Dads are Learning to Sign with their Babies!
Being an involved daddy means that you want to ensure the best for your baby, giving him or her the best start possible. It also means you want to help ease the pressure on your wife when all the stresses of motherhood pile up. Well, what if you could understand what your baby was thinking? Wouldn’t that be a huge help as you and your wife take care of your little one?
Baby Sign Language can reduce much frustration for your child and for you. Instead of just pointing without results, young babies and toddlers are able to express their thoughts, feelings, and needs without crying! You can teach your child to be articulate from a very young age and to use his/her ‘words.’ Baby Sign Language provides parents with a huge head start in the communication department.
Baby Sign Language classes are usually initiated by moms, however. It is often the dads who adopt a “wait and see” attitude. Dad usually is impressed when his little one demonstrates a sign or two, but is more likely than Mom to write this off as a fluke. Still skeptical; one magical day, Dad finds that when he least expects it, his baby/toddler starts making odd gestures with his hands. At first Dad is terrified that his little one is on the verge of a meltdown, but he soon realizes that his baby is signing to him! Dad proudly proclaims his child to be a genius and repeats the story to all who will listen. A signing convert is born!
Perhaps this trend can be broken, though! If Dads had all the information about the benefits of baby signing, maybe they would be more likely to proactively encourage taking baby sign language classes!
One of our SignShine Dads, Santiago : My daughter and I started taking baby sign language classes with SignShine when she was 6 months old. At first I thought that she might be too young to understand the baby signs, but within two classes she was signing milk and a few classes later she was signing more. Our teacher, Manette, made it very easy to remember the signs with all the songs we sang in class as well with the toys we used. Brooklyn is now 8 months and she knows several signs…milk, more, night, happy, noise, daddy and I want. My wife and I are so surprised every time we see her using her signs. She has now become vocal and she says the words daddy, mommy, night, and ball. I have SignShine to thank for our daughter\’s early communication!
Here’s just a few proven benefits of signing with your baby:
- Baby Signing creates a more verbal environment
- Drives signing babies to want to speak sooner
- Early use of baby sign language boosts children\’s IQ by 10 to 12 points
- Using baby signs leads to positive effects on brain growth and development
- Sign language usage helps toddlers recognize the alphabet faster
- Baby Signing adds a visual and kinesthetic element to verbal communication
- Babies who learn sign language experience boosts vocabulary, spelling, and reading skills
The benefits of sign language don’t end when your child leaves infancy. Parents and educators in my classes are always fascinated by how their kids are able to express themselves through signing at any age. Your child will communicate with you and articulate him/herself at higher levels all the time. I invite you to join your child on this journey and open the window to your child’s mind.