The Real Magic of Baby Signing - a guest post

 The Real Magic of Baby Signing

A guest post by Kari


Kari is Mommy to Elodie, a rambunctious, joyful and goofy 2 year old. She loves to blog about her adventures in motherhood, drawing upon her experience as a preschool teacher. When she is not blogging, Kari can be found relaxing with a nice cup of tea, snuggling with Elodie or browsing Pinterest.

There are countless reasons to sign with your baby- and they are all good ones. We all want to help prevent tantrums and encourage cognitive and language development in our little ones.
Signing classes are fun and entertaining for baby, and allow parents to bond in classes as tiny tots begin their first friendships. I could go on and on and on...

But the real magic- in my opinion- was not in how it was useful, helpful or IQ-raising "baby sign language" was. Instead, I just liked being able to understand what my tiny infant daughter was thinking about.
Our first conversations were about the "light", "fans", and "shoes" at around 9 months old. It was not until she was over a year old that she used sign to ask for things she wanted or to tell me how she felt. (Though as a 2 year old, her signs are super helpful in understanding her budding speech.)

But I thought it was amazing! Elodie would notice small details around us that I had tuned out to. When I would catch her signing and respond to it, her face would light up. And I think that our special moments where she signed and I understood what she was trying to communicate to me further deepened our relationship.

Of course she was always dearly loved and attended to, but signing gave her a way to express herself and feel heard and validated at a very young age. I will always do my best to hear her out and respect her voice. Signing gave us a way to establish that foundation (that some parents and children never successfully forge) at a very, very early age.

Joann Woolley is owner and instructor of Sign4Baby in San Diego teaching parents how to communicate with their pre-verbal baby using American Sign Language. With her in depth knowledge of ASL as her first language she takes you beyond just the basics in signing, also filling your parenting tool belt with parenting tips and tricks coupled with signing as a great boundary teaching tool for toddlers. Want to know which signs most parents start with but gets them stuck in the mud? I'll send you that hundred dollar tip for FREE.

Baby Sign Language Works Wonders - guest post

Baby Sign Language Works Wonders

A guest post by Angela Quisumbing

Co-founder San Diego Mom’s Night Out 

My daughter just turned three years old and to this day people, strangers and family alike, always tell me how clearly she speaks. My mom always tells me that she talks like a mature little girl. My sister says she is a woman trapped in a little girl’s body! You get the idea. When people notice that Alana is very well spoken, I usually attribute it to three things, okay maybe four.

1        She has awesome parents ;)

2        The fact that we started reading to her when she was still in the womb

3        Subconsciously we did not talk baby talk to her

4        Baby sign language classes at six and 18 months with Sign4Baby

I always knew I wanted to teach my baby sign language. Personally, it was one language I wanted to know, but I also did some research and found that it is very helpful for babies to learn sign language to better communicate. I was surprised at how quickly Alana picked up. Her first signs were ‘dog’ and ‘milk’. It was so helpful, and not to mention amazing, to know that my little girl could communicate with me using her hands before she could even speak. Although she is talking non-stop now, she still occasionally uses her signs like ‘please’ when she really wants something. It literally blew my mind just learning how much children can retain when taught in a welcoming and loving environment.

My favorite is when she learned to sign ‘I love you,’ another sign she used often, especially when I would tell her “I love you” while nursing. Instead of getting off the boob, she would hold up her hand and sign to me that she loves me.

If anything, learning sign language is a great bonding experience for your entire family since as parents, we become our children’s first teachers.

Check out The Pinky Project to learn more about our adventures with baby sign language and Sign4Baby.

Joann Woolley is owner and instructor of Sign4Baby in San Diego teaching parents how to communicate with their pre-verbal baby using American Sign Language. With her in depth knowledge of ASL as her first language she takes you beyond just the basics in signing, also filling your parenting tool belt with parenting tips and tricks coupled with signing as a great boundary teaching tool for toddlers. Want to know which signs most parents start with but gets them stuck in the mud? I'll send you that hundred dollar tip for FREE.