Here a sign,
There a sign,
Let's all sign.
When I watched my granddaughter on a weekly basis, I took her to the library for their 0-23 months program. The program entertained the children, along with a very clear mission to educate the care givers on early literacy. I was very impressed with the message they were sending to the members of their audience.
"Today's sign is......" was a familiar opening to the weekly sessions. Each week the librarian would give an explanation of how research has shown that children who learn to sign at a very early age before speaking will develop extensive vocabularies and learn to read at an early age.
At ten months, I began to sign "more" to my granddaughter when I fed her lunch. Every time I was ready to put a spoonful of food in her mouth, I would sign more. This continued for at least five weeks (every Tuesday) before we had a breakthrough. I instructed my daughter on what I was doing so she could reinforce it at home. I don't think it really happened until I got that famous phone call, you know the one. "Mom, this morning when I went to get your granddaughter out of bed, she signed for more." The sign for more became her sign for, "I'm hungry." Low and behold teaching that child more signing became a mission for my daughter and son-in-law. My granddaughter was well on her way communicating her needs and desires. She had less temper tantrums and crying fits because she was able to communicate with us.
Now, as a two and a half year old, she can clearly communicate her wants and needs; only to throw temper tantrums when told no. Also, she amazes us speaking in complete sentences and using jaw dropping vocabulary words. I am a firm believer in teaching sign language to infants along with reading to them everyday.
My granddaughter is a prime example of the benefits of teaching children that words/symbols have meaning; a very important perquisite of learning how to read.
Related articles:
growth/https://www.parents.com/baby/development/intellectual-growth/
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/infant-and-toddler-health/expert-answers/baby-sign-language/faq-20057980
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1868823/
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