Baby Sign Language Basics: Early Communication for Hearing Babies and Toddlers, Original Diaper Bag Edition (Hay House Lifestyles) [Paperback]

Monta Z. Briant (Author)

Book Description

Series: Hay House Lifestyles | Publication Date: March 1, 2004

Why are thousands of hearing parents signing with their hearing babies? According to a long-term study at UC Davis, funded by the National Institutes of Health, signing babies:

 

•            talk sooner and have larger vocabularies

•            have stronger parent/child bonds

•            have less frustration, crying and tantrums

•            show more interest in books

•            engage in more sophisticated play

•            have increased IQ scores

 

Signing also increases baby’s self-esteem and gives parents a window into their child’s mind and personality.

 

In Baby Sign Language Basics, parents will learn 60 baby-friendly American Sign Language signs. Baby-specific signing techniques, songs, and games are included to make learning fun and easy, and also open up two-way communication quickly. Baby Sign Language Basics is the perfect baby sign language book for new parents. After all, what parent doesn’t want to know what their baby is trying to tell them? (And the book is even small enough for the diaper bag!)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"'Nurseries in Britain are about to be swept by the new craze of baby signing' The Observer, Sunday 2 March 2003; 'The practice is becoming popular among parents in America. In some states, such as Florida, it is commonplace. Now it has come to Britain, with classes and seminars being held to teach the technique. Informal mothers' groups are meeting weekly to spread the message and practice the gestures...' The Observer, Sunday 2 March 2003"

About the Author

Monta Briant, a native of San Francisco, and her husband, Paul, of Cape Town, South Africa, began signing with their daughter, Sirena, when she was six months old. The family eventually learned hundreds of signs together. Monta was so moved by the ability to communicate effectively with her then preverbal daughter that she found herself telling anyone pushing a stroller about baby sign language. In 2001, Monta, a former professional yacht captain, decided to make a permanent career change that would enable her to stay home with her daughter, so she founded Baby Sign Language Workshops. An enthusiastic speaker and self-proclaimed “baby sign language evangelist,” Monta teaches baby sign language workshops and parent-tot signing classes throughout San Diego County. Baby Sign Language Workshops classes have been the subject of feature stories in the San Diego Union-Tribune and on Fox 6 News. This is her first book.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Hay House (March 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401902901
• ISBN-13: 978-1401902902
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #327,519 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #5 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Health, Mind & Body > Psychology & Counseling > Developmental Psychology
  • #13 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > Sign Language
  • #15 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Business & Investing > Business Life > Communication > General

More About the Author

Monta Zelinsky Briant, a 7th generation native of San Francisco, moved to San Diego in 1998 with husband Paul Briant (of Cape Town, South Africa) in order to find more affordable housing, more sunshine, and start a family.

In 2000, Monta and Paul welcomed their first child, Sirena, into the world, and soon began signing with her. Signing with Sirena was such and amazing experience for Zelinsky-Briant family, that Monta felt compelled to share signing with other families, and began teaching classes in 2001. The classes eventually caught the attention of Hay House Publishing, and Monta's first book, Baby Sign Language Basics: Early Communication for Hearing Babies and Toddlers (Hay House 2004), quickly became the best-selling book on the topic, being published in a half dozen foreign language editions as well. In 2004, when the family welcomed a little brother, Aiden, to the family, big sister Sirena was a big help teaching her new brother signs!

Both children have outgrown signing as a primary means of communication, but they still remember most of their signs, and continue to find them useful in a variety of situations. Nowadays, Monta get's her baby-signing-fix with the little signers in her classes. "It always seems like a miracle every time a tiny baby does a new sign in class-- even though I've seen it thousands of times now, I get just as excited as the parents do!" says Monta. "I always walk out of every class I teach absolutely walking on air-- it's the most fulfilling job in the world".

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

105 of 106 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book- teaches ASL signs to babies, March 15, 2004

By 

dakota7997 (Durham, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Baby Sign Language Basics: Early Communication for Hearing Babies and Toddlers, Original Diaper Bag Edition (Hay House Lifestyles) (Paperback)

Positives:
1. uses ASL (much better than baby signs because useful throughout babies life)
2. excellent content, well written, easy to read (i think it even has more content than Garcia's book).
3. dictionary has 60 useful ASL signs

Negatives:
1. Very Small, tiny book! (though it is packed with information!)
2. Does not give signs in books content (you have to go to dictionary in back to see how to do the sign).

80 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why not have a bilingual toddler?, June 12, 2005

By 

Mark Mills (Glen Rose, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Baby Sign Language Basics: Early Communication for Hearing Babies and Toddlers, Original Diaper Bag Edition (Hay House Lifestyles) (Paperback)

This is a compact and well designed introduction to ASL for infants. The book is very small (about 4" x 4") and can go anywhere the baby goes. The first 40 pages seek to motivate the reader (speaking babies who learn to sign test with higher IQs). The next 160 pages cover 'how', and aim to make the non-signing parent the perfect instructor. The last 100 cover 60 signs. Each sign is a two page layout with 'text' on one page and a photo demonstration on the other. The words are: airplane, baby, ball, banana, baby, bear, bed, bird, blanket, car, cat, change, cold, cow, cracker, daddy, dance, dog, drink, duck, eat, elephant, finished, friend, gentle/pet, giraffe, go, grandma, grandpa, happy, help, horse, hot, I love you, jump, keys, milk, mommy, monkey, more, mouse, music, no, pain, pig, play, please, scared, share, shoes, sign, sit, sorry, stop, swing, telephone, thank you/welcome, tiger, walk, water and where. Briant highlights 10, calling them lifesavers: cold, gentle, help, hot, no, no-touch, pain, scared, share, stop.

There are several interesting discussions about 'learning language'. In particular, Briant advises against 'teaching'. Instead, she advises simply adding 'signs' to your normal chit-chat with baby. It is just like a baby learning to verbalize English. Mom and Dad just talk a lot around baby, and presto... baby starts talking. Additionally, kids will pick up words that interest them most. Briant begins the book describing a conversation with her 10 month old baby regarding elephants. Her baby was terrified of elephants and thought any loud noise signified their presence. It seems like a fairly advanced issue for 10 month olds to worry about, but fears and parental protection seem to be the sort of stuff babies are highly motivated to discuss.

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, easy to learn pictures!, April 18, 2004

By 

A. Halsey (Washington DC area) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Baby Sign Language Basics: Early Communication for Hearing Babies and Toddlers, Original Diaper Bag Edition (Hay House Lifestyles) (Paperback)

I decided to teach my 11 month old son to sign and bought this book on a whim. What a relief it was to find that it has been a such a great help. The pictures for the signs are easy to learn and are all baby friendly words such as change(diaper), mom, dad, grandma, cracker, eat, kiss, I love you and many more. All the other ASL words I wanted to find out about I found on a great website http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/ where there is a virtual dictionary. I highly recommend this book to anyone thinking about teaching their baby to sign.