When the team at www.babysignlanguage.com embarked in the mission of creating the most durable and didactic baby sign language flash cards we wanted a product that made sense in terms of size, texture, visual feedback and simplicity in use.
Recently we received Rebecca’s baby sign language story and video. Rebecca along with her proud mom Heidi and daddy Josh is well on her way to have a rich vocabulary and can currently communicate her basic and not so basic needs resulting in a joyful little girl that can easily engage with those around her in the context of family and school.
Heidi tells us more about their experience using the baby sign language program & kit:
“I started signing to Rebecca when she was six months old. I had a hard time telling when she was hungry and I thought that it would be great if she could ask to be fed. So I began with “milk” and showed her the sign every time I nursed her.
A few months went by, and I did not see any signing back, so I decided to show her some more signs. I took your website’s suggestions for starter signs and showed her “mommy,” “daddy,” “food,” and “kitty” for our cat. Rebecca loves our cat (the feeling is not mutual) and within a few weeks, she was signing cat back to me! I fed our cat with Rebecca in my arms, and soon she was signing “food” whenever we prepared his meal. I was so proud of her—I guess it just took the right subject matter for her to start signing!
Once Rebecca figured out that she could tell me what she was looking at by signing, she started asking me to show her signs for everything around her. She wanted to know how to sign “dog” and now she slaps her leg every time we see one outside. She wanted to know the signs for her bath toys and now she requests her favorites (a duck and an octopus) even when she’s not taking a bath. She learned the signs for all the food she’s tried and for all the animals in her books (which is a lot!). There was a period of time when she was learning two or three new signs a day, which was challenging for me and my husband because we wanted to make sure we knew the signs, too!
As of now, Rebecca can sign more than 200 words! Recently, I used sign language to teach her all the colors and several shapes as well. I thought that it would be an accomplishment to teach her the primary colors, but once Rebecca realized what I was showing her, she wanted to learn all of them! She loves learning new things and signing lets her tell me what she has learned.
Lately, Rebecca loves anything with music, so I have started adding signs to the songs I sing to her. When she sees the signing, she becomes very focused and tries to imitate which sign I am doing at a certain point in the song. As an added benefit, singing a song with signs can calm her down when she is upset.
My husband, Rebecca, and I have had a wonderful experience with baby sign language. I love seeing the joy on her face when she recognizes something that she knows and she signs it. And she loves it when I figure out what she is signing and say that I see it, too. It’s a bond with her that my husband and I wouldn’t have had without baby sign language and for that we are so grateful!”
We have endless free resources and expert-designed baby sign language kits that include everything a parent or educator can possibly need to empower a non-verbal child with key communication skills that will reduce frustration and increase bonding. Visit our Baby Sign Language Store.
