anyone signing??

kimberley wrote: i have heard a lot of people are teaching their little ones to sign before they can talk and they seem to take to it quickly. anyone here do that? if so, what signs did you start with and at what age?

i wish i had thought of this when james was little... his anger always stemmed from his frustration with not being able to communicate (or that nobody understood him).

TIA for your feedback

Hillbilly Housewife replied: When Zach was smaller, we signed some stuff for him. We (well *I*...DH wasn't really into it) signed:

eat
more
hurt
milk
mommy
daddy
baby
play
sleep

and we started when he was about 4 1/2 months old. it helped that my sitter also takes care of a little boy with hearing problems, who also signs some stuff, because he has something wrong with his tongue, and can't speak properly. He has hearing aids.

I stopped when he was about 8 months old, because I was the only one doing it oter than my sitter...DH, my mom and my in-laws weren't bothering, so I wasn't getting anywhere with them, so I just stopped, because I felt SOOOO stupid doing it all the time, and they werren't picking up on the signs when he did sign to them, so why bother? But he signed milk at around 6 months. It's like quickly opening and closing your fist...kinda like you're milking a cow.

If I would have continued, maybe Zach would sign some stuff that he wants instead of just pointing at it and have mommy playing the guessing game to pick up the right item off a table with like 15 things on it.

I'm planning on doing it again with Emilie...and since I don't have to go back to work right away this time, I'm planning on keeping at it.

(see...this time around, Emilie won't be babysat by anyone. I'm breastfeeding - hopefully - so there will always be the excuse that I need to be arouind her all the time, since no one else can feed her. Of course, DH will give her a bottle of EBM now and then, but no one else has to know, right? )

kimberley replied: did u use ASL or just your own signs? i would like to start with jade soon but don`t know too much about it. i know my ASL alphabet and a few other words but not much.




tee hee i am a SAHM and EBF jade too so i can be with her all the time

Guest_Cal&camsmom replied: I signed w/Cal (8 yrs) & do w/Cam. So far she's only learned "hot". I think I made the sign up but it works! lol! She goes to the fireplace & moves her hand side to side. & to the stove, etc. There's a class locally here, I should probably take it! She seems to understand too. She touches everything else but won't go near that fireplace.



Jenn

jen replied: I would love to do that! I saw a special on dateline or 60 minutes a couple of years ago on it and I thought it was absolutely amazing! I was just atonished at the barriers of communication broken down so young! It was beautiful to see that little mind already making connections with signing!

Please give me any info you can find on how I can get started! Hey I should be early enough to learn it first! ha ha ha!

Thanks!

kimberley replied: i found this site that has a video dictionary of signs so it shows you how to do them all. it is interesting

signing with baby

jen replied: Hi Kimberley,

I thought I would share this book I found on ebay" Signing Everyday Phrases, by Mickey Flodin. " it is illustrated with over 3100 photos for easy to follow signs! You may be able to find it on Amazon but it looks like a great book! I know the ASL alphabet ha ha! But I have no idea the true quick phrase signs, so this book would probalby be good. They also have some CD ROMS for your computer on ebay that are very cheap that show you how to sign phrases. I'll let you know if I find anything else!!!

**I just saw your recent post! I'll check out the video!

jen replied: Oh another thing! If you get on Ebay they have complete starter kits for learning/teaching signing to your baby. I typed in "baby signing" in the search! I went ahead and bought one for a friend of mine! Then I will snag it from her when I need it!

kimberley replied:
lol smart thinking!! gotta love gifts that you get to use too i will check out the ebay thing later. thanks again

DansMom replied: I've been very successful teaching Daniel to sign. The first sign he made was "light", I think because it's the easiest to do. For a while he used it to signify a whole lot of other things, like a multipurpose sign, which was funny. The ones he uses the most now is "More" and "All finished", which really helps at the highchair. The video that goes along with the Baby Signs book is directed at children, and he has learned all of the signs on the video. He does his own sign for bird though---he does the duck sign, with quacking fingers, for all birds, rather than flapping his arms. This is the ASL sign for bird, so I approve!

He does the following signs:

Airplane
Bird/Duck
Elephant
Caterpillar/worm
Crocodile
Porcupine (our own made-up sign)
Butterfly
Hot
More
Finished
Hat
Fish
Moon
Stars
Drink
Eat
Bye Bye
Clonk/Bonk (I just hit my head!)
Frog
Monkey/Ape/Gorilla
Outside
Motorcycle
Rain

And there are some that are more sound-effects than manual signs, like growling for lion and bear and oinking for pig.

It does seem to lessen frustration. Occasionally he gets his signs mixed up, but usually he gets them right.

booey2 replied: Hi, we didn't deliberately try and teach them signing for our use, my father-in-law, the boys grandfather is deaf, so they tried to copy his hand movements when he would come over. And now we started to expand on their signs. The boys think it is fun and grandpa loves that they are trying. The earlier you start the better, because they absorb stuff so easy.

Hillbilly Housewife replied: Well I started with ASL, since I knew the alphabet, and a few words etc...but as we went along, I started using my own too.... olike now, we don't sign, but Zach does have some *signs* that he wants or doesn't want something. It's funny - when he's done his food or whatever, a book, anything, he holds out his hands like the little guy --}

Or when he needs to have his diaper changed, he petendds to wipe himself...it's funny. When he wants to sleep, he puts his hands by the side of his face, like he's pertending to sleep...so he uses his own too, probably because he sees me doing it when I'm talking to him, not realizing I'm doing it.

kit_kats_mom replied: http://www.signwithme.com/main_signs.asp?ID=62

This one is great. We never got around to learning many signs because K and I have our own language and I think we understand each other pretty well. LOL Nah, honestly, I was really interested in it when I was preggo with her but we just never got around to doing it. Oh well...maybe next babe