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In the 80s, American researchers found that children of deaf parents communicated earlier than others. From there was born the sign language for hearing babies. The goal: to offer toddlers the opportunity to make themselves understood before they can speak. A concept that increasingly appeals to young parents, and which is proving its worth!
1. How does it work?
From birth, the baby wants to communicate. Long before having an elaborate language! What if we learned to communicate with him by signs, to better understand him? These signs, taken from French Sign Language (LSF), will allow him to better express his needs, before setting up oral language.
It is not a question of making complete sentences, only of sign the keyword (s)). If we ask him: “Are you hungry? Do you want to eat a cake or mash? ”, We sign the words“ hunger ”,“ cake ”and“ mash ”. To express a cake, in particular, you form a fist with your hand while tapping yourself twice on the cheek. By dint of seeing these signs, the baby will integrate them and reproduce them when he feels the need.
In video: Why and how to sign with your baby? Isabelle Cottenceau explains some simple gestures to us.
2. What is it for?
Sign stimulates memory, fine motor skills, as well as the social and emotional intelligence of your infant. He will associate, for example, the word “anger” with a sign and with facial expressions (frowning, grin down). He’ll cry less too, if he knows how to let you know he has a stomach ache, wants a hug, or tells you he wants to sleep. Quite simply because you will respond more adequately to their needs. So it’s a great way to help your child get into the language.
3. How to get started?
Nursery rhymes are an ideal tool: toddlers enjoy the accompanying hand games and facial expressions… and it’s easy to remember for young and old. Good books (with DVD) allow you to learn, but you can also participate in a workshop or follow lessons via Skype to address the main themes of the baby’s life such as washing, eating, emotions and people / animals. And the results are quite fast: a 45-minute session already allows you to master a dozen signs.
4. From what age?
You can start as soon as he is born, but he will only be able to answer you from 7 or 8 months, age when he begins to sign spontaneously by pointing, waving goodbye or sending kisses. Establish the signs around the child’s 6 months is therefore sufficient, knowing that it will then need a latency time to integrate them and be able to restore them.
5. Is the baby likely to speak later?
On the contrary, a small signer simply goes learn to communicate earlier as if he had to wait until he knew how to pronounce every word. Besides, we always sign by pronouncing the designated word, and as the