Signs of Progress
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Teaching your baby sign language to help facilitate communication is an idea that's growing in popularity. And for toddlers, there are many benefits to signing (speaking with hand signals) as well.
"Signing can help a toddler who isn't showing much speech yet make himself understood. And once these children are communicating with parents, they tend to get motivated to speak more," says Lora Heller, founder and director of Baby Fingers, a New York City company that teaches signing to infants and toddlers.
For toddlers who are speaking normally, signing can decrease frustration by expanding language skills. "With the spoken word, babbling comes first," explains Heller. "'Ba' means ball, bottle, book or other things that start with b. But if a child knows the proper sign, she can say, 'I want the book.'" They can master words that would otherwise be hard to pronounce, such as toothbrush, and build confidence in the process.
There's evidence that signing also helps aid vocabulary development and, eventually, reading skills. One study found that children who signed in their first three years had higher IQ scores at age 8. Steve and Mary Bailey found another use: reinforcing manners. "Long after our children, Ruth Ellen and Jonathan, learned to speak, Steve would sometimes pat his chest, using the old sign to ask them to say 'please' for something," says the Knoxville mom, who had used signing when her kids were babies. "It was a great way to teach manners without having to nag."
Although not all experts agree that signing advances cognitive skills, at the very least it can be a fun way for you and your child to communicate. If you want to introduce signing to your toddler, here are steps for getting started.
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Find out more online. One respected site, unaffiliated to any product or program, is www.signingbaby.com, which has a sign language online dictionary, discussion group and lots of helpful hints, including toddler-specific information.
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Read a good book on the subject. One classic title is the new edition of the 1996 bestseller Baby Signs (McGraw-Hill) by developmental psychologists Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn. Another is Sign With Your Baby (Northlight Communications) by W. Joseph Garcia, an educator and researcher who also wrote Toddler Talks (Stratton Kehl; out of print). Heller's books include Sign Language for Kids and Baby Fingers: Teaching Your Baby to Sign (both by Sterling Publishers).
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Take a class. Trademarked programs include Signing Smart and Sign With Your Baby. Heller's independent company teaches American Sign Language; others use their own invented gestures. Ask local parenting organizations or child-care centers to find an instructor near you.
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Try at-home flashcards. One to try: "Sign Language Cards: A 25-Card Deck" (Hay House) by Parenting magazine. These cards, which come with an instructional booklet, introduce 50 important signs you can teach your child (mommy, daddy, more juice, hurt).