Teach Your Baby Sign Language
May 19th, 2008 by Alison
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Do you wish you could better communicate with your baby or toddler? Why not teach her sign language? You can start as early as seven months, and it's never too late to start. To teach your baby to sign, simply use the sign each time you say the word during normal conversation with your baby.
Repetition is key, don't be discouraged if your baby doesn't pick it up right away. Start with just a few, "eat", "drink", "milk", and "more" are common ones to start with. Here's a link to a nice printable chart with common baby signs, but it isn't necessary to use these, feel free to make up your own if you find something that works better for you and your baby.
I have heard wonderful things about the Signing Time DVD series, though I've never seen them myself.
Worried that by teaching your baby to sign will keep him from starting to talk? Studies say you shouldn't and that it may actually boost verbal skills for some children. I had great luck teaching my oldest a few signs and I've recently started signing with my 11 month old.
What are your tips for signing with baby?
photo from signbabies.com
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May 19th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Our family has been Signing Time fans for about 5 years now! We own them all and they have been absolutely instrumental in my 3 kids lives..I can't rave enough about how wonderful these DVDs are for teaching sign language. The benefits of a child knowing sign language are mind boggling! I highly recommend looking into these DVDs at http://www.signingtime.com. Also, check your local PBS listings as Signing Time comes on many PBS stations across the country.
May 19th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
We are also a Signing Time family! I first learned about Signing Time from other triplet parents. I started using sign language with my boys at the age of one. I wish I had started earlier! My boys knew their alphabet (upper and lowercase) at the age of two. It helped their verbal skills as well.
I have known a lot of babies to start signing anywhere from 6-9 months old (milk is usually the first sign). You can also find Baby Signing Time DVDs at the website, too!
May 20th, 2008 at 5:55 am
I cannot say enough good things about the Baby Signing Time DVD's - they have worked with both of our girls and we loved being able to communicate with them way before the verbal skills emerged!
May 20th, 2008 at 6:25 am
My 2 1/2 year old was VERY behind on the talking by his 2nd birthday. I found the Signing Time DVD at the library and figured I'd try it, I had already taught him 4 signs (more,cup, eat,cookie- they were the only ones I could remember) so I was hoping he would pick up more and be less frustrated all the time. Imagine my surprise when, after watching Vol. 3 about 4 times over 2 days, he was signing things like cheese, hungry, ice cream, candy, apple and banana. The best part? My previously grunting child was saying the words WITH the signs.
He's still behind on the talking but he can communicate better and he tries to say the words more often than not. We now have Vol 1,2,3 & 5 and he loves them all.
Christina
May 20th, 2008 at 7:22 am
I also have to jump in here with praise for Signing Time. Our family has enjoyed watching the videos and learning the signs.
May 20th, 2008 at 8:40 am
More signing time fans here. Our little guy has developmental issues due to seizures. He's nearly 3 but only uses about 5-7 words. We watched Signing Time and chose the words we felt were most important for him to learn. The best thing is that his 4 year old brother loves to watch them and is teaching new signs to his brother. We were able to borrow the dvd's from the early intervention dept of the school system. But I'm planning on buy them in the future. I think they would be beneficial for any child or parent.
May 20th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
I love the Signing Time videos! They helped our family through the communication frustration after our son was diagnosed with Apraxia of Speech, at age 4.
Now, at age 8, signing (with verbal approximation) is his main source of communication. I wish we would have started using Sign Language sooner.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
We are huge Signing Time fans too! We have 2 girls, ages 5 and 2 1/2, both are hearing with no developmental delays and have found that teaching ASL has been a great way to improve their communication skills, develop vocabulary, and serve as a bridge to learning to read! It is amazing, and the DVDs are ones that are enjoyable over and over again! The songs are great, and the approach through music, graphics, video are a great educational tool! We highly recommend all volumes beginning with the Baby Signing Time series and the first volumes for learning first signs such as 'eat' 'more' 'please' 'thank you' 'share', etc to the more advanced ones that teach the alphabet, animals, colors, sports, and other common terms and phrases! http://www.signingtime.com.