Friday
Oct012010
Baby Sign Language
Friday, October 1, 2010 at 4:33AM
An acquaintance of mine used sign language to communicate with her son before he was old enough to start talking. When I first heard that, I was pregnant and intrigued. As my parents and husband will tell you, that kind of thing is straight up my alley. I thumbed through some books about it, but never bought any. After Sailor arrived, the idea of sign language kept crossing my mind, but I knew that simple illustrations wouldn't work for me. No matter how detailed they are, without being shown I might as well just make up my own signs!
That's why I was excited when Misty Weaver, Chief Editor of Baby Sign Language, contacted me about guest posting. Once I saw her website, I said I'd gladly help spread the word! She has VIDEOS! Simple videos that are mere seconds long showing you the sign. It's brilliant. My second favorite feature on her site is that there are suggestions of WHEN to use the sign so as to make the best use of it. The whole site is super duper (yes, I said SUPER DUPER) in terms of layout and ease of use. I freakin' love it.
We're teaching a few starter signs to Sailor, the main one being "milk." It's such an easy sign. We've been doing it for a few weeks and she get SO EXCITED when she sees it! In all her mildly-coordinated glory, she'll try to repeat the sign when we do it. She doesn't yet know that she can do it on her own and "ask" for milk, but she definitely tries copying.
Anyway, let me introduce Misty and have her explain how you can learn simple baby sign language in just 10 minutes!
I'd love to hear if this is something you do or are planning to do with your babies!
__________________________________
Learn Baby Sign Language in Ten Minutes
Moms don’t have time for anything else, do we? Between diapers and doctor’s appointments, between mashing up bananas and pre-treating stains, between rubbing lanolin on our breasts and … well, you get the point. No sleeping, no reading for pleasure, no re-runs of Two and a Half Men.
So who has time to teach a baby a second language? Well, in an effort to persuade you, I am going to teach baby sign language to you in only ten minutes.
You don’t have to teach your baby seventy-five signs. Let’s start with one or two. Let’s start with milk. To make the sign for milk, pretend that you are milking a cow with your right hand. That’s it. If you are not the farmer type, watch this quick video Baby Sign Language Dictionary for Milk.
There. Now you know the sign for milk. To teach it to your baby, simply make the sign every time you say the word milk. It will quickly become a habit. You say, “Would you like some milk?” and you pretend to milk a teat.
See? You are already a signing mom.
If you want to get fancy, add the sign for “mommy.” To make the sign for mommy, open the palm of your right hand and poke yourself in the chin with your thumb. See this here: Baby Sign Language Dictionary for Mom.
Teach this sign in the same way. Whenever you ask “Do you want to sit with Mommy?” you poke yourself in the chin.
There, isn’t this fun and easy?
And you can add as many (or as few) signs as you want, when you want.
But baby sign language is more than a cute party trick. If you stick with it, I promise, it will make your life easier, not more complicated. When your baby is teething, she will be able to tell you that her mouth hurts. She will be able to tell you that she is hungry, or that she wants her favorite toy, or that she is tired and wants to go to bed. She will be able to ask for help, ask for daddy, and ask for a banana or cookie. She will be able to communicate, so she won’t need to throw as many fits and tantrums, which will make your life easier.
It usually takes several months before your baby will begin to sign back to you, but during these months, you are not doing anything that takes any extra time. You will already be taking the time to feed your baby pureed sweet potatoes, so as you are feeding, you ask her if she wants more, and you make the sign for more. Eventually, you ask her if she is finished, and you make the sign for finished. You ask her if she wants to get down from her highchair and you make the sign for down. You will be saying these words, and doing these actions anyway, so it doesn’t take any extra time to make the signs.
And if you think you won’t remember the signs, you can print out flashcards from Baby Sign Language Flash Cards and hang them in strategic locations all over your home. Trust me, it won’t take long before you know the signs, whether you like it or not. Of course, you can leave the flashcards up, as they look really cool.
Did you set your timer? Our ten minutes are up. You now know baby sign language. Do you feel smarter? Here’s what you really need to know in only ten words: Baby sign language is really easy. And fun. I promise.
This guest post is brought to you by Baby Sign Language.
That's why I was excited when Misty Weaver, Chief Editor of Baby Sign Language, contacted me about guest posting. Once I saw her website, I said I'd gladly help spread the word! She has VIDEOS! Simple videos that are mere seconds long showing you the sign. It's brilliant. My second favorite feature on her site is that there are suggestions of WHEN to use the sign so as to make the best use of it. The whole site is super duper (yes, I said SUPER DUPER) in terms of layout and ease of use. I freakin' love it.
