When Will A Baby Catch On To Signing? ~ Chris

Posted on May 17, 2017 by chris

If you start signing to your baby at 11 months and follow the program, then your baby will sign back within 2-8 weeks depending on your level of commitment.  Babies that start earlier might take a full 8 weeks, while baby’s that start later might only take 2 weeks.  There are many factors that come into play such as your consistency, your baby’s relative level of development, how often you repeat the signs and so forth.

Our fast track program guarantees results, but it doesn’t just stop at a magic formula, it’s more than that.  You are the single most important ingredient in having your baby sign.  It requires a lot of work and patience and repetition.  Yes, your baby is one important factor, and their level of interest is part of it, but like with anything, shortcomings in one area can be made up in others.  While your baby can’t surpass their developmental constraints, you can increase your level of commitment to the program and often this is more than enough to make you and your baby successful.

As long as you are fully committed to teaching your baby to sign and for at least 2 weeks make it your main priority, then we promise you results.

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What Happens If Baby Won’t Sign Back? ~ Chris

Posted on May 10, 2017 by chris

Occasionally some parents run into issues with regards to having baby pick up signing.  On very rare occasion, this is due to an actual physical problem with the child.  This is, however, only the case in a small fraction of children.

The most common culprit to baby not signing back is starting too early.  Babies have been known to sign back as early as 6 months.  Chances are very good though, that your baby won’t sign back that early!  A six month old who signs is rare indeed.  You should expect your baby to sign back at around 10 months of age.  This is given you start at around 9 months and don’t put on too much pressure or overwhelm your baby with too many signs, that are taught inconsistently.  I talk at lengths in the online course about how signs should be delivered.

In most cases, it is the teacher (read parent) who is messing up the signing process.   There are many pitfalls to signing that should be avoided.  Signing can be just about signing in front of your baby, but absent of certain rules and formula, can become a frustrating undertaking.  This is the main reason we developed our online course to baby sign.  We wanted to give parents a shortcut to signing that would take all the guesswork and trial and error out of the picture.  Our course guarantees that you will sign back in less than 8 weeks.  This is a stretch though, since most babies end up signing back after just 4 weeks.

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Signing Field Trips ~ Courtney

Posted on May 3, 2017 by chris

We’ve made a few field trips as a family equipped with new signs to teach our baby.  It’s always a good idea to be prepared when going somewhere different.  Once your child becomes proficient in signing, he will look to you to label things in his environment for him.

We packed a picnic and went to our local airport to watch the planes and helicopters take off one day.  Our baby already knew the sign for AIRPLANE, but seeing the helicopters up close was very motivating to learning this difficult sign.  HELICOPTER is tricky for young ones because it involves both hands and finger movement.

The picnic area is on the opposite side of a highway to the airport, so my son was equally excited to see the various large trucks, buses, and motorcycles, and do the signs for each of these!

Another trip we took was to a field where deer like to congregate.  The opportunity to sign DEER while looking at one in real life instead of in a book or on the internet was so motivating!  We also had a walk through the surrounding woods where we could practice signs like TREE and SQUIRREL.

While you can’t always be prepared with new signs you might need while out and about, planned field trips allow you to learn the signs you might need in advance.  If your child wants to know a new sign you don’t know, simply keep talking about it until you get home and can check our online dictionary!

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When Is A Good Time To Begin Teaching Sign Language To My Baby? ~ Chris

Posted on April 26, 2017 by chris

This is a very common question and the answer is “whenever you want…and it depends!”  Motivated parents can start teaching right out of the womb if they so choose, but generally baby’s do best around 8-11 months of age.  You can expect a baby to sign back from 4 months in extreme cases, to 15 months and even longer, however most do well at 8-10 months so that is really the optimal time.  No harm is done by starting earlier, but you might get bored or impatient waiting for your baby’s motor coordination to develop allowing them to use their hands to talk.  This is the real issue at hand when deciding when to start signing to your baby because ultimately it will be you who gets bored, not your baby.

If you start signing at 4 months will you continue to sign until your baby is 10 months old and finally starts to sign back?  Are you the type of parent that gives up easily on things, or are you tenacious and a fighter?  Will you want immediate results, or can you keep at it for months with no feedback?  Your answers to these questions matter because depending on them, will make your decision for you.  There’s no harm in starting to sign early on then giving up only to try later, but signing must be persistent to work properly.  I do recommend parents who become stress by this entire affair or who face special and perhaps difficult circumstances do drop signing for a time.  Signing should be fun after all and not a chore.

Signing is pretty straightforward, but it’s certainly not easy in the sense of getting instant gratification.  The older your baby is when you start to sign with them, the quicker they will sign back to you.  If your goal is to get signing the quickest way possible for your particular baby, then the sooner you start, the sooner they will sign back – in relative terms.  Starting too early is impossible, your baby won’t give up, but you might!

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What Will My Baby Be Able To Tell Me Through Sign Language? ~ Chris

Posted on April 19, 2017 by chris

What won’t they be able to tell you is probably a better question!  Essentially any of the 350 signs tailor selected for the baby sign language course will be fair game for your baby to sign back to you.  They will be able to tell you when they are hungry, thirsty, tired, hurt, interested in starting conversations about things of interest, when they hear birds or see animals such as cats and dogs or zoo animals in photographs or on prints on their clothing.  Be prepared to be amazed by exactly who much your little guy or little girl really understands about the world.  See the world through their fresh eyes.

There’s really no limit to what a baby can sign.  Some parents start signing early and focus on manners and emotions trying to build emotional intelligence.  This will be key in controlling their moods and tantrums.  Manners are useful in creating children who have a sense of appreciation and whom are less demanding.  Labeling animals, things and activities is amusing to other parents who focus more on fun.  Naturally the best balance comes from teaching a variety of signs.  Remember that these signs will form the foundation for you child’s vocabulary as they add verbal words and naturally whatever you focus on in either department will matter to them in the long run.  No doubt their interests will evolve around yours as well so whatever signs you feel are appropriate to your family are signs you should teach.

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