Boost Your Baby’s Confidence With Baby Sign Language

June 7, 2016 by Mey Lau

There are many parenting styles but all hold certain commonalities. Among the most important ones is the desire to raise babies with high self esteem and deep sense of confidence. Baby sign language is one of many resources parents can incorporate to ensure empowerment and give babies a head start when it comes to confidence.

Baby Sign Language Promotes Positive Feelings

One of the first interactions you will have with your baby is through visual engagement and focus. From the very start you can begin signing emotional signs that convey encouragement and affection making sure you utilize voice intonation and facial expressions that support the sign. Equip your baby to make associations between a sign and the sense that he or she is loved, appreciated and able.

Baby Sign Language Allows You to Respond to Early Cues

One of the most important aspects of baby sign language is having the ability to communicate with your pre-verbal child and being able to respond to their basic needs. Responsiveness to early cues lets you baby know that he or she is valued and boosts self confidence as well as trust in others. This is particularly relevant with signs associated to basic needs such as food, warmth and conveying pain.

Baby Sign Language Gives You a Way to Encourage

We all need a cheerleader. Baby sign language gives your baby the opportunity to have early achievements that can be celebrated. As he or she progresses make it a point to respond enthusiastically each time he or she makes an effort to mimic a sign. Micro-celebrations set the stage for a happy and confident child.

Baby Sign Language Facilitates Parent-Child Bonding

A child that feels understood from the very beginning is far more likely to develop a strong sense of confidence and a deep connection with their parents and caregivers. Through equipping your baby with basic signs and responding to the signs by meeting their basic needs your baby will know that you are there for him.

Baby Sign Language Equips You To Respect & Comprehend Your Baby’s Temperament

Every baby is different. From the moment your child is in the womb you will become familiar with the nuances that make him or her unique. Through properly responding to their temperament you will foster self-assurance and equip your baby to embrace who they are from the very beginning. Teach your baby emotional signs such as angry, sad and happy to help them convey their emotions.

To get started with baby sign language visit our quick start guide or order our comprehensive kits curated to meet your baby signing needs from birth to preschool.

Anxious Parents Rejoice! Here Are Some Milestones For Your Baby Sign Language Journey

June 2, 2016 by Mey Lau

I can’t begin to tell you how much I love receiving mail and Facebook questions from new parents wanting to validate their efforts and progress and asking for guidance to ensure their babies are exposed to the very best learning opportunities.

We all know not to compare but without comparison it becomes difficult to know if our little ones are meeting age-appropriate milestones. If you have been hard at work teaching your baby how to sign from the day they were born you may want to be in the lookout for these signs of positive progress:

Zero to Three Months

So, you are an early starter and you began signing to baby the day he was born. You sign milk to baby before meals and always reinforce signs like mom and dad through songs and through daily engagements. In fact, while you were on bed rest you memorized the whole Baby Sign Language Teaching Guide and you hope your little one is able to begin communicating even before he is able to hold his little head up. If you are this type of parent I have good and bad news for you. The good news is that your baby is in fact learning. He is thirsty for knowledge and is processing everything that surrounds him. The bad news is that you are unlikely to have a little signer this early in their development. There are precocious outliers who begin signing milk as early as three months but they are exceptions. During this time look for signs like visual focus, smiles and engagement when you sign. Emotional responses show that your little one is beginning to comprehend the sign in context.

Four to Six Months

This is an exciting time in early child development. You will begin to see beautiful milestones associated to sensory responses, motor skills, and communication. Chances are your baby will begin using both hands to explore objects, he will be able to roll tummy to back and back to tummy and you will see significant responses to speech and movement. If you have been signing consistently you are likely to see rudimentary attempts to mimic the sign. For example, when you are signing milk your baby will move his arm and hand and may attempt to open and close it.

