All My Smart Hands Classes in Oakville/Mississauga are taught
by Debbie Fazio.
For classes in different cities go to www.mysmarthands.com
For more info on our Mississauga and Oakville classes email debbie@preciousmomentsbabeez.com
What is Infant Sign Language?
Baby sign language is a tool of communication that you can give to your preverbal baby. Babies begin to gesture at a fairly early age; putting their hands in the air to be picked up, pointing at things they want etc. They quickly learn that these movements will elicit a reaction from his/her parents. Taking that natural gesturing to the next level, parents have started to teach their children specific signs that they can use to communicate their needs. Most people use signs taken from a real sign language such as ASL in North America. By using ASL signs with babies you are not teaching them the actual language, you are simply using the exact sign for the exact English word.
Baby sign language is a tool of communication that you can give to your preverbal baby. Babies begin to gesture at a fairly early age; putting their hands in the air to be picked up, pointing at things they want etc. They quickly learn that these movements will elicit a reaction from his/her parents. Taking that natural gesturing to the next level, parents have started to teach their children specific signs that they can use to communicate their needs. Most people use signs taken from a real sign language such as ASL in North America. By using ASL signs with babies you are not teaching them the actual language, you are simply using the exact sign for the exact English word.
Graciously sent to us from mom Sabrina.
Have a look at Gabe's great signing skills! He's learning!!
Have a look at Gabe's great signing skills! He's learning!!
When should I begin Infant sign language?
Most experts in the field once suggested waiting until around six months of age but that is more a suggestion for the parent’s sake than the babies. Generally babies don’t start signing back until 6-11 months of age. Some do start signing sooner but they are rarer cases. If a parent starts signing at 2 months and the baby doesn’t start signing back until 6 months that is four months of signing with no reward back. Some parents will simply give up if it doesn’t work within weeks or months. However, if a parent starts signing when their child is 6 months old and the baby signs back within a month then they feel more rewarded and continue to sign with their child.
What are the benefits of Infant Sign Language?
The main advantage that appeals to everyone is the lack of frustration your baby will experience if they are able to communicate his/her needs to you. This, obviously, leads to less frustration on the parents’ part as well, not having to play a guessing game with their baby.
There are other benefits to signing with babies. Generally, the first words babies tend to speak are the words they already know the signs for. This is partly because we repeat those words more than other words as we are reinforcing the sign. We tend so spend more time with our babies when we are reading stories and playing games simply because, again, we are repeating words more to reinforce the sign, therefore taking longer to get through an activity. For example, when you read a book you may say a word once or maybe twice if you ask the child to point to the picture of the word. However, when you are signing with the child you may repeat the word 5 or 6 times. You may say something like, “bear, do you see the bear? Do you know the sign for bear? This is the sign bear. Can you make the sign for ‘bear’? Let me help you make the sign ‘bear’.” In this example you’ve said the word ‘bear’ six times while you are trying to teach the sign
Another advantage is that signing babies tend to have high self-esteems as a result of being secure in their environments. If a child can easily communicate their needs to you then they are going to feel a sense of security. They want something, they can tell you what they want, and you can quickly and easily fulfill his/her needs. If a baby has no way to communicate their wants to you then it will take you longer to figure out what he/she wants which may make everyone a little frustrated in the meantime.
There are also the educational advantages that signing brings to a child as they get a little older. Signing babies tend to have larger vocabularies once they start talking because they’ve been able to use more advanced language and are often asked more elaborate questions because their comprehension is clear to the parent.
Most experts in the field once suggested waiting until around six months of age but that is more a suggestion for the parent’s sake than the babies. Generally babies don’t start signing back until 6-11 months of age. Some do start signing sooner but they are rarer cases. If a parent starts signing at 2 months and the baby doesn’t start signing back until 6 months that is four months of signing with no reward back. Some parents will simply give up if it doesn’t work within weeks or months. However, if a parent starts signing when their child is 6 months old and the baby signs back within a month then they feel more rewarded and continue to sign with their child.
What are the benefits of Infant Sign Language?
The main advantage that appeals to everyone is the lack of frustration your baby will experience if they are able to communicate his/her needs to you. This, obviously, leads to less frustration on the parents’ part as well, not having to play a guessing game with their baby.
There are other benefits to signing with babies. Generally, the first words babies tend to speak are the words they already know the signs for. This is partly because we repeat those words more than other words as we are reinforcing the sign. We tend so spend more time with our babies when we are reading stories and playing games simply because, again, we are repeating words more to reinforce the sign, therefore taking longer to get through an activity. For example, when you read a book you may say a word once or maybe twice if you ask the child to point to the picture of the word. However, when you are signing with the child you may repeat the word 5 or 6 times. You may say something like, “bear, do you see the bear? Do you know the sign for bear? This is the sign bear. Can you make the sign for ‘bear’? Let me help you make the sign ‘bear’.” In this example you’ve said the word ‘bear’ six times while you are trying to teach the sign
Another advantage is that signing babies tend to have high self-esteems as a result of being secure in their environments. If a child can easily communicate their needs to you then they are going to feel a sense of security. They want something, they can tell you what they want, and you can quickly and easily fulfill his/her needs. If a baby has no way to communicate their wants to you then it will take you longer to figure out what he/she wants which may make everyone a little frustrated in the meantime.
There are also the educational advantages that signing brings to a child as they get a little older. Signing babies tend to have larger vocabularies once they start talking because they’ve been able to use more advanced language and are often asked more elaborate questions because their comprehension is clear to the parent.
