Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Sign Language for babies and toddlers=Good Communication

It seems signing with babies and toddlers has become a new fad, but it's actually been around for years. Until your child is able to communicate verbally, signing is a blessing.
Frustration in babies and toddlers is most often caused by a lack of being understood.
Signing allows you and your child to communicate and trust that you both understand each other.

Learning the basic signs to communicate with your child is easy.
I simply went online. And you don't even have to use the "proper" sign-make one up if it suits you better. The teaching process is no more difficult than teaching your child to wave bye bye or blow a kiss.

I started using sign language with my daughter at around 6 months. She picked it up rather quickly. Within a month, she was signing for milk, more, finished, and bath. By the time she was walking, she was even signing please and thank you. At 3 1/2, she still remembers her signs and has learned more from such shows as Sesame Street and Blues Clues. I've been teaching my son to sign since he was about 7 months. He's a year now and is able to sign for milk, more and finished. Every child will be on their own schedule.
For more info, I found this great signing baby website. It has lots of links you'll need to get started.

3 comments:

Cory said...

I think this is a great concept. My little nephew learned basic signs. I thought it may delay his verbal skills, but now he says the word as he makes the sign. It's so much fun to watch them develop.

Kelley said...

Yah, from what I've read signing isn't supposed to delay verbal skills. It is amazing to watch them develop-truly amazing.

Word verification fsxvlcjz-I think my son babbled that yesterday

A. Gator said...

I was wondering about that too - good to know it doesn't. I wonder if Meet The Fockers made the fad even more popular. I think we might try it with little Jake. :)