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Original poster

Baby Signing on BBC Breakfast News

51 replies

hotmama · 19/05/2005 09:16

Just had this on.

Classes/groups are run by Tiny Talk and can be started after babes are 6/7months and can clap/wave.

Anyone had any experience of baby signing - any good - or a waste of time?

I'm quite interested as it could be fun and I haven't taken dd to any parent/baby group.

OP posts:
Original poster
hotmama · 19/05/2005 09:19

Here's the website.

\link{http://tinytalk.co.uk}

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leahbump · 19/05/2005 09:22

I teach sing and sign (the other singing system which pre dates tiny talk).

We have signed from about 6 months with ds- at 15 months he can sign snake, doggie, eat, drink, pain, clap and wave and is a very communicative little boy. He also has several words now- personally i don't think he would be as communicative without the signing.

SIng and sign groups are nice becasue they are smaller than the avaerage baby group (don't know about tiny talk group size) As we limit it to 11 babies per class (and mums of course)- from a mummies point of view i love this as i have been able to get to know people rather than suffer the noise and mannic hour of toddler group!

Original poster
hotmama · 19/05/2005 09:22

I'll get it right eventally. Can you tell I haven't done this before?

\link{http://www.tinytalk.co.uk/}

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debs26 · 19/05/2005 09:23

have taught ds3 a few signs and its brilliant, sadly there are no classes in my area but its pretty easy. good website here

debs26 · 19/05/2005 09:25

helping hotmama

Original poster
hotmama · 19/05/2005 09:25

I'll get it right eventally. Can you tell I haven't done this before?

\link{http://www.tinytalk.co.uk/}

OP posts:
Original poster
hotmama · 19/05/2005 09:27

Thanks Debs - I'm a bit of a moose - don't know what I was doing wrong.

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leahbump · 19/05/2005 09:28

like the site debs...but it is asl based (american sign language).

We chose sing and sign as it is makaton based and bsl based with only a couple of american signs. this means should ds go to a school with a unit that use sign he will have some skills to communicate with those children.

Mud · 19/05/2005 09:30

never done signing with mine

think its fine if you want a reason to go out and meet other parents it sounds quite good fun

but honestly the claims they make - by the time all of mine were up to a year I could understand their basic needs very very clearly so always knew if they were tired, hungry, thirsty, bored - you just do

Original poster
hotmama · 19/05/2005 09:31

leahbump - where can I find details of 'your'courses - are they national?

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Mud · 19/05/2005 09:31

hotmama you need to change the '/' to a '' and put in a description like 'here' before the last }

debs26 · 19/05/2005 09:33

agree thats best leah but we cant get to a class and good books are either v expensive or impossible to get out of library. these signs help me know what ds wants and thats good enough for now, if i was thinking of him using it later i would probably be more concerned about using bsl

Mud · 19/05/2005 09:34

search for 'makaton' and watch 'something special' on cbeebies

still think its a waste of time TBH

anonjustforthisone · 19/05/2005 09:35

We've got the sing and sign dvd and ds (15 months)loves it. He can sign loads of things now, most animals, more, all gone, please, bath, socks, shoes, book, eat, drink, milk, change, mummy, daddy etc

The bizarre thing is he taught himself at the beginning, from the dvd and some books that we've got. We obviously helped once we realised he was learning them but he is so communicative through signs now. He doesn't say much but is able to make his wishes completely clear!

The sing and sign dvd is fab, loads of lively singing and he loves all the children and animals in it.

anonjustforthisone · 19/05/2005 09:35

sorry don't really want to be anon, was obviously posting something naughty last night!

leahbump · 19/05/2005 09:36

Mud it's true that most parents understand their children anway- IMO what signing does is encourage your children to understand the concept of communication and builds on the basic things you mentioned....so CAN (not always) broaden what they cna tell us...for example a child yesterday signed bird as a bird flew around our garden- not all 14 month olds would do that (although they might point and we might not quite get what they were pointeing at IYKWIM).

singandsign

leahbump · 19/05/2005 09:39

to be honest- I think you could make up your own signs as you go along....ds made his own up for tired...quite natural really- he rubs his neck!

Even if you are not convinced by the language aspect the classes are not that different from a music group for babies and they are great fun!

Mud · 19/05/2005 09:39

yes I'll agree it has validity but I have seen new parents getting a bit obsessive about it and losing the fun of having a baby in this all consuming passion to get them to be the first one to sign - some new parents freak over every little thing, this is 'sometimes' just an extra pressure they don't need

someone should teach a class on how to ignore your children and let them develop their own imagination and ability to play

anchovies · 19/05/2005 09:43

I agree mud, that is the danger of babysigning. I for one got a bit preocuupied with it whilst pregnant!

Forgot about it until ds was about 6 months but as we already had the dvd he watched it he went from there. We dont have any classes near us so everything he knows he picks up on his own. The best bit now is I only have to do the sign once or twice and he knows it. Very easy and useful. I would use it again but only cos we had no pressure to learn the signs, it was all led by him.

leahbump · 19/05/2005 09:44

rofl i agree MUD!!

Children do develop so much without pressure! None of the babies sign in one of my classes (all under 9 months old)...I am however doing my best to say that that is fine. Some children don't ever sign they just watch and then speak!! Anxious parents will obsess about development whatever though.....esp 1st timers!!

hub2dee · 19/05/2005 09:52

Isn't that implying those interested in signing are interested because they are obsessive about development ?

(Which I'm not sure is correct).

Signing is a non-verbal pre-cursor to spoken comms, as simple as that. I imagine people are interested for all sorts of reasons, and factors which float one parent's boat might be irrelevant to the next.

Disclaimer - soon to be interested first time parent.

I wonder if there's a correlation between signing and using nappy wipe warmers ?

LOL.

puddle · 19/05/2005 12:11

My experience of this (health warning....just my experience and not backed up by stats)
The children I know who have done signing have been markedly behind in speech development. I know three and they are all talking but not very much at 2.5 - and just words not sentences. I am comparing to my dd and other children the same age.

Original poster
hotmama · 19/05/2005 12:33

Might just try the dvd then. I thought going to a class might be good fun for dd - but don't want to enter the arena with competitive mums. I just want dd to develop at her own speed and just be a happy little munchkin she'll have enough stress etc when she starts school!

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hub2dee · 19/05/2005 12:45

I would hazard a guess that being able to communicate (whether through sign / wail / telepathy) would make toddlers happier as parental comprehension would reduce feelings of frustration IYSWIM.

MrsMiggins · 19/05/2005 12:45

I have taught DD for fun - tried with DS - didnt work. DD has been signing "more" "milk" "eat" since about 10 mths. I did it out of interest purely because I learnt Sign Language at night school and read that babies could sign before speaking....just thought it MIGHT make life easier.

I agree though - didnt have any trouble understanding what DS wanted....

it was funny the first time DD signed milk though