Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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).

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.

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.

This is a wonderful book written by a mother who's been there, done that, and knows what she's talking about. This book covers a variety of basics, including everything to what baby sign actually is to what to do when baby makes signing mistakes. It includes a nicely photographed starter vocabulary (of 60 useful signs like "eat", "milk", "pain", "mommy", "daddy", etc. and also current internet links for further learning into the world of baby sign.

This book has it all. I was looking at several other books and products for baby sign and I really don't see the need to spend money on expensive programs for baby sign when everything seems to be covered in this book. Just so you know, the signs are just some beginning words so if you choose to really pursue this with your little one, the "American Sign Language Dictionary" would probably be a good investment for further vocabulary development.

A+!

This book is cute, compact (diaper-bag sized!) and presents a great introduction to standard ASL for babies, which I believe is preferable to made-up signs for a number of reasons.

Another reviewer pointed out the inconvenience of flipping to the back to look up signs (indicated throughout with use of UPPERCASE to indicate a sign you should use with your baby). However, I also noticed that some of the signs Briant mentions aren't included in the book at all - most notably, "WHAT?".
This is a sign she refers to all over the place, yet it doesn't seem to be included among the 60 that she provides.

I realize that a book this size has to limit what is included... and it definitely leaves you wanting more, perhaps a full-sized book to leave at home and this one to take on the road while you're just beginning to sign.

I really like Briant's common-sense approach: you don't have to start too young, make it fun, introduce just a few new words at a time - all of this is easier on baby, and definitely easier on YOU.

But I did get the sense that this book may outlive its usefulness pretty quickly once you have both mastered the 60 basic signs included... and that the "front-of-the-book stuff," the sales pitch for baby signing, is a little light & thin on details for repeated re-reading.

I will try to report back in about a year, once I have an actual baby to practice signing on and let you know what my final verdict will be. :-)))

UPDATE: She signs back!
(a little)
Have been using signs with my baby since 6-7 months, and last week she started signing back (a little)... (she's now 11.5 months). We are still using just the ten "beginning" signs most systems recommend. Basic things like POTTY, MORE, etc. And last week, the baby signed MORE. She can also sign MUSIC and is starting to put her hand to her head for BED when she's sleepy. It is the cutest thing in the world and she is soooo proud of herself.
Will update this review - hopefully! - in about 6 months.

My wife and I have used this little book with two of our children. We do enjoy the simplicity of the "how-To's". The only thing that I would change is that I wish it contained more signs. Our youngest has a lot to say! We did purchase a sign language dictionary for young children. The title is Teach Your Tot to Sign from Stacy Thompson. It has a ton of signs with memory aids to help us remember the signs and is very easy to understand. It compliments this little book well. I suggest that you buy both books. The little pink one for the directions and the dictionary for the signs. I highly suggest that anyone with a small child should sign with them. It has made a huge difference in our family and we are truly enjoying communicating with our girls.

If you are looking for a quick intro to info on signing with your baby and some great vocabulary to start with this little book is great for that. It is inexpensive and easy to pop into the diaper bag which makes it a great starting point if you are new to signing with your baby or if you want something short and easy to read for babysitters or relatives who wonder why you are signing with your baby or what signs you are sharing with your baby.

If you are looking for something really comprehensive I would recommend the book Signing Smart with Babies and Toddlers, but for a quick and easy read and a convenient take-along book this one by Monta Briant is great.

We love this book! I started teaching my 14 month old sign language a month ago, and he can already sign "please", "more", "no", and "All Done". He is calmer and doesn't throw as many fits since he can "talk" to me. THis book is simple and easy to understand. There are so many new signs that I want to teach my son that I can't hardly wait until he learns one so we can start on another!! I would recommend this to any mother who wants to communicate to her children earlier. I will start teaching my daughter when she is about 6 months old and I can't wait to see how she does.

This book is wonderful--simple, straightforward explanations, great list of additional resources, and a good set of signs to start. The author addresses the reasons to sign (good for persuading reluctant grandparents to learn), basics for starting to sign, problems you'll run into and ways to solve them. Her writing is both easy understand and witty. This small book (as suggested, we keep ours in our diaper bag) is loaded with information!

Although my son is too little to start signing back, he stops crying when I sign for milk and grunts in anticipation of the breast!

Baby sign language basics fulfills its title admirably and, for someone relatively new to the topic, like me, is a good place to start. The broad areas covered include
>>about baby sign language
>>getting started
>>now you're signing
>>signing for fun
>>photographs of 60 signs
with just enough information to answer your questions. The style of writing is upbeat and enthusiastic on the topic and has some good ideas for including signing as part of your interaction with your baby, including the words (and when to sign) to several nursery rhymes which I'd forgotten. Be aware, that although this book has 333 pages, take note of the dimensions 0.98 x 4.34 x 4.30 (inches) - it's pretty small (apparently so it can fit in your diaper/nappy bag). Overall, worth the price for it's intended audience.