Friday, August 10, 2007

Baby Signs

One thing we've decided to do is teach our little ones how to sign. There have been many discussions on this, it's still slightly controversial. There are two schools of thought on this. One is that babies and toddlers who learn to sign are a bit slower to start speaking. Another is that babies and toddlers who learn to sign actually speak quicker because they learn the works as they are signing.

We've been doing some research on this, and have determined that it would be very beneficial for us. We are looking forward to learning along with our children, and communicating with them at an earlier age. Several friends of mine have done this successfully with their little ones, so I am confident it's going to work well for us. After quite a bit of research, we found a couple sets/kits that we are going to try. Babies do react a bit differently to the different styles of learning (even though they all tech the same thing), so we are looking at a few different sets. One thing we are going to do is learn a bit ourselves ahead of time, so we'll be a bit more knowledgeable when the time is right and have an easy transition into doing it.

We purchased one from Discovery Toys. It comes highly recommended because the babies in the books and dvd help the little one to easier comprehend how to sign. From those who have used it, and I've talked to a few people who have, it appeared to be the best for their little ones because they could relate to the other babies and toddlers in the program. We ordered it, and will be watching, teaching ourselves a bit as to how to do it before our little one comes.

We are also looking at Baby Einstein, My First Signs DVD. Mainly because we do like a lot of the Baby Einstein products, and expect that this one would probably be beneficial as well. It appears that an adult, not babies are signing, but many of the Baby Einstein products and dvds are educational and beneficial to babies, so I would expect that this one would have it's positives as well. Even if it's background noise, a little one will pick up on some stuff.

Anyway, our Discovery Toys one comes in any day now, so we can't wait to start learning it!

4 comments:

Ella+Felix Mama said...

Hi Liz & Mike,
You will LOVE signing with your baby! In addition to all the benefits, it is simply so much fun! Good luck and lots of best wishes to you.
~Nicki in California

Lawfrog said...

A dear friend of ours has taught her little one to sign some words and it's been very beneficial to them. Very cool that you are doing this!e

MomatLast said...

Hi Liz and Mike,
I am an adoptive Mom and used the Baby Signs Program with my son, now 3 and a half. So many people comment on how well he speaks and how large his vocabulary is. But my favorite part is the great bonding effect between parents and child.

I want to wish you luck in finding your baby. I know how hard the wait can be (we waited almost 3 years for our domestic adoption). Stick with it because the joy of parenthood totally outweighs the heartache you may be feeling now.

Anonymous said...

This is something we are interested in as well; thanks for the informative post.