When Put Pie was a few months old, I started using sign language with her. I found videos at the library, looked up signs online, and looked on youtube. I picked words that we used regularly like: more, eat, milk, dog, flower, tree, bird, socks, and shoes. The very first sign that she did was “more” and I felt like I had won the lottery. I was so unbelievably excited because honestly I must have done the sign hundreds of times before she did it back and it was so gratifying to see that she was learning.
We kept up with it and I have to say that it really did make life so much easier when she was able to communicate what she wanted. I’m convinced that there was less crying because of it. It also helped because I speak to my daughters (I have two) in Spanish, but just about everyone else speaks to them in English. It helps when we can all use the same signs for words regardless of whether their father or I am communicating with them.
My second daughter Luna Pie came along and I was not as diligent about teaching her sign language. It’s not that I didn’t want to, it’s just that having 2 kids is a lot of work, I’d forgotten some of the signs, and I didn’t have the time to go back to looking at the library and online for resources. But really it was in the back of my head that I needed to start teaching her sign language because she has started to squawk really loudly at me and I knew it was because she was trying to communicate. I kid you not that as soon as I had resolved to put together some resources, I got a very generous offer from BabySignLanguage.com. They offered me a kit with their baby sign language book, flashcards, a graphic dictionary with over 600 words, and a wall chart the whole family can use.
Again, I felt like I won the lottery. Why? Because I wouldn’t have to go to all different kinds of sources to get help. The kit came and we started using it right away. Put Pie was excited about using sign language again: some signs we had never stopped using and others came back quickly. As per the recommendation of the kit we are focusing on 5 signs to start off with Luna Pie. We’ve only been doing it for about a week and already she has done the sign for more. Luna Pie can’t do all 5 signs we are focusing on yet, but she smiles when she sees me do them and I can tell she is absorbing them.
I love being able to have the books at my fingertips for easy reference and my favorite part of the kit are the flashcards. I’m learning the signs along with my children and the flashcards make it easy. The only one thing I wish were included in the kit as either a wall chart or maybe at the very beginning of the Reference Dictionary is a picture guide of the alphabet. The signs for the letters are included in the dictionary, but not all together on one page and I like to use the signs when I sing the girls the alphabet song. Still it wasn’t hard to learn the letters with the tools provided, I’m just prone to lazy.
Keep in mind that even if you don’t buy the kit, BabySignLanguage.com provides free printable resources online. All of these tools are available to the public. I do appreciate the convenience of having the actual kit and it makes me more prone to using and learning new signs daily.
If you’d like a chance to win the Deluxe Baby Sign Language Kit (retail value: $74.80), just follow the instructions on the widget below.
The Giveaway:
I received the Deluxe Baby Sign Language Kit to facilitate this review and another kit was provided for the giveaway. No other compensation was received. All statements and opinions are mine.
I’m a big fan of baby sign language. Funny, it seems like “more” is the one they all catch on to first. My grandkids have all had their own version of some of the signs but they used them consistently.
I used baby sign language on my kids but never had a program to use. This would be really nice to use with the children I take care of during the day in my home daycare.
This is great. Sign language would be a way for hearing children to communicate to each other, to their parents and baby sitters and pre-school teachers as well. There is so much noise and confusion in many situations. Personally, I like the quiet aspect of signing.
I hope i win. I have a son with autism and is non vetbal. This would really help us
I have a friend who is due next week and I think she would just love this for her new baby!
I always wanted to try baby sign, but have been to lax. I think this would help me out a lot. My baby and I would probably both be happier people.
I have a 7 month old and this would come in real handy. we’re starting off slow – our first sign is “more”.
It’s so cool that you taught her sign language when she was a baby. I had a friend who told me he did that with his son and it was so much easier to communicate with him. I would love to try this if I have a second child.
Hi Mami, My niece did sign language with her 18 months old and WOW, I was stunned at how cool it was and how easy it was to communicate with the baby.
Glad it worked for you too. I’m sure my mother (of 5 kids) would have LOVED to have had something like this back in the day.
xo jj
Yes, it seems very interesting. Greetings.
