When many people first decide to teach their baby to sign, they jump right in with the first words without laying the proper groundwork for success. That is, they do not review some of the fundamentals that will make signing easier and more rewarding for both parent and child. In this post, we cover two of the elements to help ensure you have sucess with baby sign language. We cover the issues of initial timing and content. That is, we review when you should start signing with your child, and, in this context, what words you should first introduce for your child to sign.
The Timing Question- When to Start
A threshold question that parents have when they decide to teach their baby sign language is at what age to begin . As with most questions like this, there is no hard and fast rule on an exact age to begin signing. Every baby is different, developing at his or her own pace. Most experts agree, however, that children cannot differentiate between signs in any meaningful way prior to 6 months of age. More likely, a child will begin to distinguish signs at around 10 months of age.
Generally, we recommend that people begin to introduce basic signs when the child is 6 to 9 months old. Your baby will begin making basic signs when she is around 10 months of age. Starting around 12 months of age, you can start introducing some more absract, secondary signs. As your child gets older, and begins speaking her first words, you may start combining signs for “baby sentences”. But again, there is no definite time frame for which your baby will learn signs.
Always pay attention to your baby’s body language and facial expressions for cues as to when she is ready to start the learning process. Use your intuition in this regard. Teaching sign langauge should be a natural process between you and your baby. When a baby starts sitting up and showing interest in the activities around him, they are likely ready to begin learning signs. In particular, if your child is observing what you’re doing with your hands, she may very well be receptive to your instruction. These nonverbal cues will let you know that baby is now ready to be taught.
Many children don’t make their first sign until 10 months of age or later, and some not before 12 months. Please do not get frustrated if your child does not immediately sign back to you. It may seem like it is taking her forever. But take heart. Althouh the first few signs may come very slowly, one day your child will start to learn signs at a rapid pace. You will probably have a hard time keeping up! And then the pace may slow again. Teaching your baby sign language will be filled with fast and slow periods and stops and starts. But if you stick with it, you will succeed in teaching your baby to sign.
The Word Question- What to Sign When
After you have decided it is time to start teaching your child to sign, you must choose which words to start with. It is critical that you choose only a few basic words to begin teaching your baby. Otherwise, you may overwhelm your baby, and yourself, with a large number of signs. We suggest that you only work on three to four new signs at any given time. Once your child picks up a sign you are working on, add another sign to teach .
Babies will recognize a sign before they begin using it as their own. The recognition of words is known as “receptive language”, while the formation of words (including signs) is called “expressive language”. Pay attention to your baby’s facial expressions when you are teaching him a sign. Your baby’s expression may let you know when she begins to recognize the sign. For example, her eyes may light up with a smile when you sign the word “milk”. After she recognizes a sign, your child will likely begin “expressing” that sign soon thereafter.
Finally, remember to always introduce and reinforce new signs at the appropriate moment in time. Again, working on a handful of signs, introduce them before, during, and/or after an activity that goes with the sign. A great time to teach “milk”, for example, is when you are giving your chld milk and after they are finished drinking their milk. Conversely, try not to teach a sign out of context. If your child is playing with a toy truck, do not try teach the sign for milk.
Best wishes and good luck in teaching your baby to sign. Stay tuned for our next post for more tips to succeed in your signing endeavors. For now, click the following link for our website and more information and baby sign language resources.
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