Early Steps

A few days ago I had a great (unexpected) conversation with a coordinator from Early Steps about Baby Signs classes. We were looking into enrolling Dylan into some physical therapy for crawling with Early Steps. Although as it stands now little man has taken off, wind beneath his wings with the crawling. Well I got into a great conversation with the coordinator about Baby Signs. The topic some how happened to come up while we were trying to figure out schedules. I was surprised about how thrilled and interested she was about Baby Signs classes in my area. She asked for some business cards to pass on to the therapists, and raved about how wonderful baby sign language is for infants. She told me that over 80% of their therapy cases are for speech therapy in infants and they encourage baby sign language for these babies to help better communicate with their caregivers while their speech improves. They also love it for children/babies with disabilities. She also encouraged me to email them about my classes so they can advertise it in their newsletter. I just thought I would share her enthusiasm for the program and baby sign language!

Free Sign, Say, and Play Class

Free Sign,Say and Play class this September! Please visit my website www.babysignsprogram.com/bysharon for more details!

Baby Signs Featured on Good Morning America!

Good Morning America aired a great segment on the benefits of baby sign language back in February of this year! The University of Chicago had released new research showing that using signs and gestures with babies helps boost language development. Today, Diane Sawyer talked about this new research and mentioned the Baby Signs Program on Good Morning America!

"Does your baby shake her head when you try to feed her vegetables? Though that may be frustrating from a nutritional perspective, it can mean good things for her educational future. A new University of Chicago study shows that the more babies gesture, the bigger their vocabularies. Copy and paste the following link to watch the segment http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/Story?id=6901286&page=1

Simple and Fun Signing Games!

The key to teaching your baby/toddler to sign is consistency and repetition. So that every time you say the word of a sign you want to teach, you do the sign, and that you say/sign that word many times throughout the day. Many times, you can simply incorporate the signs into your daily routines; however, we always want to teach the parents/caregivers in our classes more ways to incorporate signing. Games are a great way to teach your child and have fun doing it; here are some fun signing games to get you started!

What happened to the light? Help baby turn the light switch on/off. Each time the light turns on, sign light. You could also add “all gone/done” when the light turns off.
Where’s the shoe? Show the baby a shoe or other object, and say/sign the word. Then cover it with a blanket and ask “where’s the shoe?” . Then uncover the shoe, and say and sign, “There’s the shoe.” You can also use concept cards for this game.

Pull a Sign! Need a bag and a set of concept cards. Help your baby pull out a card and then say/sign the word on the card. Repeat. You can also use puzzle pieces, small stuffed animals, or other small objects for this game. Another variation is to put these items into a ball pit for your child to pull out.

Signing Scavenger Hunt: For mobile babies, hide concept cards around an area. Have your child search for the cards one at a time. As he finds each card, go to him and sign what is on the card. Continue until all of the cards are found. If your child is already signing, you can have him sign what is on the cards. You can also use puzzle pieces, small stuffed animals, or other small objects for this game.

Red Light/Green Light: For mobile babies, this game is a great way to practice stop and go. Say/sign “go” and have your child walk towards you, and then say/sign “stop” and have her stop walking. Continue until she reaches you. We sometimes play this game during the More Sign, Say and Play® Class,and it is a big hit with many of the walking toddlers. A variation for signing toddlers is having him signing “go” to you as you walk backwards and then signing “stop” to you. If your child is not mobile, you can simply carry her, and make the sign “go” and then “stop” as you walk and stop several times. For older toddlers, you can also add the sign for “wait”.

For a book or song that is a favorite with an older toddler, you can play the “What comes next?” game with signs. For example, if you are reading a favorite book about animals, you can ask him to sign what animal comes next in the story. Or, you can say/sign the names of animals that may be next in the book, and ask her to guess which one it is.

Tunnel Hunt: Set up a tunnel and put concept cards throughout the tunnel. Then have your child crawl into the tunnel, pick out a card and then crawl back to you with the card in hand. Have your child make the sign on the card, or you can say/sign the word to her.

Parachute Shake: Sit with your child and hold a small parachute or blanket and shake it. Then say/sign “stop”, and stop shaking. Then say/sign “go” and start again. Repeat. This game can also be used in conjunction with a song that has breaks in it. Then you can also add the sign “listen” to see when the music (and the shaking) will start again.

Beebo™ Says: For an older toddler, you can play a game of Beebo™ Says, instead of Simon Says. You would say “BeeBo™ says sign ‘more’” and then say/sign “more” and try to elicit your child to sign “more”. Repeat with different signs.

Songs are a great way to incorporate signing into your daily activities as well. You can even change the words around to make up your own songs and focus on the signs you want to teach your baby. For example, there is a song, “Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear”. You can change the words to Beebo™ Bear, Beebo™ Bear, touch the floor, Beebo™ Bear, Beebo™ Bear, let’ssign more.”
Stop for Safety: You could make STOP lines for safety. Go to the line with your baby and then say/sign “stop”. Children love the emphasis of “stop”.

Thanks to fellow instructors, Nikki D. Suzanne H., Allison B. for their ideas of simple signing games!

Benfits of Baby Signs!

Over two decades of research by Drs. Acredolo and Goodwyn, much of it funded by the National Institutes of Health, has shown that using the Baby Signs® Program provides many benefits for children and their parents. Using the Baby Signs® Program . . .

