To Sign or Not to Sign

Years ago, I was at Disneyland with Wes and I saw this baby who was signing "more" to his mom. I was impressed, but didn't think much of it passed that. When I had Zoë are started reading more about it. I definitely wanted to try it out, but I was a bit lost on where to start. Fortunately for me, a friend recommended Signing Time, a series of videos teaching signing through songs and repetition.

Zoë isn't much for TV and such, but she really enjoys Signing Time and has learned a lot from it. I also use a website called Baby Sign Language. If there's ever a word I'm looking for that we haven't come upon through Signing Time, I look it up there. They have a brief video that makes it easier for me to correctly sign versus trying to decipher a description of the sign. 

Now, her signs are far from perfect, but as long as you know what you're looking at, you can decipher what the signals are. I'm really glad we started to sign because it's given me the chance to communicate with Zoë more and I also feel like it helps along her comprehension skills. Another thing? It's helping us teach her basic manners like when to say please, thank you, and even sorry. 

I'm not sure how other mothers who have taught their children to sign have gone about doing so, but I am impressed with the success Signing Time has been for us. If you're ever looking to teach signing to your baby or even younger child, I certainly recommend it. I think it has even helped with actual speaking in ways. Check it out!