I'm interested in using sign language with my 9 month old baby but I don't know where to start. Does anyone have any suggestions of books that are very user friendly? I'm primarily looking for 2 things: 1) signs that are geared towards things that you would talk to a baby about (milk, food, sleep, animals, things around the house) & 2) the signs should be easy to figure out if your looking at them on a page. I would also be interested in sign language DVD's. Any help you can offer would be appreciated.
If u want to take your baby to a class, Gymboree has sign language classes for babies and they give u handouts as well.
When I taught my daughter i went online and there were many sites that showed basic signs to teach. I just printed them out and used them.
For DVD's, baby Einstein has several dvd's that incorporate sign language. Good luck!
We loved signing in our house - you are at a perfect age to become familiar with the concept and start using signs. All I did was read the book: Baby Signs: How to Talk with Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk, by Linda Acredolo, Susan Goodwyn, Douglas Abrams....its really quite simple and gives you many signs to try. Between about 1 year and 18 months (when my son's verbal language really took off) we focused on the following: milk, more, please, all done, eat, drink, thank you, help. You can't imagine how helpful it was!! We also did a few other "fun" ones like airplane, book, kitty...I did not find the need to use the DVD I received or take any classes. Seriously, the concept is so easy, just read up about it, start doing it, and be consistent. It may take a while for your baby to catch on, but stick with it.
I must say that even at age 3, if my son wants to be super-charming, he'll sign "please" while saying it...a sure-fire way to get me to give him what he's asking for!
We too have enjoyed using sign language with our now 3.5 year old twins. Signing Time is a wonderful tool for this. http://www.signingtime.com The first 3 volumes of the program introduce many signs that will help you communicate with your baby. There are about 12 volumes in the first series, but you can buy the dvds individually (or check out your library's video section). Plus, they offer board books with easy to follow pictures and explanations. I have a feeling your 3.5 year old would also love them. The songs and signs are fun and easy to follow. Good luck and enjoy!
My son has down syndrome so we were forced to learn sign very fast. The signing times dvds are the very best! Very easy to learn & they keep the kids attention.
Alison,
Anytime someone mentions signing with a baby I need to mention something that I was told by my son's day care teachers. In working with kids day in and day out, they have found that as a general rule, babies who are taught to sign to request the things they want, start talking at a later age than babies who aren't. Obviously, this is not a scientific finding, but seeing how many kids they've seen come and go, I trust their observations. So if you're going to teach your child to sign, I'd suggest only teaching a few signs for the basic necessities (eat, drink, more, all done, diaper) and make sure you also SAY the words as you're singing them...don't just rely on the signs to communicate with her.
Just my two-cents...
Good luck!
~Pam
I highly recommend Signing Time DVD series. You can purchase them on amazon.com for slightly cheaper than on their website. We used signing with our daughter, started at 6 months. We signed, used spoken language and showed her examples and she had a 100 word vocabulary at 14 months! I highly recommend signing - not only does it teach a second language that is useful, it increases language skills (as long as you dont sign in place of the spoken word), cognitive recognition, and improves fine motor skills. I also use sign language as part of the curriculum in my family daycare. Signing Time is one of the childrens favorite time of day and they gt lots of pleasure when they remember a sign throughout the day and use it!
I also agree with the Signing Time series. I used it when my son was little. It helped tremendously when I couldn't understand the things he was saying. My son to this day still uses the sign for sorry while saying sorry. I think that signing can be a valuable way of communicating for young children.
As far as the person commenting on it delaying speech, that is wrong information. Here's a little information about an actual study done on this where they actually found quite the opposite to be true:
Dr. Linda Acredolo and Dr. Susan Goodwyn are the authors of the book Baby Signs: How to Talk with Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk. Acredolo, Goodwyn, and Catherine Brown teamed up on a research paper, "Impact of symbolic gesturing on early language development," that was published in 2000 in the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior.
Summary
The study involved 103 11-month-old hearing babies. The babies were divided between a group learning sign language, and a group that did not learn sign language. By the time the signing babies were two years old, they were talking more than the average two year old. At three years old, the signing babies were talking more than the average three year old. By age eight, the signing babies scored higher on IQ tests than the non signing babies.
My Baby Can Talk is an excellent DVD sign program. My daughter is 14 months and loves to sign. She has been signing since 9 months. It has been good for brain stimulation. I have ordered hers from Amazon.com. The company has there own website. She loves to watch the DVD's. There is a tutorial section for parents. I highly recommend them:)
We use the signing times dvd's. They are great. It is hard to keep my daughter's attention and they are not really t.v. watchers. But they will both sit through the session of signing times. They teach the sign and put the signs into songs to help kids remember. They also have other kids signing and describe it as they sign it. For example-milk. Like you are milking a cow.And they show you. Basically though it is both hands up like you are squeezing something. And the cool thing is I can listen and figure out what most of the signs are without having to watch it. I can still be cleaning up while they are watching it if I want. You can check out more at www.signingtime.com Good luck. And don't be discouraged if you don't think they are getting it right off. I was a bit worried at first but I'm quite sure my 3 year old could now lead her own class teaching sign to kids her age! Feel free to email me if you have anymore questions.
