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Summary: This works...
Review: I've been hearing so much about using signs with infants that I decided to try it with my 10 month old. I've been working with her for only about a week and a half, and she's already starting to pick up the meanings. It works...for anyone out there that may have doubts. I sign "milk", and she gets excited and looks for her bottle, and she's already trying to sign "more" during her feedings! The only thing that I can really say was even remotely disappointing was the quantity of signs provided in this package. It offers many signs, but only the basics. Which is really all you need to start. No need to overwhelm baby!
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Summary: My Two-Year Old is Reading!
Review: We started teaching our 2-year old daughter baby sign language when she was 10 months old. We are convinced that this simple book and video have helped open the door to her ability to not only communicate with signs (within one month of when we started), but also prevented her from becoming frustrated. It also connected the proper brain circuitry to give her the ability to learn her alphabet (upper and lower case) at an early age... and now read and write. She recognizes many written words, including her name, "baby", "cat", "dog", etc. She is also writing her name and a few other words. This book is a "must have" for hearing parents with hearing children.
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Summary: Definitely the best baby signing product out there
Review: I've used Joseph Garcia's SIGN with your BABY Complete Learning Kit for the last 12 months and still find it to be a valuable resource. I'm constantly going back to the book for encouragement and advice as well as signs my son needs to learn. The video was especially helpful because it showed parents and their babies using sign in every day life, and the demonstrations of the signs at the end of the video are priceless!Any parent considering using signs with their babies is well advised to check this kit out. It does not overwhelm you with research; instead, it explains the how's and the why's in words every parent can understand. One of the misconceptions about Garcia's system is that ASL is too "complicated" for parents to learn. Nowhere does he advocate that parents take ASL courses or learn the entire langauge. What he suggests, and what we did, is learn the signs a few at a time. Many ASL signs are "iconic," which simply means that they look like what they represent. For example, my son came up with the "correct" ASL sign for hat - patting the head. It's logical! Some signs are more complicated than others but the beauty of using a nationally recognized sign language is that they can continue to use those signs throughout their life and it opens the doors to communication with an entire segment of society - the deaf and hard of hearing. What a great gift you are giving your child by signing with him or her as an infant. This would be a great gift for an expectant parent, a baby celebrating his/her first birthday, and everyone else in between!
Rating:
Summary: Start Communicating!
Review: As the Disabilities Host on BellaOnline, I recommend this book. Learn how to sign with your baby or other babies. Teach them sign language with the book and video tape. This is an excellent way to learn how to communicate with your baby.
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Summary: All parents should sign with their babies!
Review: I stubbled upon this kit via the internet, read all of the reviews, and decided that this would be a worthwhile purchase. We started signing with our son when he was 7 months old, as recommended in the book, but weren't very consistent until he was 10 months old. He didn't seem very receptive to the signs until then. Anyhow, he is now 12 months old and can do 5 signs so far. My friends were skeptical, at first, but now some of them have started signing with their babies, too! I think that it was definitely worth the extra money to purchase the kit rather than just the book. The video showed us that babies do not always make the sign the same way as their parents make it to them, and it also helped to prove that it really works. One set of grandparents has seen the video and the other hasn't - the ones that have seen it are very supportive and want to sign with our son whenever they can. The other set of grandparents were very skeptical when we shared what we were doing, and they passed off his attempts to sign as "silly hand movements that mean nothing." I plan to share the video with these grandparents the next time we see them. I would recommend this kit to all parents of babies.
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Summary: She cries so much less than others her age!
Review: Our daughter is 13 months old and has been signing since she was 9 months. EVERYONE, including her doctor, is amazed that she can communicate her wishes so well. We certainly weren't militant about remembering to sign with her, we just did it when we remembered to and she picked it up great. And we did use our own time table and choice of words to start signing, but the book was invaluable in teaching us when she is receptive to learning. Toddlers know they have needs and even know what some of those needs are; hunger, thirst, hold-me, but can't communicate them with speech. Our little girl also has a bigger spoken vocabulary than others her age, and mimics us all the time. If you have a fussy baby I would highly recommend this book.
