Dec 26 2008
In The News - Baby Signing
Baby sign language has been making news for a while now. Here is an interesting video link to a news broadcast about a pre-school that is teaching baby sign language as a part of their curriculum. Proponents suggest that teaching babies sign language leads to earlier communication with parents as well as increased language skills overall. Critics say that it might delay the ability to actually learn to speak since the kids will rely on signing and won’t be pressured to learn to vocalize wants and needs.
It’s an interesting topic either way. I wasn’t opposed to teaching my son some signs but he started speaking very early so it didn’t seem necessary for communication at that point. I have friends who have had varying degrees of success with it though so it is still intriguing to me as a possibility with young children. If you child is going to be in daycare anyway it might be worth while to pick one with a curriculum that teaches signing. Check out the video and see whether or not you agree.
