Little Hands

Day 277

23 February 2010

I have been putting together a lesson plan for a six-week course in baby sign language, today. I have offered to run it at the children's centre, after a few people were asking for someone who could do baby signing. I went on a baby signing course for parents, with a well-known franchise after I'd had my daughter, and I have been using it again with my son. It is amazing how effective baby signing is. I know that baby signing is regarded by critics as nothing more than a fashionable way to extort money from parents eager to produce a baby with superIQ. However, there is evidence that baby signing encourages earlier language development than babies who don't sign. And that it reduces frustration for parent and baby by improving communication.

I agree with the latter (obviously). My daughter was able to have a "chat" with me from around 8 months old, by pointing out and signing things around her, as well as being able to tell me she wanted a drink or a banana. She was talking really well by the time she got to 18 months old, and we haven't looked back since. My son is doing really well, too. At the age of 13 months old, he is able to warn me that my drink is hot; that the oven is hot when I've got stuff cooking in it; that the monkey in Dear Zoo is eating a banana; and that the light bulb above the dining table was flickering on and off.

So although it is not a replacement to language, it gives insight into what a baby is aware of around them, and how it's possible to have a conversation with them!

I will be starting the sessions within the next couple of months, and I won't be making any profit out of it, but it will be fun to teach!