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Summary: Required reading for every parent and grandparent.
Review: This book should be given to every parent before they can leave the hospital; required like child safety seats. The deceptively simple approach to non-verbal communication with children in the 10 to 24 month range presented here is nothing short of magic. Our twin grandchildren's mother got the book at a baby shower. The parents and we the grandparents (who have daily contact with the girls) decided to try signs as the authors suggested, beginning at 10 months. I was leery at first, feeling as some reviewers have that this was simply what parents had always done. Not so. I wish I had know about this 30 years ago with my own kids. As the book predicted, they took a couple of weeks of repeated use before the girls began understanding and using signs, but once they did the results were astounding. No more whinny children -- they tell you they are hungry, thirsty, the water is too hot or cold, they want more, to do it again, they understand that its all gone.... It is not ASL, nor could it be. Children of this age do not have the finger control necessary to do ASL. It does not delay speech, it accelerates it. I suspect is gives the children an immense head start in intellectual areas. The signs they show in drawings and pictures are very helpful, but nothing prepares you for the joy you feel when your child invents a sign to tell you something new. You soon discover for yourself much of what the book's "testimonial" accounts have predicted. Baby Signs -- give a copy to someone you know. The only real fault with Baby Signs is that if you try it you become addicted: our web site is proof of that. http:members.xoom.com/jfitch2/babysigns.html
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Summary: baby signing makes parenting easier and more exciting
Review: I started teaching baby signs to my son at two months, I didn't notice until he was about 4 monthes that he was making crude copies of signs. When he got older and had more hand cordination, he used signs that I had quit doing months ago, so of course I got right back into it. He has been strongly excited to expand his sign vocabulary along with animal and machine sounds and some verbal words since he was 8 months old.(although he used the milk sign right away and has expanded it to mean-"mama, come here") Another example is the sign "candle" can be used to tell me about a light or a candle shaped object or a candle depending on the context and "toothbrush" sign can be brush teeth or the word brush so he can talk about a paintbrush or a hair brush. He knows the difference between objects and knows that they have different names but he uses the sign as an aid to communicate about things that he isn't yet capable to say. I am so greatful to learn about baby signs. He is only 12 months old and he can communicate what he wants and needs and is very pacient with me by nodding yes or no when I am learning to understand his talk. No language barriers and he talks better than most two year olds. Hurray for BABY SIGNS!
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Summary: This is a WONDERFUL book!
Review: I've seen Baby Signs in action, not only within my own family, but also in the child-care center where my children have been enrolled part time. It is amazing to see true communication happening between adult and child at such young ages! They can express what they need ("juice," "snack", "out"), describe what they see ("big," "sad," "scary"), and share observations with those around them ("Birdie," "Airplane," "Ball") well before they can say the words. You can tell how empowered they feel at actually getting their ideas across. And the beauty of the book for parents is that it is full of information gathered in the authors' research about how creatively infants use Baby Signs, how the transition to words occurs, individual differences among babies, and LOTS of wonderful examples. The glossary of sign suggestions is helpful and the Baby Sign nursery rhymes are lots of fun. I can't think of another book that has made such a big difference in the lives of both my children.
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Summary: A Wonderful way to enhance communication with your baby!
Review: I purchased this book when I was pregnant intending to teach sign language to my baby. As a speech-language pathologist, I recognized the value of early communication through the use of sign language. This book provides excellent information on how to introduce your own signs to your baby as well as fascinating stories about other childrens' experiences with using baby signs. The book is easy to follow and parents do not need to use a formal system of sign language. The book also contains a chapter of answers to parents' questions. Teaching baby signs to my daughter was easy and fun to do. She has done very well with signing. At 13 months, she had an expressive sign vocabulary of almost 30 signs and could put 2 signs together to form a phrase. This was remarkable, since the average child doesn't put 2 words together until 18 months. Baby Signs has enabled my daughter to communicate earlier, allowed me to see what she really knows, and reduced her frustration in communicating. Now that she is speaking, she uses signs to clarify words I don't understand. What a wonderful gift this has been to our family! I now teach a developmental play class for parents and infants. I teach baby signs as part of the class. Parents have been very enthusiastic about learning signs and I always recommend this book.
