Customer Reviews

My First Baby Signs

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I was looking for a book with more useful everyday signs, like "hungry", "tired", etc. This book is good for identifying objects like "cat", "book", "hat", but not great for helping baby tell you what she needs.

I recommend using this book as a way to get your baby started with signing. To understand the idea behind baby signing and ideas for other signs to try, you need the full Baby Signs book. This little board book is engaging and colorful and a great way to introduce signing to your baby.

We started using a few signs and reading this book with our son at about 8 or 9 months. He loved this book, though at first he just looked and didn't try to use any signs. Then, suddenly one day at about 10 months, like a light switch going on, he did every sign in the book! From there he took off with signing and within a few months, used over 50 signs to communicate, including combining signs into 2-3 word "sentences".

It was amazing and I cannot now imagine not being able to communicate before he could talk. My son is 3 now and an extremely verbally fluent child - I think his early experience in communicating with signs was a big factor in this. This book was a helpful way to get started. I think a key thing to remember with signing is that it's a fun interaction between you and your baby - it doesn't matter if they do the signs exactly as in the book, you can make up your own signs or do whatever works for you!

Since my Grandson just started learning ASL in day care, I thought this would be helpful. The format is great -- thick pages that he can turn himself. However, more common signs should have been included -- like "Mother", "Father", "hello" and "goodbye." What use is the sign for "hat" when most babies hate wearing hats!!

I realize that the signs aren't true ASL signs, but I find them easy to remember, and if my daughter wants to learn ASL later in life, I don't think learning some "wrong" signs will hinder her. In fact, many times the easiest way to teach them a sign is to assign a meaning to a gesture they already make.

Anyway, my daughter loves the book. It took awhile for her to start signing... the first one she did was "dog" (pant, or go woof woof... she says "a da!" but da can mean any number of things). Then we visited a friend with a bird, and I did the flap arms sign again, and something within her CLICKED. She flapped her arms whenever she wanted to see the birds.

The next day, she was doing the sign for "cat" and "fish". We watched Baby Einstein "Neighborhood Animals" video (the only one of the series that she shows any interest in), and when she saw a duck she went "quack quack" (sounds like guk guk guk) and started flapping her arms. She saw a bug that was flying and started flapping her arms as well.

If she sees a picture of a fish, she starts smacking her lips. I showed her the "one fish, two fish" book and asked if she wanted to read it and she smacked her lips for "fish".

We also use the back page as a "quiz" page, and I ask if she sees a dog (for example) and she'll point to the dog.

Granted the book doesn't have signs for eat, drink, etc... but using this book as a foundation to teach the baby that he/she can assign a sign to objects and animals, it's easy to build on from there.

I was interested in getting board books for my baby to learn ASL, since her uncle is deaf. We got the book in the mail, and a few of the signs are incorrect, or, "made-up" signs. I guess there isn't anything wrong with that, but the ASL signs are not that hard to learn, either. For instance, the sign "ball" is shown as a gesture of throwing a ball. The actual sign in ASL is to put your hands together to form a round, ball shape. "Dog" says to pant with your tongue out, whereas in asl, you pat your thigh as if to call your dog. Some other signs like "fish" and "flower" are just facial gestures, and not even sign language. I don't understand why they would mix asl with made up signs. It's like the authors don't really see sign language as a real language, or maybe they don't believe that the babies will continue to use sign language when they learn to talk. To me, it would be as if you said you wanted to teach your child english, but if you didn't know how to say the word in english, just make it up, and it would be fine, right?!

I would recommend Signing Time Board Books by Two Little Hands Productions, Baby's First Signs & More Baby's First Signs by Curt Waller and Kim Votry. These books are definitely true sign language AND easy to do and learn!

I expected the signs in this book to be more useful. There are only 10 signs in the whole book and most of them (hat, fish, telephone) are not even signs that I feel are important to learn. It was a total waste of money.

Your baby my not "take" to signing right away. It may take your patience to assist your little one in acquiring the signs. My daughter and I began reading these books and for months she didnt seem interested in singing then one day she did. Still at 20 months uses many signs. The signs help alleviate the
frustration she experienced because she didnt have the vocab yet to tell me what she wanted. Her first sign was for "more" and it went one from there. I recommend it for everyone who is patient and in tune with their child.

My husband and I have been working on signs with our 14 month old son for about 10 months now. I'm not sure why (maybe the pictures in the book help him visualize another baby making the sign), but after purchasing this book and working on the signs in the book with him, he is picking it up so quickly. Within 2 days, he learned 4 new signs.

I think that the book offers children learning signs another perspective besides mom & dad making a sign. I want to get some of the other baby signs books by this author to supplement what we have gotten from this book. Even though some of the words aren't those that are 'essential' (like thirsty, hungry, eat, milk, etc.) the book does help your baby and you begin to communicate in this way.

I have the Baby Signs "text book" and love the concept, but didn't find my baby responding consistently to the methods (nor me using them consistently!) We read this book a couple of times, and now he knows whats on the next page, and has learned all the signs within a week. Something about this book makes sense.

I bought this book after reading some of the positive recommendations, if you plan on getting other books regarding baby signs you can skip this one. Only nine signs are shown and the signs are so simplistic it is not worth the money. I do not know how this book compares to the ASL version of baby signs, but you don't need this book to do the signs offered here. For instance flap you arms at your side like wings to imitate a bird. Smack your lips together to imitate a fish. All the signs in the book we learned naturally in preschool, and you don't need a refresher on. At the book list price of $6.99 for 9 signs that's about 80 cents a sign to learn stuff you do naturally.