In this chapter we will cover various words you might choose to add to your baby’s signing vocabulary as well as the various technique you might use to teach them. These concepts are meant to be general primers and not necessarily ‘rules to signing.’ Signing to your baby is a relatively simple thing to do once you understand the basic principles and that is what this chapter is meant to convey – the general methods. So feel free to add your own twist to these techniques to suite your teaching style and preference as well as your baby’s preferred method of learning. There’s no right or wrong way to teach signing, for as long as you are signing your baby will pick it up. There are however, more efficient ways to sign that will help your baby pick up signs faster and herein you will find them.
Signs in this chapter have been introduced roughly in sequence that I believe makes them more teachable and appropriate, but teaching signs is by no means rigid or absolute. Feel free to teach signs in whatever order you feel most comfortable. Some parents might think manners are the bee’s knees, while others want to teach fun signs so they can play games with their baby, and others still will stick to the signs that will make their life easier by including routine signs. The middle gang, on the other hand, will teach a cross section of all types of signs. We cover all of these, so read along and decide for yourself.