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

by Monta Z. Briant (Author) "My then-ten-month-old daughter, Sirena, had always been easy to put to bed, so when she clung to me and cried one warm night, I wondered..." (more)
Key Phrases: motivating signs, baby sign language, baby signs, Highly Motivating Signs, Lot Signs (more...)

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"

Product Description
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!)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Hay House; illustrated edition edition (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: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #91,743 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

100 of 101 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

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).

71 of 73 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 (REAL NAME)

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.

30 of 30 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)

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.