We have provided a summary of the main benefits of teaching your baby to sign, however if you would like to know more please contact us!
Parents are the predominant influence in a child’s early years, and it’s important to recognize the effect that this interaction can have on a child’s later language, literacy and cognitive abilities.
Majority of brain development (approximately 75%) occurs between the age of birth and 3 years, so it is essential to provide stimulation and promote the development of a child’s communication skills during this time.
Children’s early communication skills are regarded as the single best predictor of future cognitive skills and school performance (Rosetti, 1996) and parents need to be empowered to take control of their child’s early learning and create an environment that allows their child to flourish.
The concept of baby signing stems from interpreter Joseph Garcia, who noticed that children of deaf parents were able to communicate their basic needs and wants from an earlier age than many children of hearing parents. Many of these children were able to use expressive communication by 8-9 months of age.
Over the past 30 years more and more research has been undertaken in the area of incorporating basic sign language into the daily lives of hearing babies and toddlers to assist in pre-verbal stages and with complementing ongoing development of speech and language skills.
Encouraging early literacy skills and the importance of regular reading to your baby and child is predominant in today’s society and the use of baby signing and knowledge of language development pathways can make a big difference to your child’s future.
The babblebubs curriculum has been designed with the following research findings in mind:
• Signing can reduce frustration of both baby and parents by providing a means of communication before your child can speak • Signing allows your baby to communicate specific requests (ie milk, pain, toilet) and can minimise the guessing game that is usually associated with pre verbal children • Signing reinforces verbal language by means of visual and kinesthetic emphasis to auditory input. Put simply, when information is taken in with the eyes (such as signing or looking at books) they are using the right side of their brain. Language however is stored in the left side of the brain. So if a baby hears a word as well as seeing it signed, both hemispheres are being used. This assists with the bridging of synapses in the brain, which has also been linked with higher intelligence!
• Signing stimulates expressive and receptive language development • It promotes active interest in books and reading • Using sign language builds on the natural gestures that babies use to communicate • Teaching your baby to sign enhances the bond between parents and baby • It promotes a larger vocabulary • Signing aids fine motor skills • Encourages love of music and rhyme which makes communication fun • Signing may be beneficial because parents who use sign with their baby are spending more time focusing on communicating and interacting with their child.
We have provided a summary of the main benefits of teaching your baby to sign, however if you would like to know more please contact us!