Recently, we wrote an article examining some tips for signing with your baby. In this article, we cover more keys to succeed with baby sign language to ensure you succeed in teaching your child to sign.

Pay Attention to Baby's Perception

A baby is always perceiving new things. For better success in teaching your baby to sign, be alert to what your child is perceiving. If you are aware of what your child is perceiving, you will know what to sign when. By the time your baby's eyes and gazes start to connect with yours, he is ready to start the learning process. Get down on your baby’s level, literally and figuratively. When we are aware of what our children perceive, we are better communicators and teachers.

Babies have different types of perceptions, each presenting a new chance to teach a new sign. Your child may have a need or express a feeling or desire. For example, if your child finishes drinking his milk, he may express that he wants "more." The very moment you notice this expression would be an opportune time to make the sign for "more." Often, it is clear that you and your baby are making a connection. You may look at each other at the same time. When you make this type of connection, your child is receptive to what you have to say. Be sure to recognize this as an an opportunity to introduce a sign. Other times, you and your baby will perceive the same object, like the family dog. This is obviously a great time to sign "dog." One technique to help direct your child's attention is to make the sign in front of the thing you are signing about. Or, You can sign with that object on your child’s body!

All in the Family

One of the key factors for success in in teaching baby sign language is to get others involved in the process. It is extremely important for your friends and family to take part in the process. If you are like most parents, lots of people participate in caring for your child. These people play a key role in the development of your child. Most children have regular contact with other family members. In our family, we could not get by without help from wonderful grandparents. So, keep signing "all in the family" and get the entire family involved in the process (especially Grandaddy and Grandmother).

In lots of households today, both mom and dad work full time and leave the baby at daycare. Such children will have a huge advantage in learning to sign if their daycare workers are involved in the process. A baby’s daycare workers and baby sitters are part of his extended family. Make sure your child's extended family knows you are teaching him to sign and show them the signs you are working on at any given time. At the very least, they should know some basic signs that your child uses on a regular basis and participate in teaching those signs. If they refuse to participate with signing, you should find another daycare.

Attitude is Everything!

We think that attitude is important for all aspects of life. As the heading says, "attitutude is everything." One of the most important tips for success in baby sign language is for you to HAVE FUN! Get excited and have a good time when teaching your baby a new word. Signing with your baby is more about attitude and persistence than any specific technique. If you recognize teaching opportunities, and stick with it, your baby will be signing back to you in no time. Please don’t give up if your child does not sign back to you right away. Every child is unique and every child develops at his own pace.

Communicating with your baby should be natural and intuitive. You don’t need to be taught to communicate with your child. Trust your instincts and be expressive when you talk to your child. Your expressions should match your signs. Your child will respond as much to facial expressions and emotions as to most things that are verbalized. Also, don’t get frustrated if your baby does not use perfect technique when he signs. Instead, recognize what he is trying to say and praise him for it. The process should be fun for you and your child. And your child will refine his technique as he continues to develop.

When many people first decide to teach their baby to sign, they jump right in with the first words without laying the proper groundwork for signing. That is, they do not review some of the key elements that will make signing easier and more rewarding for both parent and child. In this article, we cover two of the elements to help ensure you have sucess with baby sign language. We cover the issues of initial timing and content. That is, we review when you should start signing with your child, and, in this context, what words you should first teach your child to sign.

The Timing Question- When to Start

A threshold question that parents have when they decide to teach their baby sign language is at what age to begin . As with most questions like this, there is no specific rule on an exact age to begin signing. Every baby is different, developing at his or her own pace. Most experts agree, however, that children cannot distinguish signs in any meaningful way prior to 6 months of age. More likely, a child will begin to distinguish signs at around 10 months of age.

Generally, we recommend that people start to to introduce basic signs when the child is 6 to 9 months old. Your baby will begin making basic signs when he is around 10 months of age. Starting around 12 months of age, you can start introducing some secondary, more abstract signs. As your child gets older, and begins speaking his first words, you should start combining signs for "baby sentences". But again, there is no definite time frame for which your baby will learn signs.

Always pay attention to your child's body language and facial expressions for cues as to when he is ready to start the learning process. Use your intuition in this regard. Teaching sign langauge should be a natural process between you and your baby. When a child starts sitting up and showing interest in what is going on around him, they are likely ready to begin learning signs. In particular, if your child is following what you’re doing with your hands, he may very well be receptive to your instruction. These nonverbal cues will tell you that baby is now ready to be taught.

