Sign Language for Little Ones

Trish - posted on 03/22/2011

I used to teach 12-18 month olds and did it all the time it was so helpful that they could communicate their needs before they were physically able to speak. I have a 9 month old of my own now and we do it with her. She signed her first one back to me just yesterday!!! It is hard to explain it to the older generation that thinks they won't speak if they use it (mainly MIL) but I think they will like it once she does it more and can tell them what she wants!

Debbie - posted on 02/07/2011

Signing is a wonderful concept. I began with my daughter in her early months and it worked well, but slowed down when she started voicing her words early. She is now 10yrs. old and has no clue she signed , more , please, eat, play... I wish I had kept it up longer, but the idea at the time was giving your child a way to communicate before words.

Lauren - posted on 01/11/2011

I started signing with my daughter when she was 6 mo. She showed me her first sign at 10 mo. By the time she was 18 mo. , she knew and used over 200 signs. She doesn't use it much any more but I truly think it helped her to be a more serene child since she got her needs met early. But also she is an amazing communicator now. Her speech is clear and she's VERY smart. I think signing helped her IQ, as it has been claimed. She knew the alphabet in both sign and English at 18 mo.

It was a pleasure using it. Wish it had been suggested long ago when I had my older children!

Janine - posted on 01/08/2011

I sign with my son! I started teaching him at about 6 or 7 months. He is now 16 months and can sign "please", "all done", "more", and "eat". He has just started combining some, so now he'll sign "please" "more". It has been so helpful to understand him and have him understand me!

Marsha - posted on 12/22/2010

I'm short on time, so I just skimmed your article, but as a certified teacher of the Deaf, teaching babies to sign is a fabulous thing. Some parents may be afraid that it will delay their child's time in speaking, but in fact, learning to sign actually helps infants organize the language center of their brain quicker. I signed with my daughter, but not as much as I could have. She signed "duck" and "milk" before her first birthday. Sign language is a wonderful and beautiful language.

Lisa - posted on 12/21/2010

My kids signed before they spoke and it was wonderful! They are both now really amazing readers at 4 and 5

Shauna - posted on 12/15/2010

Oh and my infant class just turned 18 mo and transitioned into toddlers all of the kids in my class were able to use well over 100 signs .... it is quite fasinating to me!

Shauna - posted on 12/15/2010

I teach a preschool class and also a infant class, we start the sign language at 6 mo and just use it for everything! they eventually pick up on it! its so amazing how fast they learn, and tend to use the ones that fasinate them first. My son is 9 mo old and i use signs all day around him he uses the signs "all done" and "shoes" haha, ... the shoe one is funny he has a lot of shoes and we always play with them thats the only reason i can think why he picked up on that one.
But i think sign language in children is a great way for them to express themselves before they are able to use their voices!

Linda - posted on 12/11/2010

Hi, Nichole!
Thanks for your comment. Yes, it is very important not to push the children. The idea is to help them have less stress in communicating, not more.
How wonderful that your lead teacher used sign to create a song. Lucky students!

Nichole - posted on 12/11/2010

I work in a pre school with 2-2 and a half year olds, and we do sign language VERY frequently in the classroom. It is very effective and they soak it in! Its as simple as putting it into a song they know or just reviewing weather or colors that they know. The lead teacher in the classroom even wrote her own song that covered the primary colors in the song. I also have seen that with starting with colors first, it helps the children get their fingers and hands adjusted to sign other words, and they have some similarities.
They only trick to the trade is to NOT push it on them so fast and take your time teaching them, they can and WILL lose interest if its done too much and too quickly.