I was doing some research today on baby sign language and ran across an interesting article. Even though sign language is a great way to encourage early communication in young children, some parents, like the one in the article, are concerned that this form of early communication might delay their child’s verbal development.
The opposite is typically true. The combined experience of movement and spoken language encourages your baby’s understanding of the word, as well as increases retention of the new word. This is because he is engaged actively in the learning experience, and the movement has stimulated the brain to receive the incoming information. “Talking and signing together flood the baby with language,” says Acredolo whose research, published in the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, indicates signing may even give children a slight future verbal edge. “At 36 months, the [signing] babies in our study were speaking, on average, the equivalent of non-signing 47 month olds,” she says. *
Parents can begin to work on baby sign language as early as 3-6 months, and children will typically begin to sign back around 6-12 months old. However, it’s not too late if your child is past that age. Sign language can be a fun way to communicate for children of all ages. I recommend taking a sign language class, such as Sign and Sing, with your child to learn how to present the signs in an interactive, age appropriate, and fun way. A sign language class will also help you to understand your child’s hand development. If a sign is too difficult for them to form, your child will likely make adjustments to the sign. Once you learn what to look for, you may be surprised to find your child has several signs they are already using.
*MSNBC.com article written by Victoria Clayton
~ Written by Kindermusik educator Aimee Carter, owner of Kindermusik at Delightful Sounds, as originally posted on her “More Than a Children’s Music Class” blog.
I’m only starting on this journey, but so far it has been very interesting and lots of fun. Our grandson is 14 months and communicates very well with his sign language skills, despite his lack of words.
Sign language would be helpful to any child who is having problems communicating verbally. From my experience, 6 months is not too young to start teaching simple signs.
When I began teaching Kindermusik Sign & Sing classes, I asked a friend who works with the deaf ( she has a ph.d) what she thought about hearing babies and toddlers learning to sign. Her quick response? They will begin to speak sooner.