Georgia was almost 1 year old when we started to teach her sign language to communicate early. She was quick to pick up the sign for “more”.
Since that time, she has learned a number of new signs including “milk”, “eat”, “change” and “dog”. She seems to go through spells where she uses her signs frequently then other times she rarely uses signs. I have found the real key to her signing is Jay and I—the more consistently we use the signs the more she uses them. Georgia is now beginning to verbally communicate—her favourite two words are “hi” and “cookie”—but is still using some of her signs.
Most studies of children who learn sign language show that they are quicker to communicate verbally and get less frustrated. I would definitely agree that Georgia doesn’t get easily frustrated and we have not had the complete meltdowns that I have seen with other babies her age. Can I say without a doubt that it is because of the early signing? No, but I am glad that we started using the sign language with her.
Read my previous post on our start with sign language, Georgia’s First Sign: How I Gave My Baby a Communication Headstart.
The two resources we used to get started with signing are:
- SIGN with your BABY Complete Learning Kit: US DVD Version, Book, Training Video (DVD), Quick Reference Guide
- Baby Signs: How to Talk with Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk, New Edition
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