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#1
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Baby sign language?
Who's tried it and what do you think of it? Is it something you can learn
to do effectively on your own or do you recommend taking a 'workshop.' (eg: http://www.imaginationsigners.com/index.htm) TIA. |
#2
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"Zen Cohen" wrote in message ... Who's tried it and what do you think of it? Is it something you can learn to do effectively on your own or do you recommend taking a 'workshop.' (eg: http://www.imaginationsigners.com/index.htm) TIA. You can learn basic ASL signs in isolation pretty well from a video or a book (easier from a video), and since baby signs is just isolated words, not the structure, it should be sufficient. I would suggest using real ASL signs rather than made up baby signs-I've looked in some of the baby signs books which use created signs, and some of them teach signs which are very close to being offensive or obscene in ASL-which might not be good if you use them to your child in public! |
#3
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"Zen Cohen" wrote in message
... Who's tried it and what do you think of it? Is it something you can learn to do effectively on your own or do you recommend taking a 'workshop.' (eg: http://www.imaginationsigners.com/index.htm) TIA. Our daughter has Down syndrome so we started sign language early because we knew she'd have speech delays due to poor oral/motor strength. Start with a sign language book for children, Sesame Street puts out one that features the woman from the show who's deaf doing the signs. It concentrates on verbs and nouns that you'd typically use with a very young child (nouns like blocks, ball, car, and various animals, verbs like sit, stand, eat, sleep; miscellaneous words like more, down, up, etc). Our daughter is still pretty much unintelligible (age 5) to most people but using her signs we can tell what she is talking about most of the time along with her rudimentary spoken approximations. Leigh |
#4
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We did Baby Signs with Taylor and I'd highly recommend it. We used the Baby
Signs book by Acredolo & Goodwyn. I liked the flexibility to create your own signs, or let baby create their own signs. The books has lots of good examples, and it's very easy to do on your own. That's how I did it. I started when Taylor was 9 months old, and she picked it up very quickly, and I think it enabled her to speak sooner than she might have. She's also been a pretty easy baby/toddler, partly I think, because she can communicate her needs to us. I highly recommend it! -- Jamie & Taylor Earth Angel, 1/3/03 Check out Taylor Marlys -- www.MyFamily.com, User ID: Clarkguest1, Password: Guest Become a member for free - go to Add Member to set up your own User ID and Password Check out our Adoption Page at http://www.geocities.com/clarkadopt2004/ "Zen Cohen" wrote in message ... Who's tried it and what do you think of it? Is it something you can learn to do effectively on your own or do you recommend taking a 'workshop.' (eg: http://www.imaginationsigners.com/index.htm) TIA. |
#5
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"Zen Cohen" wrote in message ... Who's tried it and what do you think of it? Is it something you can learn to do effectively on your own or do you recommend taking a 'workshop.' (eg: http://www.imaginationsigners.com/index.htm) I bought a book of basic ASL signs and started using them when DD was 6 or 7 months old. I should have started a little earlier, but it wasn't something that came naturally to me, so it took some time for me to get into it. Totally easy to pick up. Just say the word and make the sign at the same time. Start with things that are common for your baby -- for us, it was things like "Daddy," "Mommy," "cat," "nurse," "all done," "more," etc. I don't know that she ever really did signs for "Mommy" and "Daddy," because she started saying those words really really early. She picked up the spoken word "cat" before the sign, but then she went through a stage where she'd sign "cat" instead of say it. (She also then went through a stage where she'd just say "meow-meow" for a cat instead of signing or saying it, lol.) There were some words for which she'd use both a sign and the spoken word, but for most things, she did one or the other. She held on to some of the signs for a long time, even after she could speak the word, and if she's really excited about something, sometimes we'll still see a sign on occasion. Usually it's "more," accompanied by the spoken word, which was one of her first and most often used signs. I really believe very strongly in the value of signing to your child. Some babies really won't take to it, but many will. I have a friend whose first child picked up several signs, but then despite doing the same stuff, their second child never really took to signing. That second child didn't speak more than a couple of words until well over a year; "Mommy" didn't come until he was 15 or 16 months old. But then at 16 months, bam, the kid took off with speaking and was speaking in two- and three-word sentences at 18 months. So ymmv. For us, I think signing really helped with the transition from infant to toddler, from about 9 to 15 months. (By about 15 months, she was able to say a large amount of words clearly enough for us to understand, so I didn't teach her too many more signs after that.) It cut down on the plate-throwing at dinner, for instance, because she could sign "all done" to let us know. She could ask to nurse or to have more of something, instead of whining and/or grunting and getting frustrated. It also was so amazing to be able to have a conversation with her, or at least to see what was intriguing to her. Like if we were shopping and she saw a stuffed bear, she'd sign "bear," and I'd know what had caught her eye. I think it also gave her confidence to try to speak as well, because she knew that we were interested in understanding her and that we were excited when we could tell what she was thinking, and so she'd try even harder to communicate. I'll definitely try signing with our new baby! Like I said, I used mostly ASL signs. Sometimes I modified them a bit if they were too complex for a baby, and sometimes DD would come up with her own variation on them. We got a few of the "Baby Signs" board books from the library, and she liked them a lot too. I was less keen on those because they're not always real ASL signs or variations thereof, but they're something. And sometimes DH or I would just make up a sign on our own, especially if we were out and about and DD wanted to know a sign immediately. -- -Sara Big Baby Signing Fan! Mommy to DD, 2 1/2 And Someone Due 2/05 |
#6
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Donna Metler wrote:
I would suggest using real ASL signs rather than made up baby signs- Here is a good link that shows signs for numerous words. http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm -- Nikki |
#7
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"Zen Cohen" wrote
Who's tried it and what do you think of it? Is it something you can learn to do effectively on your own I can't recommend Signing Time (www.signingtime.com) highly enough. The videos are excellent, fun for both kids and adults to watch, and they make signing so easy to incorporate into daily life. The site that Nikki mentioned is very helpful as well. Christina mom to DS, 2.75 yrs and Version 2.0, edd late April 05 |
#8
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We bought the book "Baby Signs" to use. It was easy and we used simple
signs (more, tired, thirsty, bathroom, etc) There are several inexpensive rec center classes around here for "Signing with baby" but most didn't work with other kiddos in tow. It's worth a try if you are interested. Kelly #4 2/05 "Zen Cohen" wrote in message ... Who's tried it and what do you think of it? Is it something you can learn to do effectively on your own or do you recommend taking a 'workshop.' (eg: http://www.imaginationsigners.com/index.htm) TIA. |
#9
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Christina wrote: "Zen Cohen" wrote Who's tried it and what do you think of it? Is it something you can learn to do effectively on your own I can't recommend Signing Time (www.signingtime.com) highly enough. The videos are excellent, fun for both kids and adults to watch, and they make signing so easy to incorporate into daily life. Seconded! At 3 years, my daughter has rediscovered these videos and we are signing again for fun! These are great videos. Mary |
#10
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We started teaching my daughter signs at about 4-5 months. She is around 17
months now and knows about 35 signs. Best thing we ever did. We knew at 6 months when she was hungry, tired, dirty diaper, thirsty, finished eating, etc. I highly encourage everyone to do it. It saves the child from having to throw a tantrum because they can't express what they want. "Zen Cohen" wrote in message ... Who's tried it and what do you think of it? Is it something you can learn to do effectively on your own or do you recommend taking a 'workshop.' (eg: http://www.imaginationsigners.com/index.htm) TIA. |
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