’s history; Deaf culture; words, phrases, and sentences; classifiers, mouth morphemes, and quantifiers; and identifying and signing words used in everyday life, with practice conversations.
Course materials: Everything is provided free online, by the instructor. Students must have a working webcam.
Homework: Weekly practice of the signs and conversations covered in the course and watching online videos of signing (one to three hours), and occasional quizzes with the system and “live” in class.

American Sign Language (ASL) I, Part Two
This is Part Two of a two-part course. Students are welcome to join us midyear if they have the equivalent of the prerequisite.
Class dates: Mondays, January 9 to March 6. No class on Jan. 23 for the March for Life.
Total classes: 8
Starting time: 11:00 AM Eastern (10:00 Central; 9:00 Mountain; 8:00 Pacific)
Duration: 1 hour
Prerequisite: American Sign Language (ASL) I, Part One or equivilant
Suggested grade level: 6th to 12th grade
Suggested credit: 2/3 semester ASL or Foreign Language. Note: ASL meets many states’ requirements for foreign language.
Fee: $120 if you enroll on or before July 15, 2016; $130.00 after July 15, 2016, for all 8 classes.
Instructor: Dr. Kerrie Berends, PhD
Course description: This course is a first year American Sign Language (ASL) course for those who would like a strong foundation in learning to communicate with American Sign Language. Students will learn and practice fingerspelling and identify and sign words used in everyday life, including the following: the special structure of sentences in ASL; asking questions, the role of expression (non manual markers) in communication; the foundations of ASL’s history; Deaf culture; words, phrases, and sentences; classifiers, mouth morphemes, and quantifiers; and identifying and signing words used in everyday life, with practice conversations.
Weekly outline:
Class 9: Learning classifiers
Class 10: Classifiers in conversation
Class 11: Learning mouth morphemes
Class 12: Quantifiers: more or less?
Class 13: Questions and feelings
Class 14: Building Vocabulary: Nouns
Class 15: Building Vocabulary: Verbs
Class 16: Conversations
Course materials: Everything is provided free online, by the instructor. Students must have a working webcam.
Homework: Weekly practice of the signs and conversations covered in the course and watching online videos of signing (one to three hours), and occasional quizzes with the system and “live” in class.

Instructor biography: Kerrie Berends, PhD, has worked in the health and wellness field for over 25 years and has extensive education and experience teaching individuals with disabilities. Kerrie holds a Masters and Doctorate in adapted physical activity and is a Certified Adapted Physical Educator and Certified Therapeutic Horseback Riding Instructor (PATH), as well. Kerrie uses ASL professionally, and has taught deaf preschoolers in the Head Start program in Texas and traveled twice to the Jamaica Deaf Village for mission work. She is passionate about education, has home educated her three children for 14 years, and has worked in online higher education since 2008. Kerrie lives with her husband and children in Michigan.