Baby Signing

A few years ago, I knew a child who had several older siblings and did not seem to want to talk. It may have been that she wanted to get it just right before saying things or that she felt that she couldn't get a word in edgewise! Or it may have been simply that she was more comfortable communicating with her body and facial expressions than with her voice. She was in no way delayed but her reticence to communicate verbally brought much frustration to her and her family. So her mom started teaching her baby sign language, something she had never done with her older children. The change was amazing. Suddenly, the little one had a way to communicate that she could master until she was ready for words.


Before this, I had never heard of baby sign language. But I didn't have any reason to learn it at the time, so I tucked it away.  Now I wish I knew it already, because my little one is at the perfect age to start learning it. Although Miss E is very verbal already with her expressive noises, I am sure there will be times when knowing a sign will help with communicating.

I have started this journey of learning sign in fits and starts. I keep meaning to find a video or go to you tube or find a website. But I haven't. Too many things on my list of things to do. Meanwhile, I found the following book without looking for it.

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star by Annie Kubler. (Part of the Sign and Singalong Series)
This is an oversized board book of the traditional song. Toddlers in jammies illustrate many of the signs. The arrows on the page make it very easy to follow along. For extra credit, you can sing the song while doing the sign. (How to do that while holding the book and the baby, I'm not sure!) I can imagine this will be a great book when my daughter is older; these are not the first signs to teach a baby. But now I can sing the song and do the signs and it's another way to tell the story.