Ken and Georgia Frawley

Ken Frawley graduated from California State University Fullerton with a bachelor's degree in liberal studies, intending to become an elementary school teacher. Instead, he began to perform, often with his wife, Georgia, at children's and family concerts at schools, libraries, and community events throughout Southern California. He has written over 200 children's songs used around the country and is an award-winning producer of video products for children. He has taught thousands of parents and teachers across the country how to incorporate singing and signing into the lives of children, from birth to elementary school. He has performed his play-along and signing songs with hundreds of thousands of children for many years. In addition, he coproduced the multiple award-winning Say, Sing and Sign video and the WE Sign DVD series.

He and Georgia experienced the benefits of signing with their own children in the 1980s. They used sign not only to enhance communication, but as part of songs and games that provided for fun family interaction while supporting early learning of educational concepts. They later included signing activities in their children's concerts and shows. From these experiences they developed programs for using sign with all hearing children from babies to elementary school ages and have taught their concepts and techniques to parents and educators across the country.

Georgia Frawley, MA, began working as a dorm counselor at the California School for the Deaf in Riverside, California, while she was finishing her teaching credential in physical education and home economics from California State Polytechnic University Pomona. By the end of her first day of work, the children had taught her over 30 signs.

When she married Ken and they had a daughter, Coreen, signing with her was second nature to Georgia. As she talked, Georgia also signed the same words she had learned to use with the children from the School for the Deaf. It seemed to her that she was supporting language growth by making words visual for her young child.

She has been teaching Child Development, Parenting and Marriage and Family classes for over 30 years. While developing and running her on-campus day-care center, she received a Masters degree in counseling, which she used to help the young parents at her high school. She has taught thousands of students and parents about the benefits of sign language and how to use signing effectively with young children.

About Production Associates

Production Associates has become a leader in producing quality educational video products for children from birth through elementary school. Since the early 1990s it has developed audio and video titles that have been sold across the United States. Its projects have included pilots for television, including a Russian language children's show, children's exercise videos, and phonemic awareness products. Hundreds of the songs it has produced for children are available on iTunes. It also has the largest collection of DVD signing products featuring American Sign Language for the widest age range of hearing children available in America.

For over 15 years, the products developed by Production Associates have been highly acclaimed by parents, teachers, caregivers, and other early childhood professionals. The company has received over 50 national awards for its children's and family products.

Production Associates' first collection of sign language products was called Say, Sing and Sign, later to become the We Sign series, and is widely used across the country. Each product and every song has been selected to support communication, learning and language development, enhance vocabulary, and, above all, provide adults and children with fun, playful, and educational activities.

The We Sign series has always featured American Sign Language. ASL is one of the most common languages in the country, and because of its movement and visual nature, it provides a wonderful way for children to be involved in their learning. We Sign uses an official language rather than made-up signs or gestures because ASL offers the structure and vocabulary of a language, and hearing children receive many benefits through the use of signing.

Production Associates has sought not only to create a greater awareness regarding the use of signing with hearing children but also to develop signing activities that engage children. One of its goals has been to produce television products that create doers, not just viewers. The We Sign series encourages children to follow along, sing along, and sign along. Another goal is to promote signing to parents, teachers, and caregivers as a way to create playful learning and bonding interaction.

Now with the addition of the Sign to Speak books to the We Sign family, Production Associates is seeking to help parents, teachers, and other adults to become more proficient with signing, as well as to become educated about the science behind signing success. All these efforts are geared toward allowing children to get a "Jump Start on Smart," get them started in school with a language-rich foundation that will help them succeed, increase their learning confidence, and develop an interest in learning that will last a lifetime.