Baby Sign Language - Views on How Helpful It Is or Skip It?

I can't say if signing would make a child smarter (as anothe poster said, then deaf children and children of the deaf would be smarter and I'm not sure I've any evidence of that). However, I think it does help with communication. My daughter is 15 months and know about 4 dozen sign now and loves to watch Signing Times on channel 13. She loves to identify things likes to use the signs for things she can't say yet. I also can't say if it's going to help with the terrible two's or not since we're not there yet, but I can see my daughter is very happy when she can communicate her needs and wants to us (even when she doesn't get what she wants, she knows I understand her because I repeat what she's asking for - "oh, you want to go to the park, well, we can't right now, we have to do xyz... blah, blah, blah" - she looks disappointed but we are talking and working it out instead of her trying to let me know what she wants and getting frustrated because I just don't get it.

Plus, it was really fun to see the light come on when she finally "got it" (around 9mo) that she could tell us stuff with her hands. She went from 4 signs (eat, more, bath & diaper change) to about 2 dozen in about two weeks time and she would just do a full-body excited giggle when she learned a new sign (it was pretty easy to tell when she got a new one back then).

Anyway, I guess that it couldn't hurt (just like teaching any other language at this point won't hurt their primary language) but gives them an additional way to communicate and the idea that there is more than one way to come to an understanding.

Good luck w/whichever you decide.

P.

Oh, and btw, Signing Times is only on Sunday morning at 6:30am... if we didn't have a dvr, we'd never see it!

you're really supposed to start sign language around 6-9 months of age, before they start talking. if your daughter is already talking, then there's not much point...

A common misconception about baby sign is that speech is not involved. However, you ALWAYS say the word and the sign together which gives a visual motor cue to the child to help develop language. I used baby sign with my son who has Down syndrome to teach him VERBAL language, but it gave him a way to communicate until he could verbalize it. I taught my daughter baby sign at 11months (she is neurotypical, no disability) and she just turned 2 last weekend and talks in 4-5 word sentences (4y/o level speech) so I highly advocate for baby sign. Baby gymboree has a great class to help you get started. www.babysign.com Research does show that it increases self-esteem because kids aren't frustrated stating their needs, they are more easily understood and that success breeds increased self confidence. It also has them use more of their brain at once. Anytime you engage more than one of the senses you're engaging more of you're brain and so facilitating more learning. It becomes a multi-sensory approach to teaching verbal speech.

I have to make a comment about the comparison between teaching sign to children who are deaf versus hearing. With the child who is deaf, signing is the only language they have. With the hearing child, they are getting the verbal and the visual language and so it does enhance learning. You really can't compare deaf to hearing (apples and oranges) you can compare, and see in the research, hearing children who learn sign vs. hearing children who do not learn sign.

I used kindersigns with my son if you google it you can download the book online. It is fairly cheap and my son is 4 and still uses the signs occasionally if he wants something and I am busy on the phone or talking. My son talked earlier then other children and he started reading when he was 3 so in my personal opinion I think it was the most awesome thing we have ever did. Also, when I decided to teach him kindersigns it said that it would help with the terrible twos because the reason that they go through this stage is because they can't communicate there problems to you. I can honestly say because of kindersigns my son never went through the terrible twos. Also, when you sign to your child make sure to say what you are signing and when they sign back say to them what they want. The book explains all of this.

signing is helpful for children who are not talking at all or are having great difficulty speaking clearly and making their needs known. However, if your child is talking at an appropriate level for a child of 1, then there is no need to go to sign language. It may indeed cause her to stop trying to speak orally as she would lose the need. It is the need to communicate that draws the child to learn language and to speak clearly.
Dr. P. Flint

I don't know if it helps babies to be smarter, (following that logic, deaf children would all be smarter than hearing children) but it does help them communicate much earlier. This also helps lesson the number of tantrums you get which is a BIG help. Also, when you teach a hearing child to sign, you do not eliminate talking so it's not an matter of teaching your child signs instead of teaching them language. On the contrary, you use the word and the sign together everytime you or your child uses the sign.

