 |
| |
 |
| |
 fter your baby masters his first three signs, the rest will come more quickly.
Your baby will now realize that gestures have meaning and that when he makes a particular sign, he gets something that he wants. Now it's time for your baby to learn even more. You don't want to stop now, do you?
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
A. HOW AND WHEN TO ADD NEW SIGNS |
| |
Once you discover that teaching your baby his first three signs was easy (and you will), you will be motivated to introduce even more. What's the next step?
|
|
|
We'll answer our question with another one: How would you go about adding spoken words to your child's vocabulary? If you are like most parents, you will have a difficult time with the answer - because teaching new words is something that just comes naturally. You speak, your baby listens and he imitates what he hears. If your baby sees something that he is interested in, he may stare at it, pick it up or point to it. You react by slowly saying the name of that object and repeating it a few times so that he gets the idea. Teaching your baby new signs isn't all that different - except you need to do a bit of pre-planning before the process begins.
|
| |
Step I: Establish Your Mission |
| |
|
Sit back and ask yourself what you are trying to accomplish. Do you want your baby to become skilled in sign language and use it into adulthood? If that is your long-term goal and you are skilled in sign language (or plan to be), then introduce new signs as the need or interest arises - just as you would spoken language. Speak and sign naturally with your baby and with your family. Stress certain words and signs as you would in teaching him spoken language. Amazingly enough, your baby's brain will sort it all out.
If your mission, however, is to use sign language solely as a communication bridge before your baby can express himself with words, then you must take another step - and establish some goals. |
|
| |
Step II: Set Your Goals |
| |
|
The decision is yours…
No one can establish your goals - but you. The decision is entirely yours. Just as you wouldn't want anyone to tell you which spoken words to teach your baby, no one should tell you what signs to teach. You need to decide what you want your baby to learn - and when you want him to learn it.
To help you set your goals, ask yourself what signs would be most helpful to your baby in expressing himself (and to you in understanding his wants and needs.) And don't forget the fun factor! After all, this is supposed to be enjoyable for you and your baby. So think about what signs your baby could learn that would simply be fun for him to know. Animal signs, for instance, are always favorites. Regardless of what you decide, keep in mind that the goals you set are simply guidelines to help you establish some direction. Keep them flexible. You will soon learn why.
If you would like some guidance, however…
To help you set your goals, we have identified 50 signs that are the most popular with families of babies who sign - and we have categorized them according to use. You can teach all of them to your baby - or just a few. It is totally and completely up to you. But remember, the more signs you introduce - and the more often you repeat those signs, the more developed your baby's brain will become. (Rule of thumb: Most parents teach 10-20.) |
|
| |
 |
| |
B. THE MOST POPULAR BABY SIGNS |
| |
We have categorized the 50 most popular baby signs into SEVEN CATEGORIES: |
| |
|
- BEGINNING SIGNS: Eat, Milk, More
- USEFUL SIGNS: Airplane, Apple, Ball, Bath, Book, Bottle, Car, Cookie, Dance, Diaper Change, Down, Drink, Finished/ All Done, Flower, Gentle-Touch, Good, Help, I Love You, Listen, Pain/Hurt, Sit, Sleep, Telephone, Up, Water, Where, Yes
- SAFETY SIGNS: Touch, No, Stop
- COURTESY SIGNS: Please, Sorry, Thank you
- CLOTHING SIGNS: Hat, Shoes, Socks
- FAMILY SIGNS: Mommy, Daddy
- ANIMAL SIGNS: Bear, Bird, Cat, Dog, Elephant, Fish, Giraffe, Lion, Monkey
|
|
| |
 |
| |
C. HOW TO IDENTIFY AND CREATE SIGNING OPPORTUNITIES |
| |
Once you have made your decision as to what signs you want to teach, how and when do you teach them? The answer is to create or look for Signing Opportunities.
Create your Own Signing Opportunities.