• Reduces tears, tantrums and frustration
• Makes learning to talk easier
• Boosts self-esteem and self-confidence
• Stimulates intellectual development
• Strengthens the parent-child bond

Using the Baby Signs® Program reduces tears, tantrums and frustration.
Some parents may worry that encouraging their child to use signs might slow down learning to talk. Actually, the opposite is true! Drs. Acredolo and Goodwyn's federally funded research showed that using the Baby Signs® Program actually helps babies learn to talk. They found that 2-year-old Baby Signers had significantly larger verbal vocabularies than their non-signing peers. And by the time they were three years old, the Baby Signers language skills were more like that of 4 years old. Babies gain a lot of language knowledge when they are able to actively engage in communication with signs-knowledge that lays a good foundation for learning to talk. And, just as a child who learns to crawl is more, rather than less, motivated to learn to walk, so also a child who learns to sign is more, rather than less, motivated to learn to talk! Read more: Experiencing the Benefits of Baby Signs


Using the Baby Signs® Program makes learning to talk easier.
By the time babies are 9 to 10 months old, they are quite capable of knowing what it is they need or want. What they don't know is how to tell us with words-which leads directly to frustration for baby and parent alike. All this changes when a baby is able to use signs. With signs like "eat," "drink," "hot" and "cold," literally at their fingertips, babies can make their needs known quickly and quietly without becoming frustrated and resorting to tantrums and tears. No wonder the answer we most frequently get from parents when we ask how using the Baby Signs® Program has changed daily life is decreased frustration! Read more: Experiencing the Benefits of Baby Signs

Using the Baby Signs® Program boosts self-esteem and self-confidence.
What good self-esteem boils down to for any of us is the sense that we are perceived as both competent and valued in our own eyes and in the eyes of others. And that's just what the ability to use signs gives to babies. Because they can communicate effectively with their caregivers, and because their caregivers respond so positively to these communications, Baby Signs® babies develop a sense of pride in their accomplishments that lays a solid foundation for the development of their self-esteem and self-confidence. Read more: Experiencing the Benefits of Baby Signs

Using the Baby Signs® Program stimulates intellectual development.
Children who had participated in Drs. Acredolo and Goodwyn's study were revisited again when they were 8 years old. Each child was assessed using the WISC-III, a typical IQ test for children. The results were very impressive. After controlling for family income, parents' education and a number of other factors know to influence IQ, children who had signed as babies had significantly higher IQs (an average of 114) than the children who had not signed (an average of 102). That's a full 12 points higher! Read more: Experiencing the Benefits of Baby Signs

Using the Baby Signs® Program strengthens the parent-child bond.
Because Baby Signs® babies are able to communicate effectively with their caregivers, the number of positive interactions goes up and the number of negative interactions goes down. In other words, when a baby and parent can truly understand each other and share what's on their minds, they feel more connected to one another.With signs, even very young children can "tell" their caregivers they would like some milk, they saw an airplane or they heard a dog barking. They can let their caregivers know whether they are happy, sad or even afraid. Life with a Baby Signs® baby becomes a shared life – and with greater sharing comes a stronger, sweeter parent-child bond. Read more: Experiencing the Benefits of Baby Signs

Why sign with your baby?

So why should you sign with your baby, seems like a lot of effort and maybe a tad silly? While many parents are familiar with baby sign language, some who have not yet heard of it sometimes look at me like I have four heads. Baby sign language?(and I can see them unconsciously rolling their eyes). I can see how at first is may sounds a bit kooky, why would you teach a hearing baby sign language? What these parents don't know is how beneficial it can be for their babies. Imagine yourself in a foreign country and you do not know the language, thats what it's like for babies. It gives them the ability to tell you what they want and need, and what interests them. Some parents worry that sign language will delay speech because they will not be bothered to learn to talk when they can just sign it. However its just the opposite, research has shown that signing babies tend to talk sooner. Signing is like crawling, it can be a stepping stone to talking. When babies can sign they can tell you what they are interested in, when you know what interest them than you flood them with vocabulary about what they like. If your baby sees a dog on a walk and signs to you dog, what do you do, you flood him with word about the dog. "Oh do you see the doggie, thats a brown doggie, what a nice doggie, hes such a little doggie" etc. Interesting enough 80% of therapy in infants and toddlers is speech therapy, sign language is a great tool to use while helping your infant learn to talk. Another HUGE benefit is reducing tantrums, when your baby can tell you whats wrong or what he/she wants it makes life way easier!

Another misconception about infant sign langauge is that is too hard and too time consuming. It is just the opposite, it really is just including it in daily life. Signing during mealtime, bathtime, reading stories are great opportunities to teach your babies signs.
The benefits go on and on, below is an article from the baby signs program about all the benefits!

Welcome!

Welcome to my Baby Signs by Sharon blog! I've decided to create a blog all about babies and baby sign language as a way to help share tips, articles, and information to other moms who are teaching their babies sign language. I'm a stay at home mom to a one year old son and five year old daughter and a Independent Certified Instructor for the Baby Signs Program. I decided to become a Baby Signs Instructor because I loved the idea of working with babies and enjoyed studying and learning sign language in college. I was also fascinated to learn all the benefits of signing to your baby, including benefiting emotional and intellectual development and of course better communication with your baby. Research says that our most important years of our lives are the first three years, and by six we are who we will be the rest of our lives! On this blog I will be sharing articles and tips from the Baby Signs program that will help aid you in those first three crucial years. Many of these tips are from two doctor mom experts who share their child development expertise. I'll also share some personal experiences and other topics related to parent of infants and toddlers. Thanks for joining me!