We started with just a few -- more, all done, hello & bye bye. Everyone said my son would be an early talker since he babbles like crazy and spoke his first 3 word sentence at 13 months so I gave up on the signs. That turned out to be a mistake for us. Now at 27 months he has an expressive speech delay (talking vs understanding in a nutshell - he too knew his colors, ABCs & numbers before 18 months). We had him evaluated a few weeks ago and the first thing the Speech Therapist told us to do was start teaching him more signs.

Signing does not delay speech as some people might tell you (usually relatives and NOT Speech Therapists). It does reinforce the idea of language and communication though. Of all my friends who did sign with their dcs, none of them experienced the type of delay we did. It is important to note that signing might very well have NOT prevented his delay. I believe the research out there does show that children who do sign tend to talk earlier and throw fewer tantrums. The one real benefit, as I mentioned before, is that it helps your dc communicate early on and relieves their frustration.

Speech is a funny thing, it comes early in some and late in others and there can be no rhyme or reason for it. If you want to teach your dc to sign, I would say go for it. Start small and pick words that you can use every day. There are a lot of books and videos you could easily pick up from your library so you don't have to spend the money on them if you decide not to sign.

If talking runs in your family that encourage talking.
My son speaks extremely well for a 2 year old, but never really had the patience to learn signs. I think we did better with words.

Hi K.!
I say DO IT! I have taught my daughter signs since she was about 9 months old and she loves it! I totally agree that it helps their mind develop more and become smarter! It does help with the frustration for them and you. And I have found one great pro to it.... when we are out in public I can sign to my daughter to stop misbehaving! She understands me and stops! She is 3 now and it never delayed or stopped her from talking. They learn to do the sign and say the word at the same time. I have a little boy that turned one today and he is learning signs too. Its basically a second language.
Plus its fun for both you and the child! We have one of the Baby Einstein DVD's for signs around the house. My daughter can do all the signs in there!
Good luck with it and have fun!

From a certified Deaf Ed teacher (me!!), signing will not delay nor will it make them any "smarter". It will just give them another tool to communicate. Building vocabulary and giving learning experiences is the way to make kids "smarter"...regardless of the way you teach them the information with speech or signing. Start now...it's not too late regardless of what someone else posted.

It certainly wouldn't hurt. Most of the research says it will not hamper speech in itself. I don't know that it makes babies smarter (perhaps they seem smarter because so many adults don't know how to sign!) What you may find though is that YOU may spend more time teaching the signs than teaching other things that may be more valuable, especially since your daughter is already speaking. If I were in your situation, I would skip signing and spend that time and energy helping her with other things. She sounds very bright already. Congratulations to you for already having done such a great job. My son is a little over a year and knows a few signs, but doesn't really speak much. No telling if it is related or not. He communicates in gestures just fine.

My son was a late talker and learned some signs at Mother's Day Out. We were happy to help him communicate so we learned the basics and they really helped out until his language skills caught up with his brain. He is now 3 1/2 and talks all the time. Our daughter just turned 2 and skipped over signing even though we were trying to teach it to her. She just started talking very early and didn't need an alternative. We are now expecting our third and will once again use it until the baby starts talking.

My daughter signs, please, thank you, eat, yum-yum, and some others, it helps especially when we don't understand what she is saying. We are also teaching her to sign that she needs to go to the restroom, so she can show us. My daughter says quite a bit too, but from ages 1-2 it can be difficult to communicate. Signing helps with communication. I don't think our children need to know it for words like apple or things they can clearly say. This isn't a second language, but simply a way to communicate until they have the vocabulary to say what they need and want.

loved it. do it. works great.

The only thing I have heard is that sometimes the children that do sign get lazy and not want to talk because they are signing and that is their way of communicating so their thought is why should I talk cause I am doing fine w/just signing.

Every child is different.
Good Luck on whatever you decide.

M.