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451 of 454 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Excellent Conceptual Introduction., October 14, 2001
Baby Signs is clearly designed to be a first introduction to the concept of signing with young children. The book has 162 pages. The first 109 pages are a conceptual introduction to signing with infants. In this conceptual introduction, the authors: (1) describe through examples how babies naturally use familiar gestures to communicate (e.g. waving "bye-bye" or using the motion from the Itsy Bitsy Spider when they see a spider), (2) provide anecdotes about how they observed their own children using "signs" before actually trying to sign with them, and (3) thoroughly describe the results of their research program on the use of sign language with children. The basic results of their studies were that signing speeded up the ability to communicate by 6 to 18 months, that signing increased the rate of subsequent verbal communication, and that signing had long-term positive impact on IQ and language ability. This is done with many examples of children and families in their study, so it is very engaging. The final 53 pages include (1) responses to specific questions many parents have asked about the process of signing with children, (2) illustrations of 53 signs, and (3) Rhymes that can be used to teach children signs. I read this book when my daughter was 3 months old, and I knew very little about the topic except that signing with babies was a new trend. As I read the touching examples of other parents using signs with their children, I often found myself with tears in my eyes as I imagined being able to have meaningful communication with my daughter far before I'd ever imagined. This book created a vivid and personal picture of how signing could create a better relationship with my daughter. The research results it described also allowed me to respond confidently to questions from my parents and others about how signing would impact the acquisition of verbal communication. In fact, we purchased this book for my parents and my in-laws and all enjoyed it. We began signing with our daughter when she was about 9 months old. By the time she was 1 year, we had outgrown the Baby Signs book and found we needed more specific examples of signs in order to keep up with her. At this point, we purchased Joseph Garcia's Sign with Your Baby. Sign With Your Baby has a much more complete set of illustrated signs, with most of its text devoted to this. Although Sign With Your Baby had some of the conceptual introduction of Baby Signs, it read much more like a reference book and was less personal. In conclusion, Baby Signs and Sign With Your Baby fill two very different needs. If you know very little about the concept of signing with children, buy Baby Signs. If you are looking for a great baby gift, buy Baby Signs. If you are signing with your child and want the grandparents to buy into the concept, buy Baby Signs. If you are already sold on the idea of signing and want an excellent reference with many illustrations of signs, buy Sign with Your Baby. An additional suggestion is to buy an overall ASL signing book.
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203 of 208 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Wonderful way to enhance communication with your baby!, December 7, 1999
I purchased this book when I was pregnant intending to teach sign language to my baby. As a speech-language pathologist, I recognized the value of early communication through the use of sign language. This book provides excellent information on how to introduce your own signs to your baby as well as fascinating stories about other childrens' experiences with using baby signs. The book is easy to follow and parents do not need to use a formal system of sign language. The book also contains a chapter of answers to parents' questions. Teaching baby signs to my daughter was easy and fun to do. She has done very well with signing. At 13 months, she had an expressive sign vocabulary of almost 30 signs and could put 2 signs together to form a phrase. This was remarkable, since the average child doesn't put 2 words together until 18 months. Baby Signs has enabled my daughter to communicate earlier, allowed me to see what she really knows, and reduced her frustration in communicating. Now that she is speaking, she uses signs to clarify words I don't understand. What a wonderful gift this has been to our family! I now teach a developmental play class for parents and infants. I teach baby signs as part of the class. Parents have been very enthusiastic about learning signs and I always recommend this book.
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80 of 80 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Required reading for every parent and grandparent., December 8, 1999
This book should be given to every parent before they can leave the hospital; required like child safety seats. The deceptively simple approach to non-verbal communication with children in the 10 to 24 month range presented here is nothing short of magic. Our twin grandchildren's mother got the book at a baby shower. The parents and we the grandparents (who have daily contact with the girls) decided to try signs as the authors suggested, beginning at 10 months. I was leery at first, feeling as some reviewers have that this was simply what parents had always done. Not so. I wish I had know about this 30 years ago with my own kids. As the book predicted, they took a couple of weeks of repeated use before the girls began understanding and using signs, but once they did the results were astounding. No more whinny children -- they tell you they are hungry, thirsty, the water is too hot or cold, they want more, to do it again, they understand that its all gone.... It is not ASL, nor could it be. Children of this age do not have the finger control necessary to do ASL. It does not delay speech, it accelerates it. I suspect is gives the children an immense head start in intellectual areas. The signs they show in drawings and pictures are very helpful, but nothing prepares you for the joy you feel when your child invents a sign to tell you something new. You soon discover for yourself much of what the book's "testimonial" accounts have predicted. Baby Signs -- give a copy to someone you know. The only real fault with Baby Signs is that if you try it you become addicted: our web site is proof of that. http:members.xoom.com/jfitch2/babysigns.html
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