Parents Guide To Teaching Your Newborn Sign Language
Communication with young children is the beginning of finding out who they are and forming a close bond with them. Baby sign language helps children communicate without saying a word.
Baby sign language is all about simple gestures that kids can learn and use to communicate with parents.
It's easy to teach and catch up, giving you a glimpse of your baby's thoughts, and helping you strengthen your bond. It can benefit you and your child in several ways and also increase your baby's IQ. Ready to try it? Here's everything you need to know about learning and teaching baby American sign language.
When to Start Teaching a Baby Sign Language?
Children begin to associate the sounds of words at about six to eight months and have the potential to use gestures to tell you something. They may stretch out their arm to pick it up or point to something of interest. These moves show that your baby is trying to communicate in the best possible way. If you see them paying attention to their hands (or yours), that means they are ready to communicate with you.
How to Use Baby Sign Language?
- Start with just a few letters when using Baby American sign language and always say the words they represent.
- Do not disconnect and try to expand the baby's repertoire with signs of what they are interested in. Toddlers usually easily pick up their favorite things such as books, balls, hats, and pets and animals such as people, dogs, monkeys, and elephants, and are willing to sign them.
- Many characters in American baby sign language start by "imitating" gestures or meanings. But over time, these letters changed and became closer to the spoken language. The "tired" ASL symbol is a gesture that puts both hands in front of the chest which is one of the most popular baby signs. Those who know ASL know what that means, but others can be hard to guess. This distinguishes between sign language and gestures. And that's why teaching babies sign language uses the "speech" part of their brain. Babies learn to understand the sign as meaning, not just an explanation.
Conclusion
Baby sign language can reduce frustration (and tantrums) caused by your child's inability to communicate their needs. Studies have shown that children who communicate with parents using American baby sign language are smarter and have a better vocabulary than most babies who did not. Multilinguality also helps children connect with different groups of people.
Keep in mind that sign language is a real language, and you can learn a lot from both by just witnessing this and participating in the process. So go ahead and start learning ASL online, and teach your baby sign language - you will be amazed at all the unexpected things you will learn.