Sign Language

Each week I get an email update from Babycenter.com with tips, tricks, and suggestions for raising children.  The tips are age appropriate and often very useful.  Last week, I got an email about the benefits of signing with your baby.  I have been signing with Kaidyn since she was about 6 months old.  She didn't begin signing on her own at this age, but now communicates through signing frequently.  The beginning of the article below helps explain how signing encourages baby development.  She often signs and says the word now!  If you want to read the entire article you can access it by going to:  http://www.babycenter.com/0_signing-with-your-baby-or-toddler-how-to-communicate-before_1449533.bc?page=1

It's not surprising that babies can learn how to sign. Both their understanding of language and their motor skills develop much faster than their ability to speak. And they love to mimic: Most babies, for example, discover how to wave and point long before they can say "bye bye" or "look at that!"

The idea of taking this one step further and teaching babies a vocabulary of signs was inspired by child development expert Joseph Garcia. Having discovered how easily hearing babies of deaf parents learned sign language, he also noticed that these babies appeared less demanding than babies who didn't know sign language because they could express their thoughts and needs more easily. So why shouldn't hearing parents of hearing babies enjoy the benefits of signing, too? After all, Garcia figured, if a baby can sign for what she wants instead of screaming, everyone — Mom, Dad, and their baby — will be happier. While baby signing doesn't promise to cut out tears or tantrums, babies as young as 6 months old have been taught to "sign" successfully, and a number of organizations run baby-signing classes in the United States and in other countries.