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Summary: Most helpful
Review: "Baby Signs" is a wonderfully innovative concept. As mothers, we've been doing 'baby signs' for years but usually stop after "no", "bye-bye", and "up". This book teaches us to go way beyond those few signs to get an in-depth insight to our baby's feelings, wants, and ideas. As a parent educator using this concept I have seen "the light come on" for parents who don't know how to read their baby's cues or for parents who are waiting for their baby to talk to feel connected to them. I have seen it bond dads and teen mothers with their babies. I have seen it turn screaming, frustrated toddlers into effective communicators. As a speech/language pathologist I endorse "Baby Signs" as a communication enhancer and language booster.
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Summary: baby signs : how to talk with your baby
Review: I thoougt this book was ok but not nearly what I was expecting with very few signs in the book most of the book is about other peoples experices and the dont tell you any signs until your don with book and way to many pictures for an adult book.
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Summary: Good premise, but disappointing
Review: The idea of teaching your child signs is a good one and it works, but this book was disappointing and really isn't necessary. I was hoping to learn some simple American Sign Language signs to use with my son. The signs in this book are just "homemade" signs that parents and children invent on their own. The chapters of the book are very redundant. I felt like I was reading the same thing over and over and that they were just adding chapters to make it a book. It is a subject that doesn't really require book-length explanations, and this was evident in the redundancies. By the way, I started using two simple signs with my son at 8 months (the sign for "more" and "all gone"). After a few weeks of him just staring blankly at me, I gave it up. Two months later, out of the blue, he started using those signs. He continued to use them well after he learned to talk (he's almost 2 1/2 now, and speaking well). I'm going to be a little more persistent next time (I haven't yet started using signs with my 7 month old). If you are interested in using signs with your child, just make some up and start using them. You don't need to buy this book to do that.
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Summary: FANTASTIC
Review: My daughter bought this book when she had her first baby. When he was 8 months the first sign she showed him was "light" and his little hand began the sign right away. We couldn't believe it! We've been hooked on this great way to communicate ever since. We were a little concerned whether it would make him talk later, but it didn't!In fact it was the opposite...now at 4 yrs.he has always had an amazing vocabulary.He now has a 4 mo. old sister and we all look forward to signing with her. I also like to buy this book as a baby shower gift!
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Summary: A phenomenal book. My daughter benefitted immensely!
Review: This book is essential for anyone who wants to communicate with their children at a very young age.My daughter took 8 weeks to pick up the baby signs and by the time she began to speak, she had over 50 signs- everything from "hungry" and "thirsty" to "Pooh" and "elephant". This book gave her a wonderful head start on verbal communication - she is way ahead of the curve for her age in terms of vocabulary and we are convinced that this is due to the baby signs!
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Summary: 17 years of research proves many benefits of "Baby Signs"
Review: Susan and I are enormously proud of our book "Baby Signs," not only because it is making a difference in so many children's lives, but also because it is based on 17 years worth of careful research here at the University of California at Davis with hundreds of families. By comparing babies who were encouraged to use our specific "Baby Sign" system with "control" babies who were not, and then following all these children until age 8, we were able to prove that Baby Signs are really and truly GOOD for kids. They reduce frustration, strengthen the parent-infant bond, provide parents a wonderful window into the infant mind, and even help babies learn to talk SOONER. Most recently, our follow-up study at age 8 indicated a 12 point IQ advantage for the original Baby Signers! But even though most of our insights about Baby Signs have come from the families in our laboratory studies, the original Baby Signer was a good deal closer to home. When my daughter, Kate (who's now 18), was 12 months old, she started to create Baby Signs all on her own! She borrowed the finger rubbing gesture from Eincy Weincy Spider to label real spiders, used a sniffing gesture to label flowers, and scratched under her arms for monkey. In fact, her Baby Sign for monkey came in handy one day when her dad took her to a class he was teaching in a huge lecture hall. As the students were filing in and taking their seats, Kate's eyes suddenly grew wide and she began to point up the stairs and frantically scratch under her arms. Why? One look at the very hairy young man coming down the stairs was enough for everyone in the hall to figure out the source of little Kate's concern. She was absolutely sure there was a monkey in the room! Kate may have been our original inspiration for Baby Signs, but now that we are hearing from families all over the world, we are more inspired than ever. What's more, once you start seeing the magic of Baby Signs in your own home, we know you will be too. (By the way, if you have any interesting Baby Sign stories to share, we'd love to hear from you. Just check out our web site to find out how to reach us.) --Have a wonderful time! --Linda
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