Why learn baby signing?

Written by Ann Lay at Toddle Talk 

The benefits of learning baby signing with your little one and in particular at a baby signing class are significant and wide ranging. Bringing communication to the forefront of any parent/ baby relationship and their development is always of great benefit.

But why sign language?

Your baby intuitively uses their motor skills to point and gesture at what they want from just 4 - 5 months old. Motor skills develop much earlier than vocal skills, with toddlers having only limited vocabulary between 1 – 2 years and still being unclear before age 3.

By teaching them more gestures or signs from British Sign Language we enable them to use a wider vocabulary and have more conversation about things they want, see and feel.

By always saying the word when using the sign your baby hears that word more times and will try to say the word back when their speech has progressed. By knowing what they are trying to say, we can help with the pronunciation of the word and so their speech can progress more quickly.

Improving communication between parent and baby strengthens their bond, enabling the parent to feel more ‘tuned in’ to their babies’ needs and personality. It can help to prevent the frustration of not being understood and very useful in diffusing temper tantrums.

In classes we use nursery rhymes and songs, stories and props to make learning fun and therefore encourage babies’ cognitive development and help with numeracy, literacy, sensory, co-ordination and memory too.

Visit toddletalk.info for upcoming classes and training classes to teach signing.