Customer Reviews

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Baby Sign Language

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My daughter had talked about using Baby Sign Language to communicate with her infant son, who is now eight months old. She has had mild success, much to my surprise, but yesterday she invited me to stop by and observe the results she has achieved with her son after buying this new book, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Baby Sign Language" just two weeks ago.

She said that it was the best written book on the subject that she has seen. After perusing it myself, I could not agree more. Ms. Ryan has done a masterful job of presenting the subject in an easy-to-understand manner. Her infusion of humor in some places actually helps to lighten the instructional efforts. The illustrations are A+.

The proof was in the performance. My young grandson, who was just gurgles, smiles and wimpers a few weeks ago is now a full-fledged "signer", albeit in the early stages.

Grandparents, parents of new babies, parents-to-be, do your heir a favor and buy this book. It seems to me that the path from infancy to the "terrible twos" will be a happier path for readers who employ these easy-to-handle ideas.

My best friend was signing with her son when my daughter was born, so I had already done some research and decided to sign with my daughter, but I just couldn't seem to find the time to read Joseph Garcia's Sign with Your Baby, which from what I can tell is the original & best book about the subject.

So I bought this book when my daughter was about 5 months old. It's wonderful. Short, a quick and easy read, but with all the basic information need about why you want to sign with your baby, how baby signing originated, and how to get started. My husband even read it -- and really, he never manages to read anything.

We started signing with our daughter at about 6 months. The only thing we didn't really do like the book instructed was that we started with 3 signs (more, all done, nurse).

Our daughter was an early talker, and she said her first word at about 8.5 months. She had 5 words before she signed "all done" at 10 months. From there she learned spoken words and signs simultaneously, one after the other.

She became sign a good talker so early we almost gave up on signing, but in hindsight, I'm so glad we didn't. Signing has been a wonderful way for her to express words that were too long or complicated for her to say, and a great to supplement her spoken language. She really got into signing around 13 months. Now, at 18 months, she speaks more than 100 words and still regularly uses about 15 signs. I know she really, really wants something if she's speaking the word and signing it, too. And she loves to sit and look at her signing board books and signing flash cards!

All in all, a big thumbs up for this book. It was the only reference we used to get started. You can always read the Garcia book later (I did).

I love this book because it makes baby sign language SO simple. She clearly explains the reasons to do it and de-bunks myths as well. Some of the other books are overwhelming...this one breaks it down to the key signs and the best order for introducing signs. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to sign with their baby!

The book is great. There are a few illistrations where the hands are drawn on backwards, but it is easy enough to figure out what the correct sign is. The statisctical info in the book is priceless. Worth every cent!!!!

This is a great book for those wanting to teach their baby sign language! It is a very easy read, quite humurous at times and gives very simple directions for teaching sign language to infants.

This book is great! the info is thourough but not boring to read. it explains what you need to do to help teach your little one to sighn. plus the sighns are ASL. I definantly recommend this book.

Overall, I was rather disappointed with this book. I'd definitely recommend something by Joseph Garcia (like this or others: Sign with your Baby - Baby Sign Language (ASL) Kit: Includes Book, How-to DVD, Quick Reference Guide). This book references his work and he does a better job, I thought, of teaching the signs and the how and when.

On the other hand, this book is good to give to someone who hasn't already decided to sign, the first third of the book is devoted to convincing you that signs are good. So, if you're looking for a baby shower gift -- if the mother or father is on the fence or hasn't considered it -- this book would work well for that.

I liked the simple approach this book has because we don't plan on teaching our baby more then a few of the important signs (Milk, Diaper, Pain, More, Tired ect.). It includes a "crash course" option which I feel would only work for stay at home moms because it involves an intensive 2 weeks of introducing the signs to your baby. We are going to use the longer process because our child is in daycare. My concern is whether it will be effective because you need everyone to participate in teaching the baby the signs while they go through their normal activities. I will have to teach it to the caregivers and hope that they use the signs throughout the day. Overall a good tool for understanding the process.

Don't let the "Idiots" moniker fool you...this book is amazing! A PERFECT baby shower or new baby gift, and it's not just fluff -- it works! Where else can you spend so little and get so much. A must read and an even better value compared to the other, more expensive books that are just boring and not as effective. Your kids will thank you, even by signing!! :)

True to idiots guide fashion, this book is incredibly easy to read and navigate. After this book, the other baby sign books were a waste of time. More information and less complicated.