SIGNING WITH YOUR BABY
Imagine being able to communicate with your baby in so many different scenarios, before he has developed speech yet?
Imagine him being able to tell you exactly what he wanted?
From the age of 6-months, babies are already able to communicate their needs, but with speech only developing between 12 and 24-months
of age, baby needs a way to communicate. So by giving them a tool in hand (literally!) which is easy enough for little hands to use, baby
will be able to communicate his or her needs to their parents, and even others around them. Infants can learn to use simple signs for common
words such as "eat", "sleep", "more", "hug", "play", "cookie", "teddy bear", etc., even before being able to produce understandable speech. While
baby's articulators (mouth, lips, tongue, teeth) matures slower than their hand-eye co-ordination, baby can be taught signs which helps them to be
quicker in understanding and communicate with those around them.
Please note that according to studies, signing does not stop or hinder your baby from speaking. In fact, it actually encourages early communication! Remember, hearing babies use their hearing to start learning their first language. So even though Sign Language is taught to your baby, he/she can still hear and therefore the language he/she hears, will be his/her main language of communication. But babies will learn any language that they are exposed to, without it stopping or hindering them in any way, to learn the spoken language within their homes as spoken by their family. It is important for babies to get as much exposure as possible to the language(s) that they are learning and learning more than one language, even from infant days, can only be to their advantage.
Remember:
Children are not only auditory learners they also learn visually and kinaesthetically (touch and experience). Using Sign Language with your child encompasses all learning styles. Your child will hear you when you say the word, he/she will see you make the sign and will also experience/feel the word as he/she learns to sign.
A mom says: “I have been signing with my daughter since she was 6-months old and this has opened her thoughts to me.
How wonderful! She would not have been able to share these thoughts until she was much older. Even when we go for walks, she will point out all of
the wonderful things she is seeing. The birds, butterflies, trees, flowers etc. And when family visits, they are able to quickly catch up on Delia's new
signs and communicate with her. This also removed the fear and frustration when she was left with the caregiver. We have taught everyone who enters
her life this special language and it has created a unique bond for our entire family..”
Benefits of Teaching Sign Language to Your Baby
- Enhances verbal language development
- Enables children to communicate their wants and needs much earlier in life
- Mental Development
- Enhances Language and Listening Skills
- Research shows an increases in IQ level
- Boosts Self-Esteem
- Reduces frustration for babies / toddlers and their caregivers / parents
- Parents are provided with a window into the Infants world which again strengthens the bond between parent and child
- Less tantrums and other problematic behaviours
- Improves vocabulary
- Promotes bilingualism
- Encourages an early interest in literature
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