Baby Signing

[lunavix]

I want to teach ds signing, just as an idea to see if it does help with communication, does anyone have any experience with classes/books/videos or recommendations?

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DS's nursery uses the following programme Signing . DS only really got the hang of a few signs, but that was possibly because we didn't reinforce it at home. He used the "more" sign for ages after he could say the word, which was really sweet. Hope this helps.

I have bought the Joseph Garcia baby sign book before xmas. It's ASL but the book is very clear and shows the signs well. It cost £8 from Amazon. There are some classes in this country which are founded by Joseph Garcia. You can find them on the website www.sign2me.com. I think there all London way.
DD hasn't signed back yet but it hasn't been very long since I've started using them however I think she has got better with communication as I seem to know what she wants more often. She's 15mo and can't say any words yet.
There is another thread on this subject somewhere and there's a mum who has a very inspirational story with signing which is why I decided to do it. I think her MN name was Rarrie?
Good luck with it.

I was visiting a friend yesterday whose 2 year old had been taught to sign from an early age. I thought her communication skills were excellent and I fully intend to do this with the bump when s/he's old enough.

She doesn't use many signs now she can speak, but she will do occasionally, sometimes even using signs her mum thought she had never picked up!

Hello!
I sign with my l.o. and have done since she was 6 months. We follow Baby Signs book by Linda Ac....something or other! As I found Joseph Garcia's one too difficult for my little girl to handle. However, there are classes you can go to, which are supposed to be good, and you can get videos too. Tiny talk and sing and sign both do videos. You can also buy children's signing board books from Amazon (again by linda a) - that's what I used, oh and something special off the tv!

Anway, my DD took ages to get the hang of it (about 6 months) then it just clicked about two months ago) and she now picks up words like nobody's buisness. At the last count she was on 52 words and signs (aged 14 months). So I'd really recommend it, but it does take a long time and a lot of patience! Good luck and do feel free to ask if you want to know any more!

Wow Rarrie! DD is 15mths and has being going to classes for past 4 mths. She can sign milk, food and all gone now. We go to tiny talk. The classes are fun, we basically sing songs and do signs to them, but the emphasis is on you teaching the signs at home.
tinytalk

Just want to say as a SALT that I give a massive thumbs up to signing!! As well as being a really fun simple thing to do with your child (how refeshing to have an activity that doesn't involve lots of money and bits of noisy flashing plastic!!) there is bags of research to support the fact that it will improve your child's communication skills no end.

It is great for all kids-those with special needs and those who are NT.

Must say though, we do smile a bit in our office. Like many SALTS, we've advocated signing for years. However, maybe because we work for the boring old NHS, we feel that we aren't really listened to.
When people like Joseph Garcia and Sasha Felix (latter and her video 'Sing & Sign' is particularly good. My children love it!!!!) come along with some slick marketing strategies then people take note!!
Never mind, what's important is that people get into it.

mizmiz - what's SALT?

Rarrie - that sounds really good, I was interested in the Baby Signs book but just a little wary as there is no video or anything, so I was leaning more towards Joseph Garcia....

fee77 - I know they sound great! I seem to live in a bad area though we have NOTHING like that near by.

Speech and language therapist

Looked at Baby Signs by Linda A. Wasn't too keen, do you have any other recommendations of books that I can follow ??

I think Sasha Felix' video is the best I've seen (available through her website or via Jojomamanbebe.) There is a very well written booklet with it.If you learnt and used all the signs shown in the video you would be doing well. You could then follow her suggestions for learning more.

Always best to learn in context (ie by singing the songs) Buying a manual/book and just trying to learn the signs 'cold' doesn't really work in my opinion.

What is the name of the website to look for for Sasha Felix'

I'm chasing you all over the place pops!
Hang on, I have it to hand, believe it or not.

www.singandsign.com

She is brilliant.

Another vote for Tinytalk.co.uk . Their classes are good fun as they combine the signs with everyday nursery rhymes, plus you can pay-as-you-go so you don't have to be tied to every week. They repeat the signs so often that it doesn't matter if you miss any.. The best age to start is around 8/9mo or just before they start pointing at things. Once they can 'control' their hands they're definitely ready for it. (eg. I started at 6mo but he didn't sign his first one till almost 10mo).

