Baby Signing For Dummies

Have you thought about signing with your baby or toddler? Parents and caregivers are discovering the delights and benefits of using American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate with children long before they can speak. Some studies show that signing babies talk sooner, have larger vocabularies, and have less frustration and tantrums! It’s all about building a bridge between you and what’s going on in your child’s mind and understanding what he/she wants, needs, thinks, and feels. “Baby Signing For Dummies” gives you the skills to connect in a meaningful way with your hearing baby or toddler. This friendly, easy-to-follow guide shows you how to use simple hand gestures and baby-specific signing techniques to start interacting with your baby and make learning more engaging. You’ll discover how to: introduce signs to your baby; get the whole family involved; make everyday events easier with signs; keep the baby safe with signing; and, overcome stumbling blocks.

Packed with more than 150 illustrated signs, this book gives you the basic building blocks of baby sign language in easy-to-digest steps, answering the frequently asked question of whether to use ASL or make up your own signs. You’ll learn which signs are best to start with and when to use them (Milk, Bath, Blanket, Bed, for example). Every sign is accompanied by step-by-step directions and an illustration of the sign from meeting and greeting, people, and mealtime signs to clothes, animals, outdoor signs, and, of course, bath time and bedtime. You’ll see how to: decrease fussing and crying through signing; incorporate signing into daily life; help the baby sign combinations of words; use the baby’s sense of wonder to spot signing opportunities; and, find outside help (Web sites, videos, and signing schools and courses). Complete with illustrations of the entire ASL alphabet, signing dos and don’ts, and ten songs to sign along with, “Baby Signing For Dummies” is the key to enhancing communication with your child and increasing his/her intelligence in a simple, fun, and rewarding way. Table of Contents Introduction. Part I: Talking Hands. Chapter 1: Getting Onboard with Baby Signing. Chapter 2: Introducing Signs to Your Baby. Chapter 3: Warming Up: Signing Boot Camp. Part II: Ready, Set, Sign! Chapter 4: Signing 101: Some Basic Signs. Chapter 5: Eat, Baby, Eat! Mealtime Signs. Chapter 6: Signs to Help Keep Baby Safe and Sound. Chapter 7: Bath and Bed Signs. Part III: Signs for Everyday Life. Chapter 8: Signing Stuff That Baby Wears. Chapter 9: Signing Animals from A to Z. Chapter 10: Signing in the Great Outdoors. Part IV: Now We’re Talking. Chapter 11: Signing Sentences. Chapter 12: Overcoming Stumbling Blocks. Chapter 13: How Long Do We Keep This Up? Part V: The Part of Tens. Chapter 14: Ten Reasons to Sign with Baby. Chapter 15: Ten Signs Every Baby and Toddler Should Know. Chapter 16: Ten (Or So) Songs to Sign. Chapter 17: Ten (Or So) Signing Resources. Part VI: Appendixes. Appendix A: The ASL Alphabet. Appendix B: ASL Numbers. Appendix C: ASL Colors. Index. Author Biography Jennifer Hill Watson is the mom to three signing children. She began signing with her first daughter when her daughter was about 6 months old. At 41 2 years, her oldest now has over 300 signs. Jennifer’s second daughter is nearing 300 signs at age 31 2. Her son has 116 signs and 154 words at 19 months. A former teacher, Jennifer has taught in both private schools and Houston public schools. She teaches signing classes for babies and their parents in the Houston area and helps lead the Houston Signing Babies support group both on the Web and at regular meetings. Jennifer also speaks at national conferences to teachers on using American Sign Language in the classroom. Jennifer works with McGraw—Hill/Wright Group’s Early Childhood Division as an Early Childhood Consultant and teacher trainer. She volunteers as director of a preschool choir and leads confirmation classes with sixth graders in her church. She has a bachelor of science from Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, Texas. Jennifer and her family currently live in Katy, Texas.

Author Biography

Jennifer Hill Watson is the mom to three signing children. She began signing with her first daughter when her daughter was about 6 months old. At 41⁄2 years, her oldest now has over 300 signs. Jennifer’s second daughter is nearing 300 signs at age 31⁄2. Her son has 116 signs and 154 words at 19 months. A former teacher, Jennifer has taught in both private schools and Houston public schools. She teaches signing classes for babies and their parents in the Houston area and helps lead the Houston Signing Babies support group both on the Web and at regular meetings. Jennifer also speaks at national conferences to teachers on using American Sign Language in the classroom. Jennifer works with McGraw-Hill/Wright Group’s Early Childhood Division as an Early Childhood Consultant and teacher trainer. She volunteers as director of a preschool choir and leads confirmation classes with sixth graders in her church. She has a bachelor of science from Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, Texas. Jennifer and her family currently live in Katy, Texas.