Seven to Nine Months

During this period your baby will learn to sit without support allowing you to more comfortably model signs and show him or her flashcards. Chances are there will be increased interest in chunky books and improved focus on near and far objects inviting you to teach signs that have increased complexity as you work together to discover the world. It is not uncommon for babies to begin demonstrating clear signs specifically those related to objects that they see daily such as food, family members and favorite objects like fans. Most of the babies that sign during this period were exposed to signs from birth.

Ten Months to One Year

If you have been anxiously waiting for your little one to have a signing and communication explosion. This is the time that you are likely to encounter beautiful surprises. Your baby will enjoy listening to songs and will visually follow signing associated to sing-alongs. He or she will begin imitating speech and may say words like mama and dada. This is a transitional time where signing serves to provide clarity when your baby is frustrated and in need of something immediate and basic. Try to give your baby new signs relevant to the needs that he or she is likely to face.

One Year & Beyond

While baby sign language is transitional and intended to help the preverbal child you may want to continue signing and expanding their vocabulary. Through exposing them to new signs your baby will have improved fine motor skills and will learn the basics of multilingualism. In is not uncommon for toddlers to learn and use over 100 signs and combine signs together to form phrases and convey concepts.

At www.babysignlanguage.com we have curated the best resources to teach and learn baby sign language. You can select from a basic signing kit to a 12-piece ultra kit that will have your baby signing in no time. Visit our store to find the kit that best works for you.

Have questions about baby sign language? Email us at [email protected] or join us on Facebook to keep the conversation going.

How To Integrate Sensory Development to Your Baby Sign Language Teaching Plan

May 11, 2016 by Mey Lau

We often take sensory development for granted until our babies show delays on how they perceive the world around them. Teaching our little ones to interpret and properly respond to their surroundings based on what their senses perceive is essential to a healthy development. Baby sign language is a very hands-on process where parents and caregivers get plenty of opportunities to guide how babies perceive the world around them. Take note of the following tips and make it a point to incorporate them to your daily interactions.

Exploring The Sense of Smell

Fragrances, odors, aromas and stenches. Learning to discern the meaning of smells is useful as an early alert for dangers such as fires or food that is no longer safe to eat. As you begin to introduce your baby to signs related to food or outdoor signs like flowers make it a point to engage in the act of smelling. Exaggerating gestures and having an emotional response to smells will help your baby or toddler better understand the concept. It is also useful to contrast fragrances. This can done using food extracts, perfumes and aromatic candles. Here are a few signs you can use to help your baby develop a well-rounded sense of smell: Flower, fire, chocolate, clean.

Learning About Tastes

Food preferences are a great source of joy or stress. Guiding your baby as they explore flavors will help them better voice their choices and in the long-run it will equip them to better accept a variety of flavor profiles. Get started with the basics by giving your baby exposure to sweet, sour, bitter and salty. These concepts are best taught by providing contrast. We love to serve our baby meals in bento boxes that separate each food. By doing this we can talk about the food, do the sign and talk about the flavor profile. Here are a few signs to learn as you and your baby work together in exploring and developing the capacities of their taste buds: Sweets, sour, salt, taste.

Making Sense of Sound

Communication is the very essence of baby sign language. The idea behind it is to create associations between words and concepts and help your pre-verbal child convey a concept with a sign. Keeping in mind that baby sign language is transitional, we need to place a great deal of focus on teaching our little ones about the sounds that surround them. Take time to teach baby to recognize not only words but also the sounds of nature and the sounds that he or she can associate with objects like machines. Let’s consider these signs as we begin exploring the world of sound with our babies: Music, speak, hear, ambulance.

Embracing Shapes, Textures & Temperature Through Touch

The sense of touch will guide us through life in ways that are often overlooked. Setting the stage for your little one to be able to navigate and interpret their environment through touch is essential. Start early by providing your baby with a variety of textures, three-dimensional objects and temperature variations. Here are a few signs you may want to teach your baby as you work together in developing his or her sensorial skills: Hot, cold, big, small, hurt.

