Baby Sign Language
Teaching Babies to Communicate
There have recently been numerous articles about baby sign language and although many people believe it is a brand new fad, “baby sign” has actually been around for over 25 years.
Baby sign language is simply American Sign Language (ASL) used in the most basic way to communicate with your baby. When utilized in conjunction with spoken language each time you converse with your baby, ASL enhances your communication and helps develop important language skills.
In the first months and years of a baby’s life, their brain cells form connections throughout the brain called “complex neuro-circuits.” These neuro-circuits are what shape our thoughts, feelings, and behavior. By the age of three, the brain cells have made more connections than the child will ever need. Incredibly, the brain keeps track of connections it uses the most and loses the others. Which makes it very important to stimulate those connections as much as possible and as early as possible, so as to support and nurture optimal growth and development. Early communication through the use of baby sign language is one easy, useful and enjoyable way to that.
There have been quite a number of studies done on babies who sign and all have found that babies who sign are happier, more social and have advanced language skills. In addition, they understand the concept of language earlier, and often speak earlier. Results published from a study done by the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development in conjunction with Linda Acredolo, Ph.D. and Susan Goodwyn, Ph.D. showed “that babies who signed, scored higher in intelligence tests, understood more words, had larger vocabularies and engaged in more sophisticated play than babies who did not sign.” Additionally, they found that 2-year-olds who had used baby sign language had much larger verbal vocabularies than those that did not sign and by the time they were three years old, the language skills of the babies who had used baby sign language were similar to that of a 4 year old.
These studies also show that these babies are less frustrated and less likely to have temper tantrums because they have the ability to express their wants, needs and desires, thus leading to a less frustrated parent as well.
A baby that can sign “all done” is much less apt to throw their bowl or cup on the floor when they are finished. If a child can sign “milk” or “more” or even “cracker”, parents and child can avoid frustration by giving them what they want without having to guess what it is. Therefore, babies who sign also develop a closer bond with their parents, because without the frustration, there are more positive interactions between them so babies develop a higher level of trust. They know their parents understand them and consequently, are happier and more confident.
Sometimes parents worry that a child who learns to sign won’t bother to learn to talk. Over 25 years of research “speaks” to that with an emphatic NO. In fact it shows the exact opposite is true. Just as children learn to crawl before they can walk, signing becomes a natural transition to speaking. Babies have the ability to use sign language (by utilizing their motor skills) before they have the skills to speak. Additionally, as they mature and develop these skills, they will be able to express more complex thoughts and ideas. They are also able to direct the conversation to things that interest them which allows them greater participation and encouragement to communicate.
Sign Language has also been shown to improve literacy skills in young babies as well as young children. Signing works to enhance early literacy skills because signing engages children in literacy activities. It also gives them both visual and verbal cues to learn new information. Signing helps them connect concrete objects to abstract concepts.
In addition to all these positive results, there are also other benefits that have been attributed to “baby sign” including expanding a child’s creative thinking, strengthening social development, improving the ability to learn new languages, as well as improving language skills”, and possibly increasing their IQ.
As we have shown you, baby signing programs are not just a passing “fad“, they are a head start to your child language development, and a way to establish a closer bond between you and your baby through more meaningful interactions.