Many children don’t make their first sign until 10 months of age or later, and some not before 12 months. Please do not get frustrated if your child does not immediately sign back to you. It may seem like it is taking him forever. But take heart. Althouh the first few signs may come very slowly, one day your child will begin learning signs at a rapid pace. You will likely have a hard time keeping up! And then the pace may slow again. Signing with your child will be filled with stops and starts and fast and slow periods. But if you keep at it, you will succeed in teaching your baby to sign.

The Word Question- What to Sign When

After you have decided it is time to start signing with your child, you must decide which words to start with. It is important that you choose only a few basic words to begin teaching your baby. Otherwise, you could overwhelm your baby, and yourself, with a large number of signs. We recommend that you only work on three to four new signs at any given time. Once your child picks up a sign you are working on, add another sign to teach .

Babies will recognize a sign before they begin using it as their own. The recognition of words is known as “receptive language”, while the formation of words (including signs) is called “expressive language”. Always notice your child’s facial expressions when you are teaching him a sign. Your child's expression may tell you when she begins to recognize the sign. For example, her eyes may light up with a smile when you sign the word “milk”. After she recognizes a sign, your child will likely begin "expressing" that sign soon thereafter.

Finally, remember to always introduce and reinforce new signs at the appropriate moment in time. Again, working on a handful of signs, introduce them before, during, and/or after an activity that goes with the sign. A great time to teach “milk”, for example, is when you are giving your baby milk and after they are finished drinking their milk. Conversely, try not to teach a sign out of context. If your child is playing with a toy truck, do not try teach the sign for milk.

Best wishes and good luck in teaching your chlid to sign. Stay tuned for our next post for more fundamentals to succeed in your signing endeavors. For now, click the following link for our website and more information on baby sign language.

Many people are stunned that babies as young as 30 weeks old can learn sign language, thinking “How can that child, when she can’t even talk?” But babies have always signed, albeit on an informal basis. Babies develop the muscles in their hands before they develop the fine muscles of the mouth needed for speeach. Thus, babies are equipped to communicate with you with their arms and hands before they can talk. Most children invent their own signs in order to convey their thoughts. For example, children often hold their arms out when they want to be picked up and held. This, of course, is a form of communication.

Signing with your child is good for you and your baby. In this column, we examine the effects of singing with your baby and some evidence of the benefits of signing with your baby. You can be assured, signing with your baby is a great thing.

The talk. The fact that a child cannot yet speak does not mean she cannot understand. In fact, children understand a great deal before they can talk. So be careful what you say in front of your toddler! Remember, the reason babies don’t talk isn’t necessarily because they don't understand. It may just be beacuse they cannot control the movements of their mouth that are necessary to produce good speech. Those muscles are undeveloped until babies are almost two years old. But at a much earlier age, children can control the hand movement necessary to produce signs. So don’t underestimate your child. She will questionbecomes whether or not baby should use sign langauge. The single biggest myth about teaching a baby sign language is that it may delay the baby’s speech. Nothing could be evidence that signing is in any way= associated with delayed speaking. Research shows that signing children develop spoken words much faster than non-signing children. Signing is both physically and cognitively stimulating for children. It stimulates your child's visual, auditory and knisthetic senses. In fact, studies on the effects of baby sign language reveals that signing may be beneficial to those children with speech development problems. And signing children typically become smarter adults, more intelligent than non-signging children|babies So, have no doubt, teaching a baby to sign is good for her overall development.

Aside from her overall development, there is a better reason to teach your baby to sign. Sign language allows parents to communicate with their pre-verbal children! The frustration of not understanding what a baby wants or needs is a primary source of the stress in parents' lives. Those parentswho teach their babies sign language avoid much of this frustration. Plus, a child's ability to communicate with others at an early age enhances her overall development. Interaction on a social level is crucial to a child’s development progression. By teaching a child sign language, she communicates earlier and more frequently. This provides more outlets for her to express her emotions and communicate with other children and adults. Ultimately, she will be more advanced, socially and cognitively, than children of the same age who did not grow up signing. So go ahead, have fun with signing with your baby.

Sign language is most often thought of in the context of the deaf community. But, as research demonstrates, teaching baby sign language has numerous benefits for parent and child. Data also shows that sign language is often beneficial for children with special needs which effect their speech and/or social development, such as autism, apraxia or downs syndrome.
Sign Language and Special Needs

If you teach your baby sign language, it will have significant academic benefits, especially for children with special needs. Some children have an impairment that affects their ability to make auditory and visual connections. Sign language helps trigger that area of the brain linked to language and speech development, thus helping to expand the child’s vocabulary and enhancing speech development.