We're teaching a few starter signs to Sailor, the main one being "milk." It's such an easy sign. We've been doing it for a few weeks and she get SO EXCITED when she sees it! In all her mildly-coordinated glory, she'll try to repeat the sign when we do it. She doesn't yet know that she can do it on her own and "ask" for milk, but she definitely tries copying.
(This is the sign for MILK.)
Anyway, let me introduce Misty and have her explain how you can learn simple baby sign language in just 10 minutes!
I'd love to hear if this is something you do or are planning to do with your babies!
__________________________________
Learn Baby Sign Language in Ten Minutes
Moms don’t have time for anything else, do we? Between diapers and doctor’s appointments, between mashing up bananas and pre-treating stains, between rubbing lanolin on our breasts and … well, you get the point. No sleeping, no reading for pleasure, no re-runs of Two and a Half Men.
So who has time to teach a baby a second language? Well, in an effort to persuade you, I am going to teach baby sign language to you in only ten minutes.
You don’t have to teach your baby seventy-five signs. Let’s start with one or two. Let’s start with milk. To make the sign for milk, pretend that you are milking a cow with your right hand. That’s it. If you are not the farmer type, watch this quick video Baby Sign Language Dictionary for Milk.
There. Now you know the sign for milk. To teach it to your baby, simply make the sign every time you say the word milk. It will quickly become a habit. You say, “Would you like some milk?” and you pretend to milk a teat.
See? You are already a signing mom.
If you want to get fancy, add the sign for “mommy.” To make the sign for mommy, open the palm of your right hand and poke yourself in the chin with your thumb. See this here: Baby Sign Language Dictionary for Mom.
Teach this sign in the same way. Whenever you ask “Do you want to sit with Mommy?” you poke yourself in the chin.
There, isn’t this fun and easy?
And you can add as many (or as few) signs as you want, when you want.
But baby sign language is more than a cute party trick. If you stick with it, I promise, it will make your life easier, not more complicated. When your baby is teething, she will be able to tell you that her mouth hurts. She will be able to tell you that she is hungry, or that she wants her favorite toy, or that she is tired and wants to go to bed. She will be able to ask for help, ask for daddy, and ask for a banana or cookie. She will be able to communicate, so she won’t need to throw as many fits and tantrums, which will make your life easier.
It usually takes several months before your baby will begin to sign back to you, but during these months, you are not doing anything that takes any extra time. You will already be taking the time to feed your baby pureed sweet potatoes, so as you are feeding, you ask her if she wants more, and you make the sign for more. Eventually, you ask her if she is finished, and you make the sign for finished. You ask her if she wants to get down from her highchair and you make the sign for down. You will be saying these words, and doing these actions anyway, so it doesn’t take any extra time to make the signs.
And if you think you won’t remember the signs, you can print out flashcards from Baby Sign Language Flash Cards and hang them in strategic locations all over your home. Trust me, it won’t take long before you know the signs, whether you like it or not. Of course, you can leave the flashcards up, as they look really cool.
Did you set your timer? Our ten minutes are up. You now know baby sign language. Do you feel smarter? Here’s what you really need to know in only ten words: Baby sign language is really easy. And fun. I promise.
This guest post is brought to you by Baby Sign Language.
Copyright; 2011, Blahggy. All rights reserved.
Reader Comments (5)
with Grey i did a few signs and he got excited for "milk", "more", "mommy", "daddy", "grandpa" and "poop". his favorite by far was poop, and mine too!! it is one of the main things that helped with the asking to poop in the potty at 8 months... he would mke the farty noise with his mouth and pull on his finger (he couldn't quite figure out the thumb)...
so all the people who think bab sign language is for kooks can go suck an egg:) sign away, Grey also spoke very early, and i think it had to do with learning how to communicate and have a "vocabulary" early.
oh and eat, he loved eat!!
and ambulance... i keep remembering all the ones he learned an had fun doing... (daddy is an EMT, so ambulance pretty much was a second sign for daddy)
I think it's great that you're doing this.
Kids who learn sign language speak sooner and have higher vocabularies than those who don't.
I have always planned to use sign language as well, and thanks to my previous work, I already know many basic signs.
Yeah, it's fun, too. Sailor gets crazy excited when she sees and hears MILK. And she's making "m" noises. I like to think she's working on "mommy," but I think it might be "milk." What's your previous work? I know the whole alphabet, but not any words (aside from what I'm learning now).