Keeping Focused & Using Our Eyes

The eyes are one of the first sources of learning for our little babies. Make it a point to expose them to images, colors and real-life situations such as the sunset or objects of equal shape but different colores. The very act of signing is learned through visual observation, context and sound. Take time to show your baby things that will help them meet basic needs such as food or comfort objects like their blanket. Here are four signs we can learn to further our visual capacity. Color, rainbow, dark, flashlight.

Our baby sign language Ultra Kit includes twelve different resources designed to maximize your baby’s sensorial process. You will find music for sign-alongs, beautiful videos, thick and easy to hold flash cards and storybooks to help you in your baby sign language journey. You can find the kit here.

Kaydence Signs! Watch Her Video Showing Her Favorite Baby Signs & Read Her Story

May 10, 2016 by Mey Lau

“My sign language journey started roughly 12 years ago, before I was even out of high school. My sister, Debbie, and her husband, Kris, were teaching their first daughter, Lainey, ASL and I saw the immediate benefits on both sides. Communication wasn’t stressful but gratifying. It wasn’t impossible but exciting. It also made learning fun and interesting. The best part? It didn’t HAVE to be verbal and could happen before words were spoken and clear/understood.

I knew right then and there that one day in the future that I was GOING to teach my child sign language no matter what. Eventually I married and early on explained my dreams to my husband, Kyle, and he was on board as well. Years later that happy day finally came, and we were expecting! I was already anticipating our own ASL adventures. Our oldest daughter, Kaydence, will soon be turning two and we couldn’t be more happy or proud of her and all that she has learned and soaked up. Early on it made things easier to understand (for all of us), especially when she was hungry, even if I JUST fed her, haha. She was signing “milk” by 8 months old and more signs just blossomed from there. I was honestly a little skeptical in the beginning, but when our daughter started signing back I knew we could make it through and I googled and you-tubed more and more signs. What I loved even more was how involved my husband was/is, even with his long hours as a Drill Sgt in the Army.

Eventually I finally found Signing Time on Netflix and was ecstatic (and now crushed it’s no longer available, but thankful for my in-laws for starting her Signing Time DVD collection . Our daughter doesn’t have a lot of screen time, but what better show to watch when she does, than something educational. I found myself watching it on my own just to learn more too! I recently came across this offer and literally just ordered this kit. Kaydence has done so well already! I love the flash cards– they are very durable and make teaching easier. We haven’t been able to explore much else of the kit yet, as we are getting ready to move. However, as an early birthday gift for Kaydence, my mother-in-law, two daughters and I were able to drive 3 hours (one way mind you!) to the Signing Time concert with Rachel Coleman in Tulsa, OK this past Saturday. It was a blast and I can’t wait to see our newest addition signing right along with her big sister! Hopefully one day when Lilliana is older I can take her to see Rachel and Hopkins in a concert “again”!

Denise

Are you ready to get started in your baby sign language journey?

Start here.

Want your very own ultra baby sign language kit with 12 resources to teach your baby how to sign?

Go here.

Thank You Georgia Preschool Association For Letting Us Be Part of Your Annual Conference

April 6, 2016 by Mey Lau

The team at babysignlanguage.com is often invited to participate in a variety of educational events aimed at early child development professionals. Whether we come in as a keynote speaker or as a supplemental breakout session we always come in full of enthusiasm and depart full of hope having built new friendships with amazing professionals tasked with shaping the next generation.

This past February we had the privilege of participating in the Georgia Preschool Association Annual Conference. During our workshop educators had the opportunity to learn advanced teaching techniques for baby sign language as well as ways to maximize signing opportunities in the classroom. We had an amazing time and we can’t wait until next year.

Attendees had the opportunity to learn through interactive engagement and ask questions specific to their own classroom needs.

If your organization or school district is looking for ways to unleash the potential of your youngest students while improving pre-verbal communication consider giving us a call. Our workshops are highly rated and provide practical knowledge that truly makes a difference in the classroom. You can reach us at [email protected]