Question for those who do baby sign language

My twins are 4 mo old and I'd like to start teaching them sign language and was looking for a good book reccomendation...

Any suggestions would be GREAT!

ps - i'm a total beginner with this so it will have to have pretty detailed instructions....

TIA

 

I recommend the Signing Time DVD's. They are cute, great songs, and fun for both you and the babies to watch....

 

Baby Signs by Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn

This book offers some great info on how to get started, as well as the research behind it all. Acredolo also has a set of four board books (might be five now) that feature real photographs of babies signing for objects (i.e., pic of a baby signing milk with pictures of milk bottles and sippies in the background). We had all four books and my kids basically learned all the signs they needed just from these books.

I know lots of families have great success with the DVDs, but the books are an inexpensive, motivating alternative.

 

At what age can you start teaching them this?

 

You can start anytime, but the book I referenced had a few recommendations. If I recall correctly, waving bye bye was one of the first big indicators (that could even be considered their first sign). That is when we started, around 9 mos. But my kids did not use their first sign until 13 mos. I thought they were NEVER going to get it! I started with two signs: more and all done. Then we added milk, a few animals (dog, cat, frog), eat, and light. By then, they picked them up quickly.

I also wanted to note that this book (Baby Signs) does not use ASL exclusively. Some signs are different, created with the intention of being easy to use/kid-friendly. It really does not matter; what matters is that the child can communicate with you and vice versa. And they will make up their own signs for stuff. BUT, when my kids were really using signs and I considered getting the Signing Times DVDs, I did not because they use ASL and my kids already knew lots of signs that were different from those on the videos.

 

Signing time also has great board books too. You can check out their website for more info here

Kimberly

 

Signing Time is AWESOME! I would start with the Baby Signing Time DVDs. (signingtime.com)

 

I bought a small book called "baby sign language basics". It had a bunch of key words in it. After that I went on to the ASL website to see how some were done.

I am done with the book if you are interested. I would be willing to ship it to you if you would cover the cost of shipping. Let me know.

 

QUOTE
Baby Signs by Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn


Ditto that! I love that book.

As to when to start, the book says that babies will probably start picking up on it ~9-12 mo, but there's nothing wrong with starting as early as you want - after all, we talk to our babies from day one (or before). It will just be a longer time until they start signing back, that's all.

We've started signing with the babies, and they're not signing back yet, but they watch the signs with utter fascination. They also seem to have learned to understand the words that we've been doing signs with. If they're busy playing, and I ask if they want to eat, they turn and look at me right away - and "eat" is one of the signs we've been doing.

 

We used the Baby Signs books also plus I used some ASL signs that I knew. We started using them when the girls were about 8 weeks old and DD#1 did her first sign at 6 months (milk). She would sign milk everytime she wanted a bottle which meant she no longer cried...it was so awesome. The funniest thing was one night I was so exhausted so she was in bed with me. I felt her moving around which woke me up and all I see is her hand in the air (moonlight from the window in the background highlighted it) doing the milk sign. We really didn't use the books much other than for me to learn the signs and to practice a little with the girls. Instead I just did them everytime I talked to them. They will be 2 in a week and they still sign as they talk or if their mouth is full they will sign instead of talk. The most useful signs were milk, more, eat, drink, bath, apple (we used for applesauce), please and thank you. The animals and signs like hat and book are nice but weren't necessary for us. I had the DVD but didn't let me kids watch TV until they were 22 months old. They now love the DVD and have learned even more signs although they had already known the words they were learning the signs for.

 

I haven't bought any books or DVDs. I've just been referring to this great video ASL Dictionary whenever we need to know how to do a new sign. It's not pretty, but very functional. You can type Ctrl+F to search for a word instead of trying to read the whole listing.

We started around 9 months with a few signs like "more" and "milk", but they weren't responding and I wasn't being very consistent. A few weeks ago, I saw this great video on YouTube and it motivated me to get my act in gear.

I've been signing the alphabet for them everytime I sing it (which is about 5 - 10x a day) and doing the signs more consistently. I do the signs for "more", "finished", "ouch", "eat", "milk", "cheese". I've also started to occasionally show them the signs for "mommy", "daddy", "cat", "dog", "please" and "thank you".

YESTERDAY GENEVIEVE DID HER FIRST SIGN! She signed "finished" at the end of lunch. And then today MCKENNA DID HER FIRST SIGN! She signed "cheese" during dinner (which is her most favorite thing ever!). :a_smil09:

I think G has been trying to sign "cat" and I'm pretty sure M has been working on "dog" and "please", but those aren't clear enough just yet. Plus, when I sing the ABC song now, G moves her hands like she's trying to do the signs. M dances to it...every single time. It's been a lot of fun to watch them.

BTW, I did take an ASL class in college and really loved it. That's where I learned most of what I know about it. DH on the other hand has never had any training and he's picked it up REALLY fast and is just as consistent as I am with them. This is really easy and you can do it. You don't even have to buy anything! Of course, I've heard that both of the programs PPs have mentioned are great. So, I'm sure you'll love them if you're so inclined.