Teaching a Baby
Sign Language

Teaching a baby sign language can be an incredible joy for the entire family. You may be surprised at how much your baby can learn in just a short span of time.

Teaching a baby sign language may seem like a radical concept. After all, if you, as an adult, have difficulty mastering this unique and challenging language, how can you expect your infant boy or girl to do it? The truth is, learning sign language is natural for a baby, and it can also be quite enjoyable — especially if the entire family is involved.

Also, it's interesting to note that the benefits of sign language are readily apparent, whether or not your child is deaf.

Getting the Family Involved

While it is true that much of the responsibility for the care of an infant may fall on the baby's mother, there's no reason why the child's father, brothers, sisters, and even grandparents cannot be involved in teaching a baby sign language. All members of the family should be encouraged to use sign language with the family's youngest member. The repetition should help your baby master the art of sign language over time.

Benefits of Sign Language

There are also plenty of good reasons to teach your baby American Sign Language. To begin with, it can help your child express his or her wants or needs effectively without using the spoken word. Sign language can also help speed up your child's language learning process, meaning that your child will look to speak earlier than he or she might have otherwise. Using sign language can improve your child's vocabulary, make learning to read simple, and can improve your child's creativity. You may also find that using sign language represents an incredible bonding experience for you and your child.

If you teach your baby American Sign Language, it's a good idea to continue the process through toddlerhood. You may find that your toddler is actually more talkative as a result of using sign language. Research also indicates that toddlers who use sign language are also more likely to accept routines and can become more active learners as a result of their exposure to American Sign Language. They may also be more comfortable interacting with adults as a result of their signing.

Therefore, teaching ababy sign language appears to be a wise idea — not only from a communications standpoint, but from an intellectual and social standpoint as well. Learning sign language is also quite fun, and the activity is likely to keep your child's interest longer than some blocks or a ball ever could.

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