2010 February | Babies-Sign-Language

Teaching babies sign language?

February 17, 2010 - 8:17 am 14 Comments

I was wondering whats everyones opinions on teaching babies sign language, I don’t have children yet but I ‘speak’ sign language fluently and plan on teaching my kids as well, so whats your say on it? good? bad? neither? too lazy? lol

Well, it is completely untrue that learning sign language will make them speak later. It actually makes them speak earlier.
It’s like saying you shouldn’t let a baby crawl, because then he’ll walk later. Once they learn to speak the word, they will do so instead of using the sign.
I started teaching my son when he was an infant, and he started using signs at about 6 months old. Don’t expect them to start signing out entire sentences; the whole point of baby signs is to give them a way to communicate their basic needs and single thoughts. For instance, my son had a sign for dog that he would use every time he saw a dog. However, he wouldn’t sign out, “There’s a brown dog outside by the tree.” You can’t expect that from a little one.
I really think it helps young children develop speech and language skills. My son could use countless signs and well over 20 spoken words before he turned a year old. I credit this, in part, to the fact that he learned sign language.
If you already know ASL, that will help a lot. Just remember that baby signs are different; they’re much simpler. Skip the overpriced Mommy and Me baby signs classes, because they can’t teach you anything that you can’t learn yourself. All I needed was a book that my sister – in – law (who is also a speech therapist) gave me.

Technorati Tags: babies, language, sign, teaching

Does teaching babies to sign before speaking suggest anything about the emergence of human language?

February 17, 2010 - 8:17 am 5 Comments

There is a popular movement which encourages parents to teach their babies to sign as early as possible. Proponents of this movement suggest that babies are able to learn and communicate in sign language well before they are able to communicate using spoken words.

We did sign with my son. At it’s height, he knew and could sign about 40 different signs. Most were ASL, but some were ‘baby-ized” versions or things he made up himself. We started signing to him around 7 months, and he started doing them around 10 months. Soon after that he was picking signs up really quick after he grasped the concept of it, and it’s peak was around 18 months. Once he started speaking well enough we all dropped the signing (about the age of 2), but have retained several of them to communicate in quiet situations or through windows etc. He’s close to three now, and we’re working on the alphabet in sign.
The best part of it was being able to communicate with him so early. He was making basic sentences at 12 months, and it was so amazing to see his thoughts and how his mind worked at 1 year! His frustration levels were extremely low compared to his peers. I would babysit other kids, many who were older, and I was amazed at how unable they were to communicate the simple things my son was (‘I need help’, ‘I want to eat’, ‘I have a hurt tummy’, ‘where’s Mom?’). When he was 10 months old he woke up crying in his crib. Walking in, we saw him doing the drink sign, so, we got him a drink and he went right back to sleep. It made our interaction with him simple and direct. No guessing!
I’ve heard that it makes them speak earlier, but that wasn’t the case with our son. I think he actually spoke a little on the late side. HOWEVER, he has now far surpased everyone in his age/gender group in his vocabulary, sentence structure, conceptualization of ideas, adjectives, verbs, etc.
I am definitely going to teach my future children sign, and include way more signs. It was so beneficial for us I would recommend it to EVERYONE.
The only downfall is that all the care givers should be on the same page. Our son is with us all the time so it worked out great teaching him and interacting with him all the time, and he was occasionally watched by my mom. She didn’t understand all his signs, and had to quickly learn all of them as he did. I made up a list of his signs and how he expressed him for any babysitters to help.
The program we used was a guy named Garcia called “Sign with your Baby”. GET IT! It’s about you, the parent, learning the signs and then teaching them to your kid. DON’T get the one that requires the kid to watch the movies in order to learn. They either don’t watch them, or learn more than the parents and then you still have the same problem of not being able to communicate.

Technorati Tags: babies, language, sign, speaking, teaching

Tags: babies, language, sign, speaking, teaching Posted in Babies Sign Language |

How do you teach babies American Sign Language?

February 17, 2010 - 8:17 am 4 Comments

How old do they have to be?
How do you teach them?

Also, like I mean if they hear?

I have another question that this brings to my mind. How do you teach a deaf baby Sign Language?

Teach deaf baby with sign language just like you teach your hearing baby.
But the baby will not show sign language so clear until 5 years old.
All my kids are not deaf but their first language was American Sign Language, then later speak English.
Just like Asian babies can pick up their foods with chop sticks.
Hope this helps.

Technorati Tags: American Sign Language, ASL, babies, teach

Tags: American Sign Language, ASL, babies, teach Posted in Babies Sign Language |

Baby Sign Language Introduction – My Baby Can Talk

February 3, 2010 - 6:30 am 7 Comments

Sign language gives babies and parents an effective way to communicate at an early age. Babies who use sign language tend to speak sooner with larger vocabularies, show an increase in IQ scores. My Baby Can Talk is a complete early language development program recommended by pediatricians, trusted by parents and loved by babies. Crying is one way that babies can communicate — we offer babies another. This program offers everything a baby needs to jump start communication before a baby can speak.

The My Baby Can Talk series includes the three award winning DVDs that teaches babies and parents to communicate at an early age, reducing frustration and creating a special bond that is so important for healthy child development. Honored with more than twenty prestigious parenting awards, this series teaches babies American Sign Language (ASL) in a format that delights the senses while tapping into a baby’s natural language abilities. Set to inspiring classical music, this program features beautiful real world images, delightful puppet shows, colorful toys in motion and babies communicating with simple gestures. My Baby Can Talk inspires preverbal communication using sign language as well as first spoken words and is the first program featuring preverbal babies signing all the words presented.

Duration : 0:4:29

(more…)

Technorati Tags: baby sign language, first signs baby, first signs DVD, learn baby sign, sign language DVDs

Tags: baby sign language, first signs baby, first signs DVD, learn baby sign, sign language DVDs Posted in Babies Sign Language |

What is the best baby sign language book/program available?

February 3, 2010 - 6:19 am 2 Comments

I’d like to get my wife a book or program or whatnot on baby sign language for Christmas. I’ve taken a couple of ASL courses and would love for us to learn more before our baby comes in April. Any suggestions on the best out there?

I skipped the actual programs and purchased the Signing Time videos (if you aren’t opposed). The videos are great! I know kids under a year who have picked up signs from them. My daughter started watching them around 18 months. At 4, she still enjoys the videos. She picked up signs SO quickly with the videos & reinforcement by us.

We skipped the programs because I didn’t see anything better about them than the videos. Also, some aren’t aren’t actually ASL and we wanted to do actual ASL.

Technorati Tags: baby, best, book, language, program, sign

Tags: baby, best, book, language, program, sign Posted in Babies Sign Language |

Does anyone have any experience with sign language for babies?

February 3, 2010 - 6:19 am 5 Comments

I wanted to teach my son sign language just because I think it would be neat to do and I have the time to do it but he is only 4 months, how old should babies be before you start teaching them? Has anyone done it and have any comments on it? What dvd did you use? Thanks!

I started teaching my grandson sign language at six months. As a sign language interpreter, I did not use tapes of any kind. I started with object and sign such as the sign for milk when I gave him his bottle. Please don’t do this because it would be “neat”. This is a language belonging to a culture and not something for amusement. It seems like you are bored and looking for something to do with your son. Please look for something else to do such as join a mommy and baby group. I involved my grandson in sign language because I was working with deaf children and he would be socializing with the children and I wanted him to be able to communicate with the other children.

Technorati Tags: babies, sign language

Tags: babies, sign language Posted in Babies Sign Language |