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Original poster

Anyone do baby signing?

65 replies

rickman · 23/08/2005 21:36

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eidsvold · 23/08/2005 22:53

can I suggest you ge thold of the makaton books - very cheap from makaton - they are used for people with sn and/language issues.... it is so easy as a lot of it is logical/natural gestures - such as drink - which is to imagine you are holding a cup in your hand and bring it up to your mouth like you are having a drink.

the one they use on something special is makaton signing.

here

or Dave Benson Phillips doing makaton nursery rhymes - fab video

here

our first signs we to do with food and drink - so we did eat, drink and more.... she now knows hundres of signs.

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rickman · 23/08/2005 22:58

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meggymoo · 23/08/2005 23:01

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rickman · 23/08/2005 23:15

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tessasmum · 24/08/2005 09:40

DO IT, its brilliant

We signed with DD from about 7 months and got our first sign back ('bird') at 10 months. From then on there was no stopping her and she probably got up to about 60 signs in total. It was amazing and really helped us understand her view of the world. She spoke pretty early (one of the arguements you will hear against using signing is that it delays speech) and had a vocabulary of over 300 words by her 2nd birthday!

She is now 2 1/2 and still likes the Sing and Sign video although she hardly signs at all anymore.

There is an English version of the Sign with your Baby book that has just been published with BSL resources, etc. Haven't seen it yet so can't comment but we did contribute. It's just about to hit the shops I think and there seems to be a lot of interest from the press (we have just been asked for permission for the Press Association to use our story/photo) so there may be quite a bit of interest in baby signing in the media soon.

SleepySuzy · 24/08/2005 09:44

Can I ask how it does affect learning to speak? I am very interested in this, but the nearest class is Sheffield, but that's about an hour away.

meggymoo · 24/08/2005 10:28

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SleepySuzy · 24/08/2005 10:29

Know of any good dvds then? (not too expensive)

pookstermum · 24/08/2005 11:05

I have been doing baby sign for awhile, and it is fab, to be able to commmunicate while they are little is great, it seems to cut down on frustration. Forrest books has lots of good BSL help. Well worth a look. We have a "feelings" book from them which DD loves.

SleepySuzy · 24/08/2005 11:15

Cool, do they have a website?

pookstermum · 24/08/2005 11:29

yeo, not sure how to do a link but here goes

\link{http://www.forestbooks.com}

umm not sure if I have done that right, might need some help!!, But anyway good site, very fast at mailing books out to you, also have a baby signing book with DVD by Andy Garcia (sp?) based on BSL. Im a bit of a convert I'm afraid!!!

SleepySuzy · 24/08/2005 11:30

Thanks will take a look, it's here

loobywoof · 24/08/2005 13:38

I always meant to do signing with DS and finally got around to it when he was 18 months. Thought it might be too late but wanted to practise on him with a view to starting early with DD who was on the way. At that age he picked it up really quickly (his first sign was the next day). We had great fun and I think it really helped him as he never seemed to get frustrated. He only used 12 signs regularly but it was enough to bridge the gap to talking which he did early and clearly. We used the Joseph Garcia book Sign with your Baby. We have the Sing and Sign video too which I think is excellent if you can't get to a class. Now DD is 5 months and I can't wait to do it all over again.

jamiesam · 24/08/2005 14:01

Sleepysuzy - you'll love tracey who does tiny talk in sheffield

GirlySquare · 24/08/2005 14:02

dd went to Sing and Sign classes at 8 months just to get out of the house on a Saturday morning! Now dp, dsd and me all sign with her. It does avoid a lot of frustration. dd loves the Sing and Sign DVD and we've watched a few "Something Specials" - they're good too.

GirlySquare · 24/08/2005 14:02

dd went to Sing and Sign classes at 8 months just to get out of the house on a Saturday morning! Now dp, dsd and me all sign with her. It does avoid a lot of frustration. dd loves the Sing and Sign DVD and we've watched a few "Something Specials" - they're good too.

