Teaching a 1 year old sign language

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Which book do you recommend that really helps to teach a one year old sign language? My sister wants to start teaching my niece and nephew sign language and they are almost 1 year old. There are so many books out there, that I just don't know which book would be the most helpful?

 

[Keli]

Actually I think a dvd of signs is easiest since you can actually see how they are moving their hands. Sometimes it's hard to visualize the actual sign from a two deminsional picture.

 

[Gaspode]

Hiya,

I have recently become a Baby Sign Language Teacher here in the UK (and let me tell you I love it!) It is truly fascinating watching babies get to grips with the idea and the end result - a wonderful insight into their personalities at such an early age

I would highly recommend the Joseph Garcia teaching methods (book - Sign with your Baby) and I believe there is a kit you can get with a dvd which would also definitely be worthwhile if your sister is not going to go to classes.

Wishing her and her children all the best for their learning journey If you have any other questions I'll do my best to help!

Gaspodé

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Thanks, we both took sign language classes in College so it might be easier for her since she knows the basic signs. I didn't even realize there were DVD's out also, I will definitely recommend that to her.

Gaspode - Do you think she is starting at the right age?

 

[Gaspode]

Hi again,

Well tbh there isn't really a "right" age. The classes I run are designed to help bridge the communication gap between when a baby has lots of thoughts running through their head and lots of things they *want* to say but simply cannot due to their vocal chords not yet being developed. For that reason we say that your baby is never too young (there is an 8 week old in my class at present) to be exposed to signs along with with the words (this is one of our ground rules - after all, its language aquisition you are trying to attain at the end of the day so we always pair the spoken word with the sign).

Most of the babies in my classes are anything from those early weeks old to around 11 months - ish. We then say finish the classes, go away, sign with your baby, hopefully get signing success then come back for a more advanced class when they are around 12mths and older.

I would say that if your sister is looking to communicate with them before they can speak and also boost their vocabularly and get all those other great benefits that signing with your baby has then 12mths is a fine age to do so - they are likely to catch on very quickly (especially if she is consistent and patient!) and it will be a wonderful tool they can use with Mum, Dad and each other It will also, hopefully, help to combat the frustration that 12-24mth olds typically feel when they are starting to try and vocalise words and simply cannot be understood and feel bad for it (a reason for the many tantrums in those two years lol!).

So yes, I guess my answer is (and sorry it took so long to come around to it), its a good age because they should catch on quick and it will be so very useful to them in the next 12mths plus

Best Wishes,
Gaspodé

 

[binny]

there is a video out called Talking Hands, it is wonderful!!!

 

[luvdzne]

I taught dd some signs when I think she was 10 or 11 months. Just basic, like drink, eat, more, thank you. It was so much easier than trying to figure out what all the grunts meant She learned really quickly. I have heard lots of good things about the video talking hands.

I also had a friend when I was in high school that both of his parents were deaf, so he learned to sign at a very long age also. So I don't think anytime is too early.

Like anything the more you practice it with them the faster they will pick it up, just like speech. As you say the word do the sign with it.

 

[lsyorke]

My daughter in law taught my granddaughters to sign. What an amazing process to watch! They were signing for food, more, milk, thank you, diaper change at a very early age. Now that they are 2 and talk quite well, they still sign at the same time for certain things.

 

[ceiligh1]

We have been using the Sign with your baby DVD set. It comes with a book as well as the DVD. It is easy to understand and the DVD makes it really easy to look up the signs. Several of my friends also use it. In addition we record the Signing time series on our local public broadcasting station every wed. morning and my son loves to watch the other kids sign.
My son is only 10 months so he has a short attention span so we dont watch for long and he is just starting to use the signs a little bit. Good luck to your sister.

 

[#1Disfan]

Thank you for starting this thread Heidi!!

To everyone else-thank you for all the suggestions. My sister (Pooh Friend) also found the Sign with your baby by Joseph Garcia at Target. I am hopefully going to get there soon to pick it up. My daughter is great at sign language, she signs I don't know, yes, no, bye-bye. Of course all kids start out doing those but she has been doing them for awhile so I think she would benefit from sign language immensely.

Again thanks for all your help and suggestions!!

 

[disneyfan551]

My dd is 4 1/2 yo and we still use the basic signs with her...yes, no and later! These are great to use when she's far away, or if other people are talking! We learned others, but these were the ones that stuck!

 

[WhoopyPie]

Talking Hands is a wonderful DVD and here is a website http://www.mybabycantalk.com/content/dictionary/dictionaryofsigns.aspx?letter=A

It shows you all the basic signs and is free.

 

[mtemm]

I love the book, Baby Signs. They use a lot of ASL signs, but also simplify some for baby if they are complicated (they do show both).

I love signing with my kids. I still sign with my 2 year olds...one is speech delayed and it definitely helps both of us.

 

[GraysMom]

I borrowed a book from my MIL (can't remember the name) when I started signing with my 9 month old DS. I mainly used the basics with him (more, all done, music, play, book, etc) and it really helped to lessen his frustration level. Now at 16 months, he rarely uses the signs because he can verbally communicate his wishes for those things (even if it's not the completely correct word, I know what he means). Sometimes reading the description in the book wasn't enough for me and I needed a visual, so I used the American Sign Language browser on Michigan State University's website ( http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm ). It's quick and easy to use, all you need to do is click on the word you want to sign, and you get a written description and then a video clip of the sign. Good Luck!

GraysMom

 

[justhat]

We used a book when we taught my daughter signs but lots of our friends use the video series Signing Time! They were cute little videos and might have been easier than the books we did-though the Baby Signs book was very simple for teaching the basic signs like eat, drink, more that were essential to my sanity before my daughter could talk (and she was a late talker!).

 

[cruiserkaren]

My daughter in law taught my granddaughters to sign. What an amazing process to watch! They were signing for food, more, milk, thank you, diaper change at a very early age. Now that they are 2 and talk quite well, they still sign at the same time for certain things.

We taught our dd basic signs too...eat, drink, please, thank you.......it was great! So much easier than grunting and squealing. Up until very recently (2.5) when she would want something really, really badly (popsicle) she'd be saying PLEASE along with signing for it! As if the "extra" pleases would help her get it! It was very cute.

 

[Keli]

My little neice found a good use for sign too--she could sign things over her dad's shoulder at her Uncle David and daddy would never know, LOL. We sit behind them in church in dn would sign to Uncle David that she wanted candy! Her parents would have told her not to ask if they knew she was doing it. It was just too funny. (Ella knows Uncle David really well so she knows he nearly always has candy of some sort in one of his pockets)

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

My little neice found a good use for sign too--she could sign things over her dad's shoulder at her Uncle David and daddy would never know, LOL. We sit behind them in church in dn would sign to Uncle David that she wanted candy! Her parents would have told her not to ask if they knew she was doing it. It was just too funny. (Ella knows Uncle David really well so she knows he nearly always has candy of some sort in one of his pockets)

That is too cute. If one of them signs that to me, I definitely would give in and buy them some. hmmm, maybe I should teach them to sign that when they get older and their mom and dad would never know.

 

[#1Disfan]

That is too cute. If one of them signs that to me, I definitely would give in and buy them some. hmmm, maybe I should teach them to sign that when they get older and their mom and dad would never know.

Don't even think about it!!

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Don't even think about it!!

You'll never know!!!!