PlayIsTheWork.com

I just read this article and thought it was interesting enough to share.

When I had my twins I was always a bit skeptical about “Baby Sign” but that was probably me just letting myself off the hook for how much time I’d have to invest in taking up this new practice. However, after having read this article I think I’m turning into a bit of a fan. If I have another child I think it would be very worthwhile to investigate further.

What the article suggests is that a babies mind works far better than their mouth in infancy and therefore if they just had the ability to communicate their needs in a way that we would understand everyone would be a lot happier. I remember thinking when Logan was a baby and crying incessantly, “I wish I knew what it was? He’s dry, he’s fed, why is he crying?” It used to drive me crazy. It was suggested early on that babies who were learning sign language were becoming lazy talkers but new research confirms this just isn’t true.

Babies talk when they’re ready, but what signing enables is the ability to communicate their needs on their time. It does require more effort on the parent’s part but it seems to have great value and benefit. What do you think?

Posted on September 28th, 2005 by Sam
Filed under: Read This!, Research