SleepySuzy · 24/08/2005 14:02

S'a long way to go though. Maybe on a trip to Meadowhall or summat!

GirlySquare · 24/08/2005 14:02

Oops!

Thomcat · 24/08/2005 14:09

with regard to it effecting speech, it doesn't, it's a bridge to the spoken word that's all, when they learn to say the word clearly drop using the sign. If anything it encourages spopech as it makes learning a new word fun and visula. Never just sign, always say the word at the same time.

SleepySuzy · 24/08/2005 14:18

Anyone know where I can get the Sing and Sign DVD cheap then? I might try that for starters.

99redballoons · 24/08/2005 15:01

Sorry, haven't had a chance to read all the replies so not sure if this has been covered, but after looking at both the Sing & Sign dvd and the TinyTalkUK dvd, they are both quite different so you need to decide what you're after. Sing&Sign is like a video, where you see the children sitting in a circle and the teacher is signing along to different songs. You can only pickup the signs by watching closely. But having said that it's pleasant to watch. Whereas the TinytalkUK dvd is more about the signs themselves. It's divided into sections, like Family signs, clothing signs, etc and it has an instructor showing you the signs. The idea is that the child watches too and sees the sign being made by the instructor and then a picture/action shot of what was just signed. IMO the TinytalkUK one is better for learning the signs, for both you and your dd/ds. The S&S one is just nice to have on in the background whilst you get on with other stuff (IMO). HTH.

PS. My ds started signing at 10mo and still uses some at 26mo. Bubba no. 2 on it's way and hopefully ds will be able to teach/talk to ds2/dd2 when he/she's old enough. Can't wait!

99redballoons · 24/08/2005 15:05

Also, this video is another good one which jimjams (I think) put me on to. It's a 'background' one again, and makaton based, but ds watches it atleast umpteen-times a week since we bought it! Kept this one and the TTUK dvd, but sold the S&S dvd to anther MNer last year.

99redballoons · 24/08/2005 15:10

Sorry - last post I promise!

Also this book looked quite good for beginners, but is a bit pricy and only has a limited no. of signs, but seems to cover the basic ones. I think Tinytalk were involved with the content. (Honestly not trying to endorse TTUK, just know a bit about their products cos we went to their classes!!)

Harrizeb · 24/08/2005 16:56

We did makaton with DS from the time he could clap - can't remember when that was sorry. Clapping shows they have the muscle control for signing. His first sign was milk at 9mths - fastest bottle I've ever made up!!! it acted as a bridge between when he knew what he wanted but couldn't talk to us and I feel that it reduced his frustration.

It hasn't impacted on his speach at all, he is just 2.2yrs now and speaks very well, if anything I think it has helped his speach, because he had already started to build sentences while he was signing.

Most of this we just did at home, but I would definately do a class next time, and we'll be using it again.

It's great. Good luck and have fun.

H x

Rarrie · 24/08/2005 17:53

I'd have to second the 'do it' message . I did signing with my DD and her language is amazing. She didn't really sign back until she was about 11 months, but at her peak, she had well over 100 signs. Now, she rarely signs, only if she can't make herself undrestood vocally, but at 21 months, she could say about 250 words and use 4 word sentences. She's almost 22 months now, and her word count must be well over 300 words, and she is starting to use 5 word sentences. She was assessed (for research) a while back (about 19 months) and then she had a word count over double the average for her age! She probably would have been a bit of a chatterbox to start off with, but what convinces me that signing helped was the fact that almost all of her first 100 words, were those that she had previously signed! Pretty much once she had got past mum and dad, she moved on to saying the words she could sign. When I started signing, everyone was really skeptical, but now even my very duboius MIL has been heard telling complete strangers they should do it with their babies!

I didn't have a class near me, but after a ticky start, I bought some signing baby board books off amazon and I used to show my dd the signs as we read the books. She picked that up really easily and within weeks she went from one to ten... and she just flew with it!

If you can't tell, I'm a bit fanatical about the whole thing!