Teaching American Sign Language (ASL) signs to infants and toddlers between the ages of 6 months to 36 months assists in the progress of communication between the parent/caregiver and child.

Anytime you can communicate clearly, a conversation is more beneficial. When a conversation is one-sided, and you cannot express yourself in a way that delivers a message properly, the experience can be frustrating. The same goes for young children. To make it worse, the point never gets across. Welcome to the life of an infant and toddler. The infant cannot speak the words so the parent doesn't understand the information. Toddlers are just beginning to talk but the words just don't come out clearly. Signing can bridge this gap, stimulating psychological and emotional growth and development.

The psychological and emotional benefits of signing with babies includes giving your infant a means of expressing emotions in a way that gets an immediate and correct acknowledgment. This is quite satisfying to an infant, baby, and/or toddler. When a baby wants something and you hand it to them, the pleasure they express is one of pure satisfaction and joy. Once they realize that this form of communication is working to their advantage they crave more. It really is an amazing process to watch.

I starting signing with my son at nine months of age (although I wish I started at six). By the time he was 16 months old he could communicate so clearly with us through the usage of sign language that there was hardly ever a reason to cry, whimper or throw a fit. It really is quite impressive to see how much further along he is than other toddlers that never learned sign language. My son is now just a little over two years old and he knows all his colors, all the letters of the alphabet, his numbers 1 - 10 and just about any common animal you can think of. He doesn't just sign it anymore, he signs and speaks. For a two year old to know all his letters, numbers and colors is pretty amazing. That's what my son is though, pretty amazing! I owe it all to sign language. He accelerated with his education in so many areas just because he learned at very young age how to think and express himself. It blows the minds of people in our social circle. They are just amazed at how smart my son is. I believe that ALL children are capable of this, you just have to be consistent and work with them on a daily basis. By no means do I drill this into my child either, he wanted to know more and more from the second he figured out he could get what he wanted this way.

Baby Sign Language lets an infant and toddler communicate effectively. This means the child can express feelings in a beneficial manner and this is emotionally satisfying. This is not to say that baby sign benefits make a child a perfect angel, it just means that feelings of anger resulting from the inability to communicate do not occur as often. Research has indicated that infants and toddlers who can use sign language have fewer incidents of unwanted habits such as biting.

Infants that learn signing acquire other psychological benefits. For one thing, confidence and self-esteem are improved. Babies have confidence issues just like adults do. For an infant, confidence is developed through successful interaction through their environment. A child learns through experimentation. So when a child can sign their feelings, emotions, wants, or needs and get satisfying response, their confidence soars like a rocket ship. This confidence building is important for a child's psychological, educational and emotional development. I've seen the difference first hand. I have an older child that I didn't teach sign language to simply because I was unaware and I noticed the differences in their educational development. This is not to say my oldest isn't smart because she's very smart. It's just I noticed how much quicker the younger picked up on everything around him and still does. He reads three letters words and is surprising picking up on larger words. He's only two. He's not even potty trained yet and he's starting to read simple words. I know it's because of the sign language. My oldest is very intelligent but she didn't start reading until she was four and that was impressive so to see a two year old developing so rapidly is just beyond belief.

A baby learns through sign language how communication works. Sign language encourages a wee one to share thoughts. It enables a baby or toddler to participate in conversations and in turn impressing the heck out of everyone around them. The positive attention they receive and the constant praise for a job well done is addictive to a baby and toddler. They feed off of it and crave it like milk. Their confidence levels soar and their sense of pride is breathtaking for a parent/caregiver to witness.

Finally, one of the nicest benefits of teaching an infant sign language is the fact it is fun. I enoy every minute of it. Remember, not just the baby is a sign language major, us parents/caregivers are too. Never in my life did I think that I would be able to sign the colors of the rainbow let alone communicate with it? I want you to know that it doesn't cost a fortune. In fact with a couple DVD's and some free youtube videos, you'll be on your way. The trick is repetition and consistency. When you offer your child "milk" for example always use the sign gesture, always! Pretty soon it becomes like second nature to you. I know this from first hand experience. As a daycare school owner and mother I highly encourage you to learn and teach baby sign language to the children you care for. Please be sure to check out the free videos I posted from youtube and watch them with your child 20 times if you have to. They are short, maybe a minute or two and children will love watching them over and over again. Trust me, I have more sign language video favorites in my Youtube account than any other type of video. Take that extra step as a parent/caregiver. Knowledge is power. Now you have the knowledge so empower yourself and the children you care for.

The psychological and emotional benefits of Baby Sign Language are numerous. Baby sign benefits strengthen the bond between parents and infant, and do it in a fun way!

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Signing helps keep noise levels down in daycare's by reducing frustrated screaming and crying.

Signing minimizes stress and frustration for caregivers who are responsible for meeting the needs of many children at once.

Signing reduces the 'guesswork' in meeting each child's needs resulting in more available time for positive, developmental interactions.

A recent study shows that signing significantly reduces problems with biting that most daycare's have. Biting happens when a child becomes frustrated in their environment causing them to lash out in nonconstructive ways.

During meal time confusion can be greatly reduced just by knowing what it is your child is asking for. Whether it be "cracker, milk, apple, etc." this sort of acknowledgment to their wants is very exciting for a baby or toddler and boosts their self esteem and confidence levels. It's not just about getting the snack or meal they desire, it's about them being able to communicate it and receive it. That's a very exciting concept to young children and it keeps them wanting to absorb more and more knowledge of their surroundings.

The use of sign language gives children with special needs the opportunity to meaningfully interact with typically developing children. General acceptance of children with special needs is greatly boosted.

Be one step ahead of the rest, learn sign language. There are tons of useful FREE videos on YouTube as well as some very inexpensive resources for sale right here on this hub!