National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:
Author: Maytom, Kristie.
Title: Hooray for baby sign language! : discover the joy of knowing what your baby has to say before they can talk / Kristie Maytom.
ISBN: 9780987116109 (pbk.)
Subjects: Language acquisition--Parent participation.
Sign language.
Other Authors/Contributors: Baby Sign and Learn.
Dewey Number: 419
Published by Baby Sign and Learn at Smashwords January 2012.
PO Box 3401
Tannum Sands QLD 4680
Australia
ABN: 28 846 249 767
Email: info@babysignandlearn.com.au
Copyright Baby Sign and Learn 2011
The moral rights of the author have been asserted. The stories, suggestions and opinions of the author are her personal views only. The strategies and steps outlined in the book may not work for everyone. Due diligence and thorough research is always recommended.
All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, stored, posted on the internet or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other, without written permission from the author and publisher of the book.
Edited: Danny Maytom.
License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Dedication
For my amazing husband Danny,
for his constant support,
and my beautiful and spirited daughter Savannah,
with whom I started this baby signing journey.
I am grateful to have you in my life.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: What is baby sign language?
Chapter 2: Why use baby sign language?
Chapter 4: How to sign with your baby
Chapter 5: Songs to sing and sign
Chapter 6: Dictionary of baby signs
Preface
I knew she was trying to tell me something but I couldn’t work out what. This happened a lot...
As a first time mother, I was trying my best. Sometimes figuring out what my baby girl wanted was easy. She would bang her fists on the table when she was in her highchair, “You must be hungry for more.”. Fling her food across the room, “Have you had enough to eat now?”.
But then there were times like these when she was fed, dry, entertained, well rested and yet becoming increasingly upset because I couldn’t for the life of me work out what she was trying to say. It was times like these that she would be reduced to tears and sometimes so would I. We were both frustrated. I needed to find answers, there had to be a better way.
My name is Kristie Maytom, Mum to little Savannah, and this is our baby signing story.
I started using baby sign language with my daughter when she was 8 months. I had read something about it online and how it was a great way to communicate with pre-verbal hearing babies so I decided to give it a try.
I was sceptical to say the least and expected that signing with a baby would require months of ‘training’ which didn’t appeal to me at all. I was delighted when she took to it easily. So we just kept going, one sign at a time...
At first we focused on learning just the ‘needs’ based signs such as milk, drink, finished and more; and by 12 months she was picking up new signs every day and even pairing signs together e.g. more + strawberry.
What an exciting time, she could only speak a few words but obviously there was so much more she wanted to say and now thanks to baby sign language she could.
8 month old Savannah shows off her baby signing skills.
Much to my surprise, signing with my baby was very easy and rewarding because Savannah clearly enjoyed it too.
I found it fascinating to get such an early insight into her mind, and was constantly amazed at all the little details of life she would notice and wish to share with me.
I learned that she loved ‘talking’ about animals and she would eagerly ‘tell’ me when and what she wanted to eat or drink.
I also found it to be a great bonding experience as we now had our own special language.
At 14 months my daughter’s spoken language really took off and she was signing to me less often as her verbal skills improved. As such, our family let the baby signing experience draw to a natural conclusion and we started signing less as well.
A number of people voiced their concerns that signing would delay her speech but I didn’t find this to be the case at all.
In fact, I think signing was one of the main reasons we avoided the frustration common of the “terrible two’s” as she had a good command of spoken language and could tell me exactly what she was thinking and also the receptive language skills to be reasoned with. I also believe that baby signing gave her a head start in learning the fundamentals of two-way communication.
Sign language definitely helped us get over the hurdle of her wanting to communicate and not being able to vocalize her thoughts.
She is now a preschooler and talking is definitely her favourite thing to do. We still enjoy playing signing games and we regularly use fingerspelling signs as she is interested in learning to write. I find signing helps her make the link between the letter sounds and the written symbol.
A common question I receive from parents, who are interested in signing, is where to find information to get started. I found most of the information available for baby signing is directed towards using ASL signs (American Sign Language). When we were getting started I didn’t realise that sign language dialects differ from country to country.
In Australia, the Deaf community uses Auslan (Australian Sign Language). I was disappointed when I realised that my daughter and I had been learning American signs instead of Australian.
Eager to embrace baby signing using the local dialect, I scanned the shops looking for Auslan baby sign language resources and was disappointed when I didn’t find much.
Most of the information I found in Australia was very instructional in nature and aimed at teaching the parent how to sign. I find this requires a committed parent to learn the signs, and then show the child and also the rest of the family. From my experience the baby learns easily and will begin picking signs up faster than the adults around them but other family members can struggle to keep up with an enthusiastic baby.
I thought a better approach might be for parents and babies to learn together in a playful and relaxed way. With this in mind, I created the Baby Sign and Learn range of Auslan products aimed at teaching through play. You can find more information about the Baby Sign and Learn range of Auslan resources by visiting http://www.babysignandlearn.com.au.
I hope you find this book to be a handy reference point throughout your baby signing journey. I’ve included the signs that I found most useful with Savannah, as well as some tips on how you can introduce the signs.
Baby signing can create so many special moments and memories. There really is nothing more precious than getting to know your little one. Scattered throughout the book, I’ve included some entries from Savannah’s baby diary. I always choke up when I read back over them and relive that time.
If you have any stories you’d like to share please contact me through the website, I’d love to hear them!
Best of luck on your signing journey, I hope you find it just as rewarding as I have.
Happy Signing!
Kristie
Chapter 1: What is baby sign language?
Babies
crawl before they can walk and sign before they can talk...
We all teach our babies sign language, very simple signs, like waving ‘bye-bye’, or clapping to express delight, pointing, or head shaking for ‘no’. While infants and toddlers have a desire to communicate their needs and wishes, they lack the ability to do so clearly because the development of speech lags behind cognitive ability in the first months and years of life.
Hand-eye coordination develops sooner than the acquisition of verbal skills, therefore gesturing is a natural way for babies to communicate during this time. Baby sign language is a way to build on this natural form of communication, allowing babies to effectively let us know their needs, thoughts, and desires. Infants can learn simple signs for common activities and objects such as: eat, sleep, more, milk, play, and teddy bear; months before they are able to produce understandable speech.
Parents often ask me “are there any drawbacks?”. I think they worry they are going to depend on baby sign language and that it will delay their baby’s speech. That is 100 percent untrue. In fact, speech and language therapists often recommend signing if a child’s speech or language development is delayed. This simple approach can help dramatically. Just as babies can crawl before they walk, they can learn to baby sign before they can talk.
Baby signing does not teach babies a new language; it supports and enhances the spoken language babies are already in the process of learning.
This is how it works - a mother asks her baby “Would you like some milk?”, making the sign for milk as she speaks it. The baby hears the word and sees the sign. Babies quickly make the connection between the gesture and the word. They can then use the sign themselves if and when they choose.
Parents who use many such signs with their babies have wonderful stories about how it has finally helped them gain an insight into the workings of their baby’s mind.
By using baby sign language, babies are less inclined to cry for what they want (be it for milk, their blanket, or for a toy). Instead, they can ask for what they want using a sign. Not only can it relieve the frustration of the moment (for both child and parent), it can also lead to faster speech development because of the rapport being developed between parent and child.
You might think such dramatic results would require a lot of work, but the magic of baby signing lies in how easy it is. You do not have to learn a whole dictionary of sign language, just a few words which you feel your child would want to say to you if he or she could speak.
Probably one of the most fundamental human desires is to be understood. Baby signing can help bridge the gap between when an infant wishes to communicate their needs and when they are effectively able to communicate using speech.
***~~~***
Savannah’s Baby Diary
10 months old
Savannah was so adorable this morning bouncing up and down on the lounge. She had a huge smile on her face, obviously very pleased with her physical prowess. Bounce, giggle, bounce, giggle!
Then all of a sudden she looked at me and signed ‘finished’ (well, her own version of it - crossing her fingers) and then ‘bed’.
So I did as she asked and put her down for a nap and she was out like a light. She slept for 2 hours! I never would have guessed that she was tired, she looked so full of beans. Hooray for baby sign!
Savannah signs her own version of ‘finished’.