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Before I became a mom, an early childhood expert friend of mine told me about sign language for hearing babies. I was intrigued, so soonafter I had my first baby I couldn’t help but to find out more. She handed me a book called Baby Signsby Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn. I read it cover to cover and couldn’t wait until it was time to start trying a few signs with my son.
Once he showed the signs of readiness, I started using signs for “more,” “all done,” and a few others. It wasn’t long before we were having “conversations” with signs for fish, dog, cat, bird and the like.
Although babies are typically eager to communicate, their motor skills are often not developed enough to pronounce words when they are ready to attempt them. By giving your child the tools of sign language, you can open the lines of communication much earlier and encourage curiosity and “conversation.” I used Baby Signs with all three of our children and all three were considered early talkers. Sure, it is possible that they might have been early talkers anyhow. (My husband says this may have something to do with how much I like to talk.) But with Baby Signs they were able to talk even before their mouths could form the words… and it certainly didn’t hinder any of their speech development. I even made little cards for other caregivers, showing the signs, and asked that they use them with my children as well. We all loved the system. Communicating with “words” was much better than communicating with grunts or tears of frustration, either theirs or mine!
When I started using Baby Signs, the book was the only resource offered by the authors. Now there is an entire website filled with DVDs, classes across the country and lots more. Using the book worked for me, so I can’t comment on all the other resources available.
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