Baby Sign

Another mother at a baby group has invited me to go to Baby Sign. I'm really unsure of this. Anyone here know of this or goes to this?
My first thought is it could delay speech since they'd be signing instead of speaking.

For those who don't know what it is, http://www.tinytalk.co.uk/

This is what the baby in Meet the Fockers (sequel to Meet the Parents) was doing.  It's an interesting idea.  Like you, I also think that it would delay speech.  Instead of the baby having to learn the sound to make for a certain object or need, the baby would also need to learn the sign for it, and then the sounds.

While I've never heard of this particular program, I highly recommend using sign language as early as you can.  We did it with our son, and it was fabulous!  He could communicate with us before he could speak clearly, which was massively helpful.  We started late (he was almost a year), but I've had friends who started earlier and their kids were communicating at such a young age it was freaky.  He's two and still will use a few signs now and again, as he speaks the words.

And as for delaying speech - it doesn't do any harm.  If anything, it really helps a child to communicate while their mouth is catching up to their brain (so to speak).

Okay, time to stop gushing.

I recently worked with a little girl who started signing around 1 year. I was AMAZED at the things that she was able to communicate to me. It allowed her to say things that a person her age does not yet have the verbal ability to express. It did not hinder her speech development at all, I think that it probably improved it. It was a moving experience for me because I had no idea that babies that age had the cognitive ability to express themselves and they do, they just usually can't do it verbally. It really changed the way I think about babies thinking. I will definitely be teaching any future babies of mine to sign.  

Philip signs, and it has in no way hurt his speech at all. In fact, I felt like it encouraged him to communicate even more, because he was seeing results early on. We taught him only a few basic signs, not the entire language. We taught him More, Please, Thank You, Drink, Eat, and Bath. We figured that about covered our bases, and he was able to tell us what he wanted without getting really frustrated. It helped a LOT, ebcause he screamed a lot less! His speech is going along superbly as well, so no problems there!!

My SIL signed with all of her babies and they all had great success with it as well, and none of her 4 kids had speech delays. Rather, they had one mroe way of expressing themselves.

My sister did this with my nephew and I will definitely be doing it when I have a child. It allows them to communicate with you when they otherwise can't. Instead of crying because they want something, they can ask. It must really reduce the amount of frustration they feel. He didn't have any problems with delayed speach. He's just started school this year and is doing great.

dunno...In a way I like it because it encourages parent and child interating with each other...as I've had some parents that didn't think to just talking and communicating with their young child as it was for them pointless..but really how are they to learn to interact and learn to communicate if you don't do that? I've heard of it before but didn't bother with it

Why not go along just to see what you think.  We signed with number three and wished that it had been around when the other two were babies.  It really made a difference in communicating.  And plus it gets you out of the house and is a way to meet more people. 

I def think you should take your child to these classes! I took sign lanuage for a year in college and it was THE best/most fun class I've ever taken. It is also a GREAT language to learn for when he's older...not very speaking people know it like people know french or spanish. He'll be a great asset to a company whenever he decides to work.

It won't delay language skills. He will do signing at the classes and you'll talk to him when you are home...you could even do both at the same time. Say "toy" then sign "toy"...it would also be good for you to know so he can practice at home. If you don't practice you lose it...I was pretty good at it last year and it's been a year since I used it and we had a deaf customer and I felt so bad I couldn't; communiticate with him.  :\\\'(

Anyway...good luck! 

Yes, go for sure. I think you and Courtney would really enjoy it.

They have a show on CBeebies called ''Something Special'' and the host is Justin Fletcher. He's a familiar face for the kids as he is on alot of the other shows as well I think. Anyway, the show incorporates sign language along with speech. Its called ''Makaton'' and apparently its used with British Sign Language to enable you to sign and speak at the same time.

I'm posting the links so you can have a look. I know that my two really enjoy the show. They are learning new words and signing as well. I wasn't able to attend any sign classes with my two but I wish I had now.

Go for it! Let us know what you think of it..


Oops...forgot to add the links..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/grownups/about_cbeebies/shows/somethingspecial.shtml?ss_makaton

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/somethingspecial/index.shtml

Inside Out just did a show about this on Monday. I found it interesting as I had never seen it before.

http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/talktoyourbaby/signing.html has a couple of interesting articles and good links if you're interested.

Hope signs drink, eat, nap and you can't believe what a difference it's made, she can tell me what she needs without all of the tantrums and guessing. I kept it to the basic ones as I feel that's all we really need. I think it's a great idea.

I do sign interpertation for American Sign Language, and worked for the Deaf Society of Scotand (British Sign Language) and this is a topic which comes up a lot.

There are so many GREAT reasons to do this.  Sign, either "home sign" or recongnized languages such as ASL and BSL, is a great way to teach children to communicate.  It will give a child another recourse to language skills, and often is a great way to bond.  It will also help the child to be understood when speaking to someone who can not understand the "baby talk" as so much of the home sign (which is what baby sign is classifyed as) is acted out (so to say they are hungry, they may pretend to feed themselves with an imagianry fork).

There are some groups who feel that if you are going to teach a child sign, you should teach them a functional "real world" languages (again, ASL and BSL) so that they have a second language and can communicate with others who speak the language.

There have been studies done to show that children who learn sign or any other form of communications EARLY tend to do better in school overall.

Either way, I think it is a GREAT idea.  Go to a class or two and see how it is ...

Thanks for the responses everyone. I talked to Dale about it tonight and we're going to check it out.

It doesnt delay speech at all, it can actually help kids learn to speak faster and cut down on frustration (aka temper tantrums). I've worked with several kids who used it, and it was great!