21 September, 2008

Teaching my baby sign language!

Posted by Kelly at 10:20 AM

When I had my daughter 8 mo. ago, I was bound and determined to teach her sign language as a baby! I have two older children who I didn't teach sign language to. They had no speech delay or lack of IQ, but we spent many a mealtime and day with the ole "point" and "grunt" ! Drove me up the wall! I started to think, what if I could communicate with my baby and have a more productive and stress free experience?!


According to parentsite.com, research has shown that babies who sign are less frustrated since they have a way of expressing their wants and needs. Simply put, they cry less. Babies are born with a natural desire to communicate with their hands. They clap when they are happy! Rub their eyes when they are tired!!But even more amazingly, babies who are taught a few simple signs not only speak earlier than non-signers but have larger vocabularies and become better readers. It has to do with stimulating more synapses of the brain. Signing babies have IQ’s that are 10-12 points higher.



To sum it up, babies who sign…
Speak earlier than non-signers
Experience less frustration
Develop larger vocabularies
Become better readers
Have IQ’s that are at least 10-12 points higher
This information taken from parentsite.com

Here is a chart from signwithme.com to get you started!!



There starts my journey! We only have one word down right now. "MORE"! (that was the biggest source of crying at mealtime with my other two.) Of course each baby will have their own adaption of the sign until they can get it right. They will also use the same sign for everything until they can expand their vocabulary!! The next step we are working on, while refining "more", is "more, what?" "EAT" and "DRINK" is next! We are only going to concentrate on the basics for communication for now!


 

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16 Comments:

  1. Anonymous said...
    9/21/2008  
    Kelly,

    We taught sign language to all three kids. Joshua, however, was speech delayed. He knew all the basic signs, but he couldn't speak about other things that he wanted so he screamed A LOT! When we started understanding more from his younger sister Allison than from him we insisted on having him tested. He was developmentally delayed and just knowing that help us teach him some new signs to better communicate with us. A true lifesaver!

    Dianna M.
    Julie said...
    9/21/2008  
    Kelly,
    I love it!!! How adorable!! Be sure to post more of these clips when she learns more.
    Julie :)
    Largaespada Family said...
    9/21/2008  
    Too cute! I agree with Julie. Keep posting that little Monkey! I love it!

    Love,
    Jaime
    Kelly said...
    9/21/2008  
    I will definately post more when she learns them! Thanks for stopping by Dianna!! Hope you are well!!
    Kelly said...
    9/21/2008  
    Love it! Lucy will be there soon too. I love baby sign language. Savannah seems like she really picked it up. Did you change your mind about retreat yet?
    Dearest Jessica said...
    9/21/2008  
    That girl is so smart!!!

    We did this with Abbie and loved it. It was so helpful, especially for Dad, you know they never know what the baby wants anyway.
    Anonymous said...
    9/22/2008  
    Baby sign is so great! We used it with both kids - awesome!

    Love the blog design! So glad you stopped by BlogMommas!

    :)
    Becki
    brooke said...
    9/22/2008  
    Look how cute she is! It looks like it is working out for you!

    We did this with Ellie as well. I loved the "all done" sign. I was watching Savannah and was imagining two babies doing this. I guess that will be better than 2 babies whining.
    DanielleW said...
    9/22/2008  
    I did SL with Cameron. He was slightly speech delayed. My favorite one was "Amen" that he would sign after prayer. Too cute. It really does help with communication though.
    Anonymous said...
    9/24/2008  
    I love baby sign!! Kaelin still uses Please and More and All done quite often! It's so much fun!
    Anonymous said...
    9/24/2008  
    Great info Kelly! It's great to see more and more parents using sign-language with their babies. I personally swear by it from seeing it in action in the professional world. Best of luck and cute kid!
    Anonymous said...
    9/24/2008  
    Great info Kelly! It's great to see more and more parents using sign-language with their babies. I personally swear by it from seeing it in action in the professional world. Best of luck and cute kid!
    Anonymous said...
    9/27/2008  
    We used sign language with our first and now we're using it with our second. We don't use it for everything, but it is especially helpful at mealtimes. He's 13 months and has been using the signs himself since he was about 11 months probably. He can sign more, all done, dog, crackers, cheese, and drink. We're working on help and please right now. :) He just started pointing this week, and actually started signing before waving or pointing. We have the Baby Signs book, which has been very helpful.
    Lindsey said...
    9/27/2008  
    That's awesome! I forgot that I wanted to do that, lol. I want there to be as little frustration as possible for my daughter (she's almost five months now). Thanks for getting me started! When did you start on your daughter?

    She's so cute, by the way. :-) How old?
    BPOTW said...
    9/27/2008  
    Baby signing is such a great thing. Great job for doing it!

    Thanks for submitting your post.
    I Love Purple More Than You said...
    9/28/2008  
    I taught baby sign to all three of my kids. I felt the most helpful signs were "more" and "all done" when it came to mealtime. I truly believe they were happier kids, but then again, since I taught it to all three, I have nothing to compare it to.

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