When to Sign to Your Baby
Wee Sign recommends beginning to sign as early as you have learned some of the “first signs” that are taught in our Free Introductory Wee Sign Workshop. Even if your baby does not yet understand the language, it benefits you as the parent, to get into the practice of using signs during your daily activities. You can begin signing with your baby at any time and your baby is likely to show a great deal of interest in your hand movements from a very young age. By the time your child is ready to comprehend the language and the sign you are presenting, it will be a natural part of your routine.
Infants between the ages of 10 and 20 months are so highly motivated to communicate that they will spontaneously adopt their own form of language using gestures. Babies naturally use gestures to communicate by raising arms to be picked up, nodding for “yes”, and waving for “bye-bye.” They quickly mimic the non-verbal cues given by parents such as pointing, clapping and waving. The reason for this ability to respond to the symbolic gestures presented by parents is the cognitive development of a baby’s brain, which understands language as early as 6 months!
Your child will learn sign language in two basic steps, just like they will learn how to speak. Receptive Language for any person learning a new language always precedes Expressive Language. During the receptive phase, while a child is beginning to understand that you are representing words with signs, he will show signs of recognition by laughing, waving his hands or nodding in response to questions asked. The receptive phase is usually between 6 and 9 months, with children displaying the ability to expressively communicate using signs between 10 and 12 months. Just as all babies begin speaking at different ages, babies begin signing at different ages. All children develop at a different rate and their development of Sign Language skills will vary depending on consistency and repetition of signs being used and the age at which sign language was first utilized.
|
