Before I had kids, I had heard about baby sign. A couple of my friends used it with their little ones. I thought, “That's cool! I'll try that with my kids someday.” But really, it was so much easier, so much more useful, so much cooler than I thought it would be.
I started working with Little Miss on a few basic signs when she was eight months old. I just made the sign as I said the word, then took her hands to have her make the sign, then provided the tangible expression of the sign (food, water, etc.) She started signing back at ten months. Our first signs were all about food: “more,” “all done,” “food,” “water.” As I started to realize how easily she picked up the signs, we got a little bit more complex. At about twelve months, she could sign for “juice” or “milk” in addition to water. She signed “music”, “book”, “bubbles” and “play.” She signed “bird” and “tree.” Now, I thought, I'm hitting my stride. What else would be good? That's when I got in on the game, learning a few sign commands like “sit”, “stand up,” “walk” and “no.” The kids don't actually use these signs, but they respond to them.
Little Man had a leg up when he started signing. His big sis, then sixteen months old, coached her eight month old brother along. One time, I looked over as Little Miss was reaching to share some (approved) food with Little Man. Before giving it to him, she took his hands to make the sign “more,” insisting he make the sign before receiving the reward! Little Man started signing regularly at about nine months. His first un-coached, independent sign--and in my mind his first word--was “bubbles.”
Ok, so it's really cute that the kids can use signs, but it is so much more than that! Think about it...they're communicating with you months before they have proficiency with their voices. You know what they're saying, and even more than that, they know that you understand them. We have avoided so many tantrums just because they know that we know what they're saying. For example, when Little Miss was seventeen months old and Little Man was nine months, we had to take a plane trip. We were delayed at the airport and couldn't get dinner on time. As Phil and I pushed the double stroller double-time trying to reach the food court, we looked down and saw both kids vehemently and repeatedly giving the sign for “food.” No screaming. No tantrums. They were whining in sign language (which, if you have to whine, is the best way).
Of course, signing in no way fixes all tantrum and whining problems, but it at least gets rid of the ones caused by miscommunication. And there are lots of other benefits, too. In crowded and noisy places, I have sometimes had whole conversations with the kiddobeans in sign just because it was so hard to hear each other. In stores and public places where you don't want to yell, my command signs reinforce my controlled voice to help the kids obey. And, the signs reinforce the words as kids start to talk. For a long time, Little Man's main word of choice was “ba.” Because he accompanied the sound with a sign, I knew he was actually trying to say words like “book” and “bird” and not just making noises. And, because ASL (American Sign Language) is standardized, other people can understand the kids, too. The signs aren't a secret code between Mommy and baby.
I have had a few people ask me if Baby Sign delays speech. Not at all! With her first words at only eight months old, Little Miss is one of the earliest and most proficient toddler speakers I have ever heard, and Little Man is keeping up with expectations just fine. In fact, I feel that the signs reinforced the speech. Little kids love learning songs that have actions; learning words is no different. Now that both kids are verbalizing more, they are slowly and naturally dropping the signs.
As I said, Baby Sign was super easy for me to teach. I drew on a few basic signs that I already knew, and asked my Dad (who once studied ASL as a hobby) to help me find a few others. If you are interested, there are books on teaching Baby Sign, but I didn't use one and I don't think that the process is difficult enough to merit a whole book. ASL vocabulary books, sometimes available in the children's section of the library, could be a big help, as can websites like http://www.aslpro.com/, which has a video dictionary with thousands of signs. So give it a try! You and your baby could be talking together before you know it!
Excellent writing! Thank you for emphasizing that Baby Sign Language does not hinder speech. It in fact does the opposite. Our son was also speaking at a very early age. His first sign was at age 5 months old, and his first fingerspelled word was at 9 months old.
Since using baby signing, our son is now 6 years old, just entered the first grade but is already reading at past 3rd grade level. We highly attribute this to his learning signs at such a young age.
Please come visit us at: http://www.babies-and-sign-language.com and feel free to leave another wonderful comment for other parents to freely benefit from.
Thank you again!
Sincerely,
MJ Williams
Posted by: MJ | September 08, 2007 at 11:48 AM