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Signs, Signs.....Everywhere There Are Signs
Thursday, January 21, 2010 by Jeannie Fleming-Gifford from Child Development
"Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs." The song is going through my head. Remember it? The most recent artist was Tesla. I had no idea. There's your random piece of useless knowledge for the day. (See, information on child development and useless knowledge...why read anything else! LOL!).
The real reason this little melody is running through my head is that I have been thinking about sign language with infants.
A couple of weeks back, I wrote the following blog: www.planningfamily.com/blog/cry-baby/.
Unlike Dunstan, I am not sure I have a good enough ear to interpret each of my munchkin's sounds. To tell you the truth, sometimes, I'm not that focused. Sometimes, there's just too much noise (the dishwasher, the dogs, the hubby
). Sometimes it's 2am and I am just not coherent enough to think about what this teeny tiny baby might want or need.
So, I'm looking at other methods of communication.
What do you know about sign language with infants and young toddlers?
I'll tell you what I know (thanks Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_language_in_infants_and_toddlers):
- The ages of six to nine months are optimal in teaching your baby some signs which will help them communicate with you.
- As the primary goal is also teaching your infant to use words, you should always use the verbal word along with the sign.
- Here is a great site which has basic signs with good visuals (Free!): www.babies-and-sign-language.com/glossary-photos.html.
I also know that a few basic signs (i.e. milk, more, finished, please, eat) have saved me a few moments of grief. Not to mention, what fun it has been to see that the "bulb" is on in her brain and she is ready to communicate with me as well!
What do you think of using sign language with your baby? Have you tried it? Success?
"Signs, sign, everywhere there's signs." Hopefully, you'll find a few of them that will help you out too.
Jeannie Fleming-Gifford
Jeannie Fleming-Gifford is a mama to one little lady, freelance writer, and the director of education for a non-profit community school of the arts. Graduating with a B.A. in Music and a M.A. in Child Development, Jeannie began her career in quality child developme...Read More