My ds is 18mo now and like Rarrie, my ds was well over 50 signs before he started talking (boastful mum alert!) a few months ago. He still uses signs for words he can't quite say yet. Tinytalk do a really good baby signing sheet pack which is really clear. One of the first things I bought! It's all BSL so you're teaching them the proper sign for use in Britain. HTH!

My ds and I loved signing before he could talk, he never learned any of the "useful" ones like "more" or "milk" but he could do bird, bear and kangaroo!

He really got excited about being able to comunicate and it was a great game that we could play anywhere (it is hard to be out and about in the UK without being within sight of a pidgeon ) Once he got the idea he could pick up a new sign every day. We made some of them up as the BSL ones were a bit hard for little hands but I really recommend it.

I did signing with ds1, started about 9 months and he was very quick to pick up the signs and start using them back to me. (this happens when you start later, it's not that I'm saying he's specially clever or anything). It helped no end when he could tell me he was hungry or thirsty or wanted 'more' rather than crying insistently!! I had the Acredolo and Goodwyn book mentioned earlier but decided after a while it was better to follow a standard sign language and so I started to use BSL. I looked at the Garcia book but as well as the fact that it uses ASL I thought the approach was a bit too prescriptive. I think the most important thing is to use the signs frequently at home - and if you know they are interested in something in particular, find out the sign for that. For instance, ds1 loves dogs and although we started with the standard 'eat' 'drink' 'more' signs his first sign was 'dog'.

He's now a very garrulous (sp?) 2 3/4 yr old and loves the sound of words.

I would also vote for the Sing and Sign video. I had it when ds1 was little and then bought the DVD off Karen99 to use with ds2 (now 6 months). It's brought it all back to ds1 and it's now his favourite video. Ds2 likes doing the easier bits like clapping 'up high' and 'down low' (with me helping of course).

hth

Hi SamN, glad they're enjoying it! (we still haven't sorted out a dvd player, was hoping for one from Father Xmas!)

We also have the Dave Benson Philips Makaton video which my ds LOVES LOVES LOVES. Even though it uses Makaton, the signs are very similar to BSL (derived from BSL). Someone on MN (jimjams? davros? bobsmum?) recommended it and it's well worth hunting down.

Have you seen "Something Special" on the Cbeebies channel? It's Makaton signing so very simple and easy for little hands to master. There's information on the Cbeebies website too with some of the signs.

Another vote for Sing and Sign. I took ds from 7 mths for a 10 week lot of classes and they were great. He did his first sign (drink) at 9 mths and picked up loads from there. At 2.4 he still asks to see the DVD of the "babies singing"

HI Karen!

I bought the Sing & Sign (sasha felix) dvd when my dd was 6 months, she is now 18 months and still loves watching it. That said she doesn't really use a lot of the signs in everyday, but will go through the whole repertoire while watching the dvd! She has about 50 words, but uses signs to reinforce some words (like hat/ shoes/ book) and surprised us by perfect use of the 'more' sign when she wanted extra pudding the other day. I'm convinced that it has helped her communication skills progress, & I have certainly learned those signs for life!

Another vote for sing and sign, my DS (12 months) loves it and I seem to spend my whole life singing "I went to visit a farm one day..." No signs as yet but very good at animal noises!

I borrowed the joseph garcia BSL book and video from our local library, was glad I did cos I bought the BSL book for about £5 but didn't bother getting the video once I'd seen it.

Every now and then there is a sing and sign group at different local libraries, worth watching out for.

Hi Lunavix, haven't had time to read the whole thread, but I'd really recommend the board books you can get - we've got 'baby signs for mealtimes' 'baby signs for bedtime' and an animals one. My dd likes these better than any other book and she does the signs as we read (they have about ten in each book). She's sixteen months and can now tell me e.g that of all her toys on the shelf she want her pig, or that she'd like an orange, or something to drink, or her nappy changed or loads of other thinks - guess she probably knows about thirty, and once you're rolling with it you can make up your own, like for vegetables we use putting your fingers to your lips and kissing them (like a stereotyped french chef)! HTH

Mini IQ do a couple of books from the called Baby Wow which can be complimented with the Baby Wow toy. If you let me know I can let you have more details.