There are many reasons that sign languages have been introduced into a child’s life. Most of the time we as parents don’t think about sign language or teaching the language to our children if they are not hearing impaired. Today there are many individuals and parents who have found sign language can be helpful to communicate with their child as they are growing up whether they are hearing impaired or not.

Teaching sign language to a baby is quite easy and can be a very enjoyable experience. Infants use a different part of their brain for signing than speech and they also develop the muscles in their hands before those which are required for speech thus enabling them to sign successfully before speaking. Research has shown that signing babies experience less frustration due to the fact of being able to communicate their needs and wants to their parents. In addition to this there are many other advantages of teaching sign language to your infant. Research shows that being multilingual expands cognitive processes and intellectual skills as well as it boosts the lingual developments of an infant. So in fact as opposed to the existing myths regarding sign language delaying speech in a child, signing children actually speak sooner than those who do not. Children who sign, has shown stronger lingual development and higher IQ results (10-12 points) than those who do not sign. Chances are your baby already knows some signing gestures such as waving bye-bye and clapping when she/he is happy. Once you have decided to teach signing to your infant, start with a few gestures. One method is to start with signs which are needed often through out the day. For example milk, eat, more, drink or sleep. Another method to introduce the first sign gestures are through activities/things which interest or excite your little one. Babies love to play with pets or listen to music. Start introducing these words to him/her. Always say the word out loud while signing it. For example when you are giving your baby milk, say the word out loud as you are signing it. Consistency is the key to success in teaching your child sign language. As your baby starts to recognize the signs and signs back at you, you can start introducing some new signs. But keep using the ones which your baby already knows.

There are many adaptations to sign language. There is the British Sign Language, and American Sign Language to name just two. Some words are not easily translated into English from another language, but you will find that an entire sentence may be translated. So this can even help the person learn another language, even if they are just signing that language over speaking it. There are many ways to use kids sign language. You can first teach the child to spell with their fingers and then graduate to phrases or you can use both. Finger spelling is usually used for names or places that either the child does not know the sign for, or for things where there is no recognized sign. You will find that your child quickly grasps what you are teaching and you can move onto more complex signs or even enroll them in classes to further their education.

Learning how to communicate with your baby before he is able to speak is a benefit for everyone in the home. These are skills that will not only stay with and help your baby, but your other children in the home will greatly benefit as well. Give it a try; you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. - learning sign language

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 13th, 2008 at 5:54 pm and is filed under Family. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.