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Summary: Watch the video and you'll be hooked on baby signing!
Review: The video is inspirational. It is so sweet to see infants and toddlers expressing themselves through sign language. You also see that it is not difficult to learn signs and teach them to your children. At the end of the video, all the signs are demonstrated. I found this helpful when I didn't feel the book or chart were clear. We've started signing to our 5-month old even though he may not be able to respond right away. I'm inspired to learn more about ASL as well. I would definitely recommend this kit (video, book, and chart) to all parents.
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Summary: Better than Baby Signs! This Combo has it all!
Review: Well, I tried Baby Signs and found it to be full of talk about using Baby Signs and short on instruction on when, where, how and why to use Baby Signs. Making signs up was very frustrating - I'm not a creative-type person. I want a system that's proven and works. Then I found Joseph Garcia's book here at Amazon.com. Garcia's book is excellent! Garcia's book is clearly written. It tells you exactly why, when, where and how to use American Sign Language with your baby. Garcia also reviews several studies reporting the benefits of sign language for hearing children. The instructions on how to teach the signs and how to make the signs are quite detailed and specific, so you'll know exactly what to do. (But not so detailed that you're lost!) Garcia also discusses how children sign differently than adults and how their signs may change as their signing ability improves. This is useful in "detecting" a child's first attempts to use a sign. If you're not watching carefully, you'll miss them! The video is enjoyable and well-done - it's broken up into short, easy segments. It adds another dimension - you see many examples of children signing so you'll know what to expect from your child. More tips are given for teaching signs, including specific recommendations for additional signs to teach later. Garcia performs all the signs at the end of the video as a reference library of sorts. Seeing the signs in action was very helpful. Illustrations of signs can only show so much. The signs are timed so you can forward to the exact point where a sign is for easy review. It's also a neat way to show the signs to your child. Lastly, the quick reference guide is very handy. It's much quicker than fumbling through the reference section at the end of the book. The guide is laminated, so baby won't tear it up easily. There's also a place to mark which signs you have shown baby and which signs baby can perform. It's useful for showing relatives or babysitters what baby is "saying" to them. You might want to get a spare guide just in case. In summary, I've found the book, video & laminated reference guide to be very useful and helpful. I highly recommend them all!
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Summary: Made even my mother-in-law a believer!
Review: As parents of the world's most frustrated six year-old, we started baby signs because we read in several magazines that it would reduce frustration. We started signing to our baby when she was seven months old, and at ten months, she can sign "bottle, out, cookie, mama, baby, kitty cat, eat." We have found signing very helpful in everyday life--we were hiking and the baby started signing "cookie", I put her in her walker and she signed "out", she can ask for a bottle or food when needed. We have always had a good baby who rarely cries, but I sincerely believe that signing has helped, because when she DOES cry we know what she wants. Our friends sign with her too, as do baby sitters. We bought this chart rather than the whole kit, which we found too pricey. The chart has certainly met our needs--it is clearly illustrated and very portable. (We have looked at ASL internet sites for signs not included in this list.) I think anyone who tries signing with their baby will love it. We do.
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Summary: A Must Have!
Review: This kit changed our lives. Two days after we received the kit we were starting to sign to our 10 month old daughter. She started signing within one month and is now signing over 60 words (at 18 months old). The video is great, it shows other parents actually showing their children the signs, and it shows very young children actually signing. It is a real motivator for parents to stick with it.The book is a great reference and the pictures of the signs are very easy to understand. The reference chart was fantastic for our daycare provider. When she dosen't recognize a new sign she can look at the chart, and figure out what our daughter is telling her. Also we have included the chart in our daughters baby book. I highly recommend this kit and I think every parent should teach their baby to sign! The results are fantastic! Kudos to the authors!
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