Tiff
www.JaslynParker.com
I love Baby Einstein's dvd. They have My First Signs and they also have one that is like around the house that has signs on it as well. Another good to is www.aslpro.com because they have a children's section and there is a video of someone doing the sign. This is much much easier than trying to learn from a book.
Signing times is also occasionally on PBS early Sunday mornings. If you set your DVR to record this series, it will pick it up when they put it through again in the future. We got the baby signing time series from signing time, and then the regular signing time videos. For specific first words for little kids, I liked the baby signing time version better then the standard signing time videos, it has more songs which aides with learning the signs more. They also have the accompanying CDs so you can listen and practice in the car. My kids sign more words than I do as a result of these series. I also bought books, but found it much harder to interpret than watching on the DVD.
We taught our daughter some sign language as an infant and it was a lifesaver! Not nearly as many tantrums as other children because she was able to communicate with us before she could talk. We have 2 sign language DVDs: Baby Wordsworth by Baby Einstein and Talking Hands (we lost the cover to the DVD so we son't know who makes it). They were both good - the Talking Hands was something that didn't hold our daughter's attention, but I watched it, l;earned the signs and taught her. The Baby Einstein kept her attention more, but had less words to learn. Both were very good.
Good luck!
Take a look at www.babysigns.com She has great information and also has baby signs classes.
Nancy-Nutrition Naturally
www.jp4ahealthieryou.com
"Signing TIME" - what a great set for teaching kids. I attened NTID
Signing Time does have a website and they will send you a catalog....... GOOD LUCK!! and thanks!!! Helpful everyday to have more and more communicate with all of us!!!
Hi, Alison! A great book we used is called "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Baby Sign Language" and is by Diane Ryan. You can see it on the Barnes and Noble site:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?SZE=10&WRD=baby+sign+language&SAT=11
It has pictures/diagrams, and GREAT instructions. It's a wonderful way to communicate with your baby. My son just turned 2, and still uses many of the signs, even though he is quite verbal.
Good luck!
Nina
Isn't it better to teach them to speak first? Signing can be learned by a child that understands "words".
Hi! I have taken a baby sign language class with both my children and then used two videos as reinforcements and extensions to their class learnings.
I enrolled my kids in the Baby Sign Language class offered through Gymboree Play when each was about 12 months old. It is an incredible class and is a wonderful way to spend 45 minutes with your child out of the house! It is quite pricey -- but was worth every penny for us. The class is divided into 6 weeks with about 5 or 6 signs per class (mealtime signs, bathtime signs, bedtime signs, play in the park signs, pet signs). Then after taking the class, my daughter began to learn directly from two Baby Einstein videos: Baby Einstein "My First Signs," and Baby Einstein "Baby Wordsworth -- First Words Around the House." However, I've heard wonderful things about all the other videos mentioned by the other Mamas.
Baby signing has been a rewarding experience for my family. Somehow, it helped to accelerate the child's key initial learning that every object has a corresponding word. They get more and more curious about learning words -- and that's what we all want: children interested in learning! My daughter was the earliest talker within her group of friends (and is still the most advanced). Do not listen to the nay-sayers...trust the research: baby sign language advances language skills (and does not delay talking).
I actually didn't use any books or DVDs I just googled it and found the signs for the basic stuff (more, milk). After that I made them up. it really doesn't matter i they are correct, as long as you and your child kow what they mean. I agree with the person that say that this may dely speech a little, but went they do talk it will be much more complex.
Hi Alison,
I am a mom of 4 and decided to teach my last child sign language. We attended Baby Sign Language classes at Edward Hospital in Naperville that were fun. I also agree with all the other mommas who suggested Signing Time. Our instructor used this series and Santa brought them for Christmas and we requested them as gifts at birthday instead of toys. Not only does my son love it, his 3 older sisters love it too and our whole family has learned it to some degree. My oldest daughter actually found a deaf girl at school that she was able to communicate with to some degree and the girl was delighted! All children are fascinated by this "language." My son learned to sign at 9 months and still uses sign at almost 3. There was no delay in his speech or any other part of his development. It's like teaching 2 languages at once because you speak the word while signing it. It takes patience and commitment just like anything else but we've found it very rewarding. It is amazing to watch a baby tell you that they want milk or they are tired before they can use the spoken word. Good luck!