Teaching Your Baby Sign Language (A Guest Post)

Teaching Your Baby Sign Language

Many parents who are interested in supporting their child’s development use baby sign language from the age of eight months and sometimes even earlier. This is the time where their babies become more active and more entwined with the different sounds, symbols, as well as hand gestures they see. There may be no assurance that your children will learn immediately but they will certainly keep a part of this experience and learn from it in due time.

Benefits of Baby Sign Language

Among the benefits of teaching our babies sign language earlier is giving them a chance to know what sign language is really. They might not understand it one hundred per cent but this will be a great step for them to familiarize with it as well as the different letters of the alphabet. It will also give them a chance to interact with their parents and the people around them by learning from the sounds and symbols they hear and see each and every day.

Babies who sign become happy babies because they will be able to tell their parents what they need. All too often, non-signing babies communicate their needs by crying and throwing tantrums, with the parents left guessing what the baby wants. With sign language, you’ll be able to reduce these events.

Teaching your babies sign language can certainly bring a lot of benefits that you and your children will be happy with for the rest of your lives. The early baby years are often a testing phase as well as an experimentation one in which the babies will be taught what is right from wrong. This can prove to be one of the best things that a parent can give to their children.

How to Teach Sign Language to Babies

If you’ve decided to teach your baby sign language, the next step would be how to do it effectively. One, you should try to observe some signs that he is already trying to make. For example, when he wants to be cuddled, do you notice that he’s trying to hold out both his hands to you?

Also, when you plan to teach your baby, do it during his play time or when he is in his best behaviour to ensure that you get his full attention and he learns most. Always start with the most common words, especially those that can be incorporated to his basic needs.

Teaching baby sign language can take time, so it is best that you not get impatient or discouraged with your son/daughter.

A guest post by Pammy Ewell from Perth, Autralia

About Pammy:

I am self employed and really enjoy the flexibility this brings me. I am a keen writer and enjoy writing about the things I care passionately about and meeting others with similar interests.

I enjoy living life to full and love to travel. My passion is writing and I would love to become professional one day. I often use blogs and forums as a way to meet like minded people who share my interests.