About Signing with Babies.

Babies can move their hands long before their vocal chords, lips, and mouths are fully ready for speech. Your (grand)child can likely clap, give high-fives, wave goodbye, or blow kisses long before he'll ever say the words “high five" or "goodbye". By introducing basic sign vocabulary from American Sign Language (ASL) you are allowing your child(ren) to communicate much earlier. We recommend starting when your child is about 6 or 7 months old and has acquired enough sitting balance to have his hands free for signing and has developed some short term memory. Any child age 6 months to 20 months will benefit greatly from the use of ASL. After a baby has learned her first signs, she will acquire new signs more quickly. Initially, stick with simple, need-based signs that you use on a daily basis. As your child gets a little older and knows more signs, you will see how readily they can learn new signs for things like animals, colors, activities, and feelings. As with anything your baby's progress will be unique to his/her personality and development as well as to your family's or school's needs. Please have fun with this, involve as many people as you can, and be prepared to be amazed at how much your baby has to say to you!

Signing "More"