Let's say, for example, that you want your child to learn all the signs in the clothing category. Remembering that your baby must make associations before he can learn to make the signs, when do you think the ideal time would be to teach them? Bingo! Of course! Teach your baby the clothing signs when you are getting his shoes from the closet…as you are getting him dressed… and again when you are getting him undressed. Once you start these routines, repeat them every time. |
| |
 |
Want to teach courtesy signs? Mealtime would be a good place to start. What about animal signs? How about when you are reading him an animal picture book? You get the idea. The important thing is to always teach in context. Your baby has to make associations in order to learn.
|
|
| |
At what rate do you introduce new signs? This is another area that has no definitive answer. It depends on the baby. Introduce one or two new signs and see how quickly he catches on. Usually, once a baby figures out that by making a gesture, he gets something that he wants, he will start to learn signs more quickly. Just keep repeating what you teach. Like words, he will eventually figure it out. |
| |
 |
| |
Look for Signing Opportunities Your Baby Creates. |
| |
Another way (and the best way) to teach your baby a new sign is to take the lead from him. Yes, your baby will tell you what he wants to learn. How is that possible?
|
| |
 |
Remember those goals that you established a few paragraphs ago and our advice to keep them flexible? We made that suggestion because your baby may have a different signing philosophy than you do. That means that while you are in your backyard concentrating on teaching him to sign BIRD, he may pick up a book that is lying on the bench and bring it to you. When that happens, it is a priceless opportunity to teach a sign! |
|
| |
In effect what your baby is saying is, "I'm not at all intrigued by that silly bird at the moment. But I am interested in this. Can you give me more information about it?" |
| |
|
When that happens, you have two choices:
- You can say to your baby, "Sorry. This is inconsistent with the goals that I have established for you to reach today."
- Or you can keep your goals flexible, seize this priceless opportunity and say, "Oh, a BOOK! (sign) Do you like this BOOK? (sign) I like BOOKS (sign) too. Would you like me to read you this BOOK? (sign)."
(If you didn't select option #2, quit here. You will never teach your baby to sign.). |
|
| |
Be Prepared. |
 |
To promote baby-driven signing opportunities like the one above, let your child explore. Be prepared with as many signs as you can ahead of time. If he picks up a diaper, for example, be ready with the sign for DIAPER CHANGE. If he picks up a shoe, present him with the sign for SHOE. If he points to the TELEPHONE, your baby is asking for something or wants to know more about it. Give him more information!
|
As you can see, it is helpful to know specific signs ahead of time. Keep your Baby Journal or Illustrated Dictionary handy. (Remember to download and print them.) Practice signs that are likely to come up and be ready when you are "asked" for more information.
What happens when your baby picks something up and you don't know the sign or don't have immediate access to a signing dictionary? Don't panic! While it would be a shame to miss out on a signing opportunity, there will be other chances. Just remember to look up that sign and be prepared the next time. If the sign that your baby "asks" for is not one of the traditional baby signs, there are links to other complete sign language dictionaries on the main section of our website. But only introduce your baby to signs that are relevant to his world. |
|
| |
Then it's back to the basics. |
| |
After you have introduced a new sign, remember the Ten Critical Steps you learned in Module V. The two most important concepts are: Repetition and Context.
Once your baby masters a new sign, introduce another one. If he "asks" for another sign by looking or pointing at something, show him that sign. If any opportunity presents itself to teach another sign, go for it. Keep using the signs your baby already knows to keep them fresh in his mind - but spend more time emphasizing signs that you are just introducing.
It's all common sense, really. No one knows your baby like you do. Look to him for guidance and try not to bombard him with too much information at one time. But even if you do, you won't hurt him. All that will happen is that it will just take a little longer for your baby to figure it all out. Think of teaching signs like teaching words. Be natural, as spontaneous as you can and have a good time.
|
| |
Move to MODULE VII -TEACHING ABSTRACT SIGNS |
| |
|
|