I would love to win this! Sign language is our ‘foreign language’ to learn this year as a family.
Loved this post. What a wonderful idea. I wish I’d known when Vidur was a baby – he was very good at making signs even though he kept on “talking”. Sometimes he would just go quiet and prefer to use signs. Babies must be experts. I must get an ASL book for myself. What a great way to communicate!
I would like to win because I feel that signing is a great way to communicate with your baby. I also think that it is an important skill to learn for the future.
I’d like to win so I can do this with my son, i think it will help alot
This looks awesome! It can be so very frustrating trying to communicate with your baby!
I would like to win because I have 15 month old twins who are very non-verbal, but my daughter (they are boy/girl) is so good with her hands! She started making up signs for things, and it finally dawned me that (d’uh!) I should teach her some real signs! We only know a few so far, that we learned online, but this would be wonderful for teaching her (and her brother) more signs!
I love this idea! By the time the idea for baby sign language came out, my kids were no longer babies! I agree that when kids are able to communicate the tantrums are sure to decrease!!
I want to win this for many reasons, first of all i have always wanted to learn sign language, secondly because my neice has DS and doesnt speak, only uses sign language, and I’m pregnant and would love to teach sign language with the new baby
ive used sign language with my 2 older boys–it really helps with language barrier and frustration. ive just looked a few signs up here or there, but this kit would he helpful with our newest little boy, who’s 4 months right now. id be using it soooooon!
*kelly
kelly-tillotson@hotmail.com
I’m having trouble getting my son to talk. Maybe if he could sign we could better communicate with him.
i would love to win so that i can teach my new baby (due march 2) how to communicate earlier
sarah at realtorsd.com
I would love to win and help teach my daughter sign language so she can let me know what she wants long before she can talk.
My son and I are learning sign language and this would be great to help him
My husband tried to teach my son a few sign languages and he picked up a couple. It was awesome to watch him learn so I would love to teach him more sign languages.
I would love to win so I can teach this to my son
I would love to win this for my Bestfriend who is due in 3 weeks with her first baby. She has a lot of family who is actually deaf so this would help out a lot! And it is super cute!
I want to win because I get to stay ay home with my grandbaby and these woul make our time together more fun.
i would love to win this for my friend who is expecting
I would like to win for my little guy thanks eaglesforjack@gmail.com
I would like to win because my friend had a deaf baby 3 yrs old now! My daughter is almost 3 now and i think it will help them become closer friends
I’d win it for myself – as a teacher I am always using sign!
I would like to win because I want to be able to communicate with my baby and help with brain development.
I would like to win because I want to be able to communicate with my baby and help with brain development.
I think it would be fun for my very small granddaughters
I started with baby sign language with my son (When we realized he had a speech disability). Ever since then, Ive tried to teach the little things that we DO know to our other two children. It was a huge help to us to learn how to communicate with our son when we couldn’t normally. I only know a few things though, I WOULD LOVE to learn more and teach my 6 month old!
I would love to win this to use with my son. I used sign language with my daughter when she was a baby and would love to have a program to use.
thransom@gmail.com
My son because it would be a great communication tool
i would like to win cause i just had a baby and would love to try this with him!
I would LOVE to win! I think everyone should know at least the basics of sign language 🙂
s_hill2009@yahoo.com
I would love to win this. My son is stubborn and can talk
but chooses not to. This would help me with a program of words and pictures to
go together with out me having to look up all the words individually.
I would love t win this, for my granddaughter! I think this is an excellent idea for little ones.
we plan on using baby signing with or son
I’d love to win this for my new grandson!
I’m deaf and use sign language myself. I would love to win this for a friend of mine that has a baby
my grand niece has developmental delay’s and we don’t know if she will be able to talk, she has dandy walker syndrome and hydrocephelus both afflict the brain, so her therapist works with her to try and learn sign language so this would be wonderful for her to have as a tool that we could practice with her at home.
truwinner@gmail.com
I want to win! I really want to teach my son some more signs!
farrah_jo@yahoo.com
I email subscribe
farrah_jo@yahoo.com
It won’t let me do that entry