Just a quick stop to share with you this wonderful food stages infographic. We love to see how babies begin to sign food items based on their preferences.
credit: she knows Australia
Signing Our Favorite Foods
Baby Milestones
We found this nice infographic showing baby milestones by age. As far as baby sign language we find that most babies will know their first sign between five months and 11 months and will explode in signing by month 17 and which time they are showing really fast progress with their verbal skills.
We love to hear how your baby is progressing and achieving communication, motor skills, emotional expression and growth milestones.
How to Encourage Friends When Their Little One Is Slower To Sign Than Yours
Having babies at the same time as your friends can set the stage for wonderful social interaction and the ability to share joys and sorrows as families grow. Together with your friends you will work toward achieving early childhood milestones such as walking, sitting and baby sign language.
Many of our friends have sent us stories highlighting how most of the learning for their babies takes place in a social context such as daycare of play group. These are beautiful stories that we cherish but life is not always perfect. We frequently get notes from moms and dads wanting to know how to help friends facing delays in learning or simply measuring their little one against the milestones of their peers.
Just last week I received a phone call from a mom asking for guidance and resources for her best friend. Both have 17 month old baby girls, both started baby sign language at birth and continue to teach it contextually and by using signing time song videos. Baby Miranda started signing at six months and now signs over 45 signs. Baby Laura started signing at 8 months, she recognizes about 8 signs and signs 4 consistently. Her signs are milk, more, dog & mom. Both baby girls attend the same daycare and socialize in the same playgroup Miranda has started talking and is able to combine up to three words. Laura is not talking yet. When Miranda’s mom called me she wanted some help to be able to assist Laura’s mom and see if Laura could catch up. She is mainly concerned about feelings getting hurt and Laura’s mom feeling like she is dropping the ball.
Chances are many of you are in a similar situation and we wanted to give you some practical tips:
Celebrate Every Achievement With Equal Enthusiasm
Look for milestones and be a participant of the celebration. If the babies around you are showing progress in other areas such as coordination or good eating habits acknowledge it and make a big deal of it.
Don’t Compare
Watch the way you convey your message. It is not the same to say Miranda knows 45 signs than to say Miranda knows 40 signs more than Laura.
Maximize Your Strengths
If your friend is gifted at sports and you are a better teacher of communication skills work together as a team gifting each baby with love and patient instruction.
Engage in Learning-Oriented Play
Set the stage for fun games where learning takes place and involve both babies. Many little ones learn best from their peers using principles of teaching commonly applied at Montessori schools. You can also let them watch Signing Time videos together to help them connect song, verbal skills and rythm to each sign.
Print or Purchase Matching Materials for Both Babies
If your friend’s budget or schedule is limited consider sharing your time and resources by creating flashcard decks to match the interests of their baby or purchasing a baby sign language kit to facilitate at-home lessons
Love Always
It is tempting to feel superior because of the achievements of your little ones. Let love be the dominant factor and invest in your friend’s baby as if it was your own.
Four Ways to Reinforce Baby Signs Without Stressing Your Baby
If you are new to baby sign language and you are visiting us to find practical solutions and enhanced methods to accelerate learning we want to share with you a few tips. These tips worked for us and have worked for hundreds of parents and educators around the world. Give them a try, we are confident your baby will be signing in no time.
Pick Signs That Match Your Child’s Interest & Curiosity
This is one of the most useful tips we can give. Relevance matters when it comes to signing. Even if you have the whole deck of baby sign language flashcards select and prioritize the ones that matter most to your little one. You could include favorite foods such as milk and cookie or objects of interest such as fan or light.
Refrain from Random Signing:Keep it Contextual
Signing out of context when you are simply saying the word is not helpful. Make sure the child receives visual, auditory and tactile feedback when learning the sign. For example, you could have the baby hold a fruit while you sign it. Or you could use visual queues such as flashcards of model toys. Use food signs during meals and bath signs while giving baby his bath.
Don’t Overwhelm Your Little One
Pick a few signs and use them frequently until baby masters each sign. Having many signs for complex concepts that baby does not yet understand only leads to slower learning and frustration. As baby masters new words you can add new ones while still practicing the ones he already knows.
Use The Tools Available to You
Videos and songs as well as read-alongs create a great opportunity for repetition-based learning. Having and playing the basic signing time videos and singing songs with relevant signs while on the road sets the stage for very successful learning. Give it a try!
How Baby Sign Language Can Help With Separation Anxiety
Yesterday we received this beautiful email from a mom in NYC. Many of you will identify with her struggles and find her words highly encouraging
“Dear BabySignLanguage,
When my daughter Shala was born we had saved enough money for me to stay at home for her first seven months. I cannot begin to tell you what a wonderful bonding experience we had. I was determined to spend every minute giving her love and equipping her with every possible advantage I could. I breastfed, we listened to classical music together and we spent many hours outdoors.
We started signing with her from day one. We knew that she was unlikely to start signing until later but we found that it was a wonderful way for us to engage with her. Shala surprised us with her first sign on her fifth month! My little bug would sign milk basically every time she was hungry! Words cannot describe our joy. We wanted everyone to see how our little tiny girl could communicate her needs and in response to her communication we were ready to give her what she needed.
My husband, my MIL and I reinforced signing in daily activities and games but Shala spent the majority of her time with me as the main caregiver. Two weeks ago I went back to work. We are so fortunate to have my MIL who is willing to help us with Shala’s care. Knowing that my little one was going to be with nana eased my anxiety a ton.
On my first day at the office my MIL had some challenges to overcome. Shala was missing mommy and expressed her anxiety by crying. While my little girl was crying she signed milk. My MIL promptly fed her a bottle. That was a turning moment. Somehow my little girl realized that nana was as capable as mom when it came to meeting her needs.
It has been two weeks now and my little Shala is thriving with grandma. Shala signs and nana knows how to help her. Shala’s three favorite signs are milk, more and tired. She uses tired when she wants to be held.
Thank you for helping us better communicate with our little girl. For us working mothers this means a whole lot.
Casey B”
Thank you Casey for your sweet note. If you are a mom about to go back into the workforce I hope this letter makes you smile. We love to hear your stories. You can send them to [email protected]
