signing....

I've read ALOT of mother teach their kids signing.

what exactly is it? i believe it just like sign language, but if your child is capable of speaking why would you add learning to sign ontop of learning to speak?

 

We use the book Baby Signs. To me, it's just awesome to see that my girls can communicate at such a young age. Dd3 is a super signer (signs about 10 words) & dd2 signs just the "important" signs- eat, milk, more.
Now, if your kids are talking, I don't think that there is a reason to sign.



QUOTE(team_double.trouble @ Apr 26 2007, 07:09 AM) [snapback]234259[/snapback]
I've read ALOT of mother teach their kids signing.

what exactly is it? i believe it just like sign language, but if your child is capable of speaking why would you add learning to sign ontop of learning to speak?

 

We taught them signs before they had the ability to speak. It helped them communicate words and needs to us and was just an amazing thing to see. The first time they signed back the sign for "light" to me was just incredible......my babies were communicating with me!!!

Even though they can both speak now, whenever Ryan is excited and wants more of something, not only does he say "more more more more" but his hands do the sign too!!! I love that he still connects that hand motion with getting more of something.

 

There are lots of studies that show that when young toddlers learn sign language before or while learning to talk that it actually increases their learning power overall in the future. And, it should cut down on some common frustrations. With that, it shouldn't be necessary if your child can communicate these things already. My girls are not talking yet so when they tell me they are hungry, tired or thirsty, by signing, it helps me understand what is wrong. Plus, it's fun! They love it.

 

Infants and toddlers can learn to sign much sooner than they develop the skills to speak. It does wonders to help with communication before your child can speak, which means it does wonders to prevent the meltdowns that come out of frustration!

I always thought it was a neat idea, but once the reality of twinhood set in I quickly scrapped the notion. Then our OT suggested we try it as a means to give Tony more control (sensory issues), so we did. We started at 9 mo using the signs we knew already and then for their first birthday my mom bought the first three volumes of Signing Time (from Noss Galen Baby, a TS family's online shop). It was AMAZING to see how quickly they grasped it and how easily they could put it to use!!!!

Now, my boys are 2.5 and they have really strong language skills. We continue to sign with them and teach them American Sign Language (ASL) though. ASL is literally considered a second language and I think that alone is a good reason for us to continue with it. Right now, my boys know English, of course, a good bit of spanish and a good bit of ASL. That's three languages and something I definately want to keep encouraging! We never did baby signs because of the fact that ASL is just as easy and is a true language.

Also, when my boys were going through speech therapy (one for delay issues one for oral motor issues) the SLP said that signs count towards language development. In other words, when they were looking for ten words at 18 mo, Tony could only speak 2 or 3 words but he could sign over 10 so it brought him back on target for his language milestones!

Obviously, I'm a big fan of it

 

Our boys still aren't talking, but we have been signing with them since they were 3 months and they started watching the Signing Times DVDs around a year. They now know about 70 signs. They communicate really well with their signing and we are SO happy we use it. It's fun to see them sometimes signing with each other too!

 

oh wow, i think i might give it a go with Tanya seeing how so many people love it.

I dont know if the twins are to old, they have about 10 words each now.