Baby Sign Language
Pamela Levinson
SGN 121
04/29/2015
Baby Sign Language
Since I have started college, I have worked in jobs around young children. I worked at a toy store in the mall near the play area, and now I worked in the children’s department of a big name bookstore. Over the years I have witnessed many young children have tantrums. Teaching babies sign language could help lessen the amount of tantrums they child will have in their young years. In the early 1980s Dr. Linda Acredolo and Dr. Susan Goodwyn did groundbreaking research about baby signing with hearing babies to see what were the short and long-term benefits of baby signs. There are many benefits to teaching babies sign language. Teaching babies and young children sign language helps parents communicate with their children before they can talk, builds the child’s language skills, and increases their brain development. Teaching babies sign language will help reduce the amount of tantrums they have as toddlers and help them communicate with their parents. Toddlers usually have tantrums because they feel helpless and aren’t sure how to express themselves. When a child knows sign language, they are able to tell their parents what is wrong. If a baby that doesn’t know any signs starts to cry, it could take the parents a while to figure out what’s wrong. “Imagine rushing your baby to the ER in the middle of the night when all you really needed to do is show her there was no elephant in her closet!” (Briant 16). When a baby cries, the parents will try to figure out what is wrong by changing the baby, and feeding the baby. When that still doesn’t help, they start to worry that it could be something serious like their baby is sick, when it could just be that they are scared of a monster or elephant in the closet. Babies that are taught signs can sign what’s wrong. “It helps reduce the guesswork of understanding your infant’s thoughts, as well as allowing two-way conversations.” (Collingwood). They can tell their parents
SGN 121
04/29/2015
Baby Sign Language
Since I have started college, I have worked in jobs around young children. I worked at a toy store in the mall near the play area, and now I worked in the children’s department of a big name bookstore. Over the years I have witnessed many young children have tantrums. Teaching babies sign language could help lessen the amount of tantrums they child will have in their young years. In the early 1980s Dr. Linda Acredolo and Dr. Susan Goodwyn did groundbreaking research about baby signing with hearing babies to see what were the short and long-term benefits of baby signs. There are many benefits to teaching babies sign language. Teaching babies and young children sign language helps parents communicate with their children before they can talk, builds the child’s language skills, and increases their brain development. Teaching babies sign language will help reduce the amount of tantrums they have as toddlers and help them communicate with their parents. Toddlers usually have tantrums because they feel helpless and aren’t sure how to express themselves. When a child knows sign language, they are able to tell their parents what is wrong. If a baby that doesn’t know any signs starts to cry, it could take the parents a while to figure out what’s wrong. “Imagine rushing your baby to the ER in the middle of the night when all you really needed to do is show her there was no elephant in her closet!” (Briant 16). When a baby cries, the parents will try to figure out what is wrong by changing the baby, and feeding the baby. When that still doesn’t help, they start to worry that it could be something serious like their baby is sick, when it could just be that they are scared of a monster or elephant in the closet. Babies that are taught signs can sign what’s wrong. “It helps reduce the guesswork of understanding your infant’s thoughts, as well as allowing two-way conversations.” (Collingwood). They can tell their parents