When a child’s speech development is furthered, so are his social and emotional skills. Children with special needs can be very frustrated when communication becomes difficult. This frustration may manifest itself in the form of depression or tantrums and aggression. Sign language can help remove communication barriers and eliminate much of the frustration associated with the same. By expanding his vocabulary, and eliminating communication barriers, the child will have greater self esteem and more independence and behave in a more socially accepted manner.

Sign Language and Autism

Autism is a developmental disability that often involves a delay and impairment in social and language skills and behavior. It is a spectrum disorder, meaning that all cases are different and they vary in severity. Some children will be able to speak, while some will have no speech at all. Less severe cases include Pervasive Development Disorder or Asperger’s Syndrome. These children typically have normal speech, but have many of the social problems associated with autism.

The use of signing with autistic children has been growing consistently since the 1970’s. The primary purpose ofsigning with children with autism, or similar disorders, is to give them an alternative means of communication. Numerous studies have demonstrated that autistic children can be taught signing as a means of communication. Furthermore, through the use of sign language, a portion of otherwise mute children acquire speech. Thus, sign language can also be used as an augment to communication with the ultimate goal of developing speech.

There are many benefits to teaching sign language to otherwise mute and special needs children. Even if she only acquires a few basic signs, this gives the child a way of expressing her needs in an understanding and socially acceptable way. And by learning a conventional language, the child is made to take account and interact with others. All of the studies show that social awareness increases and tantrums decrease following sign language acquisition. Moreover, by acquiring a language as soon as possible, the child may acquire cognitive skills that provide a basis for continued learning and lessen the overall impact of her development disability. Visit our website for more information about sign langauge and autism

Recently, we posted an article explaining some tips for signing with your baby. In this article, we provide you with more tips and advice to ensure you have a successful and rewarding experience teaching your baby sign language.

Make Signing a Family Affair

One of the most important factors for success in teaching your baby to sign is whether or not others are involved in the process. If you are like most parents, lots of people take part in caring for your child on a daily basis. These people have a big influence on your child. Most children have regular contact with other family members. In our family, we could not get by without regular help from wonderful grandparents. Make signing a “family affair” and get the whole family involved in the process (especially Grandma and Grandpa).

In many households today, both parents work full time, while baby is at daycare. Baby will have a huge advantage in learning to sign if his daycare workers are involved in the process. Baby’s daycare workers and babysitters are part of his extended family. Make sure your child's extended family knows that you are teaching him to sign and show them the signs you are working on with your baby. In the least, they should know some of the basic signs he uses on a regular basis and be willing to be involved in teaching those signs. If they refuse to get involved with signing, consider finding a new daycare or sitter. As for your actual relatives, insist they take part in the teaching process. If Grandma is watching baby, she needs to know when baby is "all done". Otherwise, baby will be confused as to why Grandma doesn’t understand him.

Perceive Baby's Perception

A child is constantly seeing and perceiving new things. For better success with baby sign language, you should be alert to your child’s perceptions. If you notice what your child is perceiving, you will know when and what to sign. By the time his eyes and gazes start to connect with yours, baby is ready to begin signing. Get down on your baby’s level, literally and figuratively. If you are aware of what your child perceives, you will be a better teacher (and caregiver).

Your baby has different types of perceptions, each presenting a chance for a new sign. Your child may have a need or want to express a feeling or desire. For example, if your child finishes drinking his milk, he may “express” that he wants more. The moment that you recognize this perception is a great time to sign more. Sometimes, it is clear that your baby perceives you. You and your child may look at each other at the same time. When you make this type of contact with your baby, he is ready for what you have to say. Recognize this as an opportunity to introduce a sign. At other times, it will be clear that you and your baby are perceiving the same thing. For example, you may both be focused on the family dog. Obviously, this is great time to sign the word dog. One technique to help direct what your child will notice is to use a sign in front of the object you are signing about. Or, you can even sign with the item on your baby’s body!

Have Fun!

As with all activities, a key element for success with baby sign language is attitude. As the caption says, Have Fun! Get excited and have a good time with your baby when you are showing him a sign. Teaching your child how to sign is more about attitude and persistence than any scientific technique. If you recognize teaching opportunities, and you stick with it, your baby will be signing before you know it. So don’t get frustrated if baby is not signing back to you right away. Remember, every child is different and every child learns and responds at his own pace.

Communication with your baby will be intuitive and natural. You don’t need a book to make a connection with your child. Trust your instincts and be expressive when you communicate with your child. Match your expression with your sign. Children respond as much to emotions and facial expressions as to anything that may be verbalized. And don’t get frustrated if your baby does not make the perfect sign. Rather, recognize what he is trying to say and applaud him for it. The process should be fun for both you and baby. Your baby will refine his technique as he continues to develop.