ASL 1 Beginner — Little Signers (Ages 4–7) · 45-Week Course
$15 per class or $675 for all 45 classes
ASL 1: 45-Week Beginner American Sign Language Course
Join our 45-week ASL 1 course, designed to help beginner learners build a strong foundation in American Sign Language through a combination of weekly live instruction and self-paced learning materials.
Students meet live once each week for a 30-minute interactive lesson while also receiving access to lesson materials, videos, games, activities, and practice resources they can use between classes.
Students may join at any point during the year. Previous lessons and materials remain available so new learners can catch up at their own pace while jumping right into the current weekly live class.
No prior ASL experience is required.
Throughout the course, students progress from beginner foundations such as the ASL alphabet, fingerspelling, numbers, and everyday vocabulary to short sentences, questions, conversations, storytelling, and basic ASL grammar.
Lessons are taught through clear teacher modeling, visual demonstrations, slides, movement, interactive activities, games, and real-time signing practice. Students are encouraged to participate at their comfort level while gradually building confidence using ASL with others.
Taught by Deaf and CODA instructors, this course goes beyond memorizing individual signs. Students also learn about Deaf culture, facial expressions, signing space, sentence structure, and the visual communication skills that make ASL a complete language.
What Students Will Learn 🤟🏽
- ASL alphabet and fingerspelling
- Numbers and number concepts
- Greetings and introductions
- Family, food, animals, colors, emotions, weather, school, and everyday vocabulary
- WH-questions and Yes/No questions
- Basic ASL grammar and sentence structure
- Facial expressions and non-manual markers
- Signing space and directional movement
- Classifiers and visual descriptions
- Short conversations
- Expressive and receptive signing skills
- Visual storytelling
- Deaf culture and community awareness
Live Class + Self-Paced Practice 💻
Each week may include live ASL instruction, lesson slides, vocabulary review, practice videos, games and activities, optional independent practice, and review materials from previous lessons.
If a student misses a class or joins after the course has already started, they can use the available materials to review and catch up while continuing with the weekly live lessons.
Our Goal 🎯
By the end of ASL 1, students should have a strong beginner foundation and greater confidence understanding and producing ASL. Learners will work toward communicating through simple conversations, asking and answering questions, describing people and objects, and sharing short stories using ASL.
What Your Learner Will Do
- Students will learn and use everyday ASL vocabulary like colors, food, animals, and family signs.
- Students will practice fingerspelling the ASL alphabet and numbers.
- Students will build confidence in using short phrases and questions in American Sign Language.
Prerequisites: No prerequisites required! This class is perfect for beginners with no prior ASL experience.
Syllabus
10 Units · 45 Lessons · over 45 Weeks
Unit 1: ASL ABCs & Hand Signs
Week 1: ASL Alphabet A–J
Learn ASL letters A–J and practice understanding basic hand shapes
Week 2: ASL Letters K–R
Practice letters K–R with fun matching games and activities.
Week 3: ASL Letters S–Z
Finish the ASL alphabet and practice spelling simple words.
Unit 2: Animal Friends
Week 4: Our Pets
Students will learn pet signs
Week 5: Farm Animals
Meet farm animals and learn how to sign them in ASL.
Week 6: Zoo/Wild Animals
Learn signs for zoo animals and pretend to visit a zoo!
Week 7: Pets & Sea Creatures
Discover how to sign pets and sea animals through fun games.
Unit 3: Colors, Shapes & Numbers
Week 8: Color Signs
Learn color signs like red, blue, yellow, green, and purple.
Week 9: Colors All Around Us!
Practice colors by signing toys, clothes, animals, and favorite things.
Week 10: Numbers 1–10
Learn to count from 1–10 with fun games and activities.
Week 11: Numbers 11–30
Practice bigger numbers and learn how to sign your age.
Week 12: Fun Review and Quiz!
Play review games and show what you learned in Units 1–3.
Unit 4: Feelings & Weather ☀️🌧️
Week 13: How Are You Feeling?
Learn signs for feelings like happy, sad, angry, sleepy, and excited.
Week 14: Feelings in Action!
Practice acting out emotions and guessing how others feel using ASL.
Week 15: Weather Signs
Learn weather signs like sunny, rainy, cloudy, snowy, and windy.
Week 16: Fun Review Games!
Play exciting ASL games to review signs from Units 1–6.
Unit 5: Kindness & Family
Week 17: Please & Thank You
Learn polite signs like please, thank you, sorry, and excuse me.
Week 18: Being Kind
Learn signs for sharing, helping, waiting, and being a good friend.
Week 19: Manners Practice
Practice good manners in fun pretend-play games and conversations.
Week 20: My Family
Learn family signs like mom, dad, brother, sister, and baby.
Week 21: Big Family Signs
Learn more family signs like grandma, grandpa, cousin, aunt, and uncle.
Week 22: All About My Family
Use ASL to talk about your family with pictures and simple sentences.
Unit 6: Food & Everyday Sentences & Questions
Week 23: Snacks & Fruit
Sign snacks and fruit like apple, cookie, and banana.
Week 24: Meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner)
Learn food signs for meals like breakfast and dinner.
Week 25: Food Signs Review Game
Play food games to review everything we've learned
Week 26: Common Phrases ("What’s your name?" "How are you?")
Practice signing phrases like “What’s your name?”
Week 27: WH Questions (Who, What, Where)
Use WH questions like who, what, and where in ASL.
Week 28: Creating Short Sentences
Put it all together and practice mini conversations.
Unit 7: ASL Fun & Games
Week 29: ASL Game Time
Play fun sign language games, challenges, and scavenger hunts together.
Week 30: Let’s Practice!
Practice simple ASL conversations with classmates and friends.
Week 31: ASL Show & Tell!
Share favorite signs, toys, animals, or drawings using ASL.
Unit 8: My Friends & Me
Week 32: About Me!
Learn signs for hair, clothes, colors, and favorite things. Fun activity: “Who Am I?” mirror game!
Week 33: My Friends!
Learn simple signs to describe friends and family. Practice signs like funny, nice, tall, short, happy, and silly.
Week 34: Let’s Chat in ASL!
Practice short ASL conversations and fun guessing games together. Students will describe people and guess who it is!
Unit 9: ASL Skills for Kids
Week 35: Classifiers for Kids intro
Discover how classifiers help tell ASL stories.
Week 36: Facial Expressions Mastery
Improve emotional expression and non-manual signals.
Week 37: Sign Challenge
Improve signing fluency with fun sign games and practice.
Week 38: Voice-Off Challenge
Practice immersive voice-off signing activities and games.
Week 39: ASL Conversation Practice
Simple ASL conversations using learned vocabulary.
Week 40: Fun Review Game
Review classroom signs, greetings, manners, and confidence-building games.
Unit 10: Final ASL Project
Week 41: Project Planning Week
Students choose a final project and begin preparing ideas.
Week 42: Project Work Time
Guided class time to practice and create projects.
Week 43: Practice & Rehearsal
Students continue preparing with teacher support and feedback.
Week 44: Final Project Showcase
Students present or share their ASL projects with the class.
Week 45: Celebration & Graduation
End-of-course games, awards, certificates, and celebration day.