Baby sign class

M

meiniu

Registered User
Hi,

Did anyone have the experience of baby sign class, especially the one at Gymboree, or if there is any other good one you would recommend?

My girl is 8 months, and I?m thinking about taking her to the class. But she?s very active, I?m afraid she won?t sit still for even several minutes. Has anyone been to the class before? Any suggestion?

Thanks,

Kathy
 
Your baby really doesn't need to take a class. You just need to learn a little and then start signing. If you are persistant, your baby will eventually start signing back. I took a mommy crash course based on Joseph Garcia's method.
 
I attended the one at Gymboree when my baby was 8 months old. After trying for 3 months, he finally signed back "eat"! The Gymboree class is a nice experience, and it was good to meet like-minded parents and kids of similar age (around 8 months - 1.5 year old).
 
I learned baby signs from the Garcia book & video obtained from Geobaby. It's very good. At 8 months, our baby showed recognition of the milk sign very quickly, but it took 2 or 3 months for her to do it back, and longer to use signs to request something.

One thing that I've concluded from talking to friends though is that if you start slightly later (10 months to a year) then you are likely to get faster results. It can be discouraging spending 2 or 3 months using the signs nonstop without much feedback. But there is no harm in starting early if you are keen and determined.

It is a wonderful tool for communicating with your baby. Most of our "conversations" were not about anything important, just her letting me know she had spotted a bird, a butterfly, socks hanging on a washing line, etc. My daughter loved the "more" sign and would use it as a general "gimme" sign if she wanted something. Much better than screeching or grabbing!
 
Therre is no "perfect" time to start teaching your baby to sign. Some parents prefer to start from birth (the earliest I know of a baby signing back is at 3 months --for MILK!), some prefer to start closer to when their child's motor skills are a bit more developed (at around at least 6 months or so) to handle doing the signs.

We're expecting #2 next Apr and we're going to start right away (!) with her, having done the Baby Signs Program with our first one (now 22 months) and knowing firsthand how rewarding and amazing it's been. :)
 
does anyone know where you can get the Garcia sign pack from since you all have such positive feedback. Has anyone tried the other pack Rani mentions?

Son is 15 months old and can say "hewo" (for hello) and "Uh Oh" - be great to get him to speak and I hear signing really can help. What are your experiences - can it help babies/toddlers later on in life??
 
The Baby Signs Starter Kit by Drs. Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn is a good kit. Drs. Acredolo and Goodwyn are the pioneers of the whole baby signing movement and have done over 20 years of research on the subject.

For toddlers/older kids: Signing can help you understand your child better when the words are not forthcoming yet or when they still have difficulty articulating certain words. My son is quite a chatterbox and is already speaking in full sentences; even then there are words that he has difficulty articulating well (e.g. helicopter, and other 'long' words). This is where signing comes in handy. Instead of him saying a word and us not getting it and him getting frustrated because he could not get his message across, he could do the sign for the word that he could not say properly and we'd know what he's trying to say! I can't tell you how rewarding signing has been for both him and for us. Feel free to PM me and I'd be happy to share more.
 
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