My son is a week away from being 5 months old (today’s date being Jan. 15) and I am teaching him a little baby sign language. I am learning at the same time so I sometimes have to take a minute to look up words to do the sign. I try to be consistant but I might forget to sign ‘MILK’ at every nursing or ‘SLEEP’ at night as well as ‘DIAPER’ and ‘PLAY’ and family members. But I try because I really want him to learn it. I am also wanting to take advantage of his young age and teach him something besides sign language. Like phonics or reading, his ABC’s and numbers. Sounds like I’m trying to push him over the top but I’m not, no worries =) we have A TON of play time and we rest a lot so I’m not worried about that BUT I want to teach my baby reading, however I don’t want to use sight words as this merely teaches him to memorize words and not necessarily to sound the letters out. Of course he is too young to be able to make the sounds right away but is there a program or books I can read or show him that will focus on reading and sounding out the letters and making words? I am thinking of this now so I can have plenty of time to figure out what I need to do for later. How do I jumpstart the baby sign language and what can I do for the reading and phonics for when he’s older? I do read to him everyday and I make it active reading with voice changes and signs for certain things. He gets at least 20 constant minutes of reading but we read a few times a day. He’s a very happy baby so I want to take advantage of his willing to pay attention and play. Thanks for whatever advice or information I’m given.
***One reason I am concentrated on sign language is because I want his daddy to be impressed when he gets back from deployment. (Not that he won’t be impressed to see his little man growing up) I don’t want his daddy to think he doesn’t know who he is. It would be amazing if he signed ‘Daddy’ to him when he comes home =) or of course says ‘da-da’ as he will be around a year old when dad comes back for R&R.***
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Two good books to check out, which often libraries have are the Happiest Baby on the Block , Karp, and How to Raise a Smarter Child by Kindergarten, Perlmutter. Amazon has them too if you want to check out the reviews.
The Happiest Baby is good, because it talks about the root of language, and how babies minds grow to understand it, along with giving tips. And the Smarter Child book, is more of a whole child thing that talks about things like toxins, nutrition, and activities for kids 0-5.
Just be careful, that starting too soon, can be frustrating and wear yourself out.
I learned sign language as a baby – two of my grandparents are deaf so it was just something I learned in order to be able to communicate with them, I also did phonics around 3 years old. I dont think it’s a bad thing at all.
I am planning to teach my baby some spanish, a few simple signs ( like hungry, yes, no, milk, etc) and get the Your Baby Can Read program. A lot of people have said that the Your Baby Can Read program is very good, and that it’s not just sight reading. So I plan to start with that and move to Phonics as they get older.
Mom and Dad are pretty easy signs to do, and you could probably show a picture of ‘daddy’ and do the sign with him a few times a day.
Keep using the signs. We started my youngest with signs and they pick up on them very quickly. They are less frustrated when it comes to talking. And studies have shown that some kids start talking earlier. As for teaching him to read. The best thing is to just read to him. They are taught enough in school. Teach him the signs and read to him. When you are playing tell him what things are. He will learn as he grows.
OMG I have to tell you, you made me tear up. My hubby was in Iraq before we got married and I understand you completely and I think it is wonderful you making a big deal out of a way for you child to welcome his dad and that will melt his heart. I think it is great you are teaching your child sign lang. and no you can never start to early as long as you are having fun with it and not being strict or hard on the child which you have stated your not. Have fun learning new things with your child. I plan on learning italian with my son when he is older. I might try at a yr old. Also an idea I had is I am sure your doing is show lots of video and pics of daddy to the child so he recognises him. Also let him hear his dad as much as possible when you two are talking put the phone on speaker phone so he can hear him while you talk. Also if you have anything that smells like your hubby give it to your child to smell so he knows his smell when he gets back. It sounds silly but when they are that young they use all their senses to establish who you are I learned this yesterday when I went to met a friend with my son. Our kids are 1 week 1 day and 1 hour apart. I took her child and she took mine out of his carrier for the first time. He did not wake but put his nose to her skin and kept making a face and a few mins later woke up crying. When i took him back he dug his nose in to me and calmed down. My son puts his nose on to me alot. LOL I hope i smell good and not stinky GL and God bless you and your family and I pray for his safe return.
I started to teach my son sign language at 5 months and he picked up on a few signs, like milk, but that’s about it. I just talk to him, all the time, and he’s turning into a great communicator too. We read, sing, dance, talk… I treat him like he’s any other adult and he has excellent behavior. We also use a sound and “ah ah ah” when he shouldn’t be doing something (imagine shaking your finger, but we don’t do that part) instead of saying the word “no.” Babies hear that word so often that I didn’t want it to be a consistent part of his vocabulary. I also physically block what he wants (that he shouldn’t have) with my body or my hand while saying the sound. I did this ONE TIME at Christmas with the tree and he obstained from touching all of the ornaments the entire time!
If you’re consistent but not pushing your baby, you’ll be surprised at what they can do. I have been signing to my little girl since day one and she recently has starting signing back.
The signs she does so far are: More, Mom, Bye-bye, All done, I love you, and Milk.
We read to her a lot, but I would rather her learn to sound out words through phonics, than memorize them, because phonics will be more beneficial in the long run for true reading.
We also sing the ABC song a lot so i’m sure she will begin to say them when she is ready. It’s just play right now and we keep it fun.
i am sorry, i dont think this is the answer you are wanting, but i think you need to chill out. a child will learn when they are ready and its easier to take from their lead than to try and impress things to them that they are not ready for. provide opportunities to learn and your child will pick them up in his own time. my son is 3years old and still can not talk. he made up his own signs to communicate with and can now get himself understood to most people using signs, gestures and facial expressions. you dont need a book to learn this. you can use any sign that he can do. maybe a book says to do it one way, but your child cant make that gesture yet. always take your childs lead. Your husband will already be overwhelmed with the changes he has made when he returns.