Welcome to SignBaby
Introduction
Learning sign language is surprisingly easy. It can be incorporated into your everyday life as a natural way of communicating with your infant as well as the rest of your family and it can be a lot of fun.
You don’t need to take special classes in sign or even be a whiz at languages. SignBaby starts with the very simplest signs that are easy for you to remember. They are also the signs that your baby is likely to be most interested in.
Sofya Gollan, a well-known figure on Play School, teaches you the signs in the Tutorials on the SignBaby DVD. Sofya has presented songs and stories in sign language for many years to the delight of young viewers around Australia. She has a great understanding for what thrills young children and has used Auslan (Australian Sign Language) with her own hearing toddler to great success.
SignBaby draws from the knowledge and experience of linguists, speech pathologists and professional carers who share their experience of signing to young children in their professional practice.
A Message from Sofya:
SignBaby springs from my own experience in signing to my baby, and from the first-hand knowledge of how hectic life as a parent really is. I wanted to make sure that SignBaby would be:
Fun for you and your baby
Offering a wide range of signs to reflect many interests
Once you’re comfortable with the basics, there are over two hundred signs to choose from, including a selection of simple and popular nursery rhymes. It’s an extensive volume of signs that will allow you to select and tailor your signing vocabulary for you and your child’s needs.
The benefits of teaching babies to sign are many:
- It can reduce the frustration a toddler has when they’re unable to say what they want clearly, before they develop speech. Tantrums often spring from the inability to quickly convey needs and wants. Using simple signs can alleviate the baby’s frustration. Although from time to time, nothing will prevent the occasional melt down!
- When children first learn to talk, they often use the same sound for different things. For example, the simple vocalisation “Ba” can mean: BALL, BOOK, BANANA and using the sign in addition to the sound helps you understand your baby instantly.
- Signing can enhance the connection between the carer and child, as the parent learns to sign, they learn how to watch and recognise body language well before language develops. It becomes second nature to “read” their child in a way that reduces the error in the guesswork.
- Signing will stimulate and help build a powerful connection between you and your child, laying the foundations for a strong relationship.
- When using sign, parents often have to adopt positive ways of communicating with their baby. Speaking slowly, making eye contact and using simple words and signs.
- When you encourage your baby to actively sign to you this creates confident and communicative toddlers.
- There are many more benefits, but one of the best is how enjoyable it is watching for baby’s first sign much like you would watch for their first tooth, first word, or first step. It is a true milestone in your baby’s development and it will be an exciting one when you realise your baby can really communicate with you well before they can talk.
- You can get more tips about learning to sign in the Getting Started page.
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