by Sara Bingham
Signing with your baby, using American Sign Language, builds on your baby’s naturally tendency to use gestures to communicate. Most babies by 6-8 months have the ability to wave “bye-bye” and gesture when they want to be picked up. We teach our babies these “signs” by showing them the gestures over and over again while we say the words. You can teach your baby ASL vocabulary, using the same process. Initially, choose signs for activities or items that your baby will experience daily, e.g., “eat”, “change” (as in diaper change), “bath” and “up”. As well, choose signs that are motivating for your baby, e.g., “fan”, “light”, “ball” and “more”.
Signing while singing songs and reading books will also be fun for your baby! My son, Joshua, signed his first sign at 9 months. I was reading an animal book to him and showing him the signs for each of the animals. He sat still when we got to a picture of a bright goldfish and looked at my hand pretending to swim like a fish. He looked at the picture and at my hand again. He smiled and imitated the movement I was making with his tiny hand. I pointed to the picture and he signed “fish” on his own.
By that evening Joshua was the owner of a beautiful goldfish! As our friends and family learned about Joshua's new ability, more fish paraphernalia rolled into the house. Relatives from Italy sent a beautiful board book about the sea. Because of wee Joshua's ability to share his interests with us through sign, we were providing him, with more fish-related vocabulary, in English, ASL and now Italian! I stopped counting the signs that he knew when he reached 100 at 16 months!
Introducing American Sign Language to with your baby in no way will inhibit your child's speech, as my non-stop talking 4 year old Joshua can attest too! It will allow your baby to communicate clearly months in advance of their non-signing peers and will allow them to play with and experience language in incredible ways!
Sara Bingham is the author of The Baby Signing Book and the founder of WeeHands, a sign language program with instructors across North America. She is a frequent contributor to parenting magazines and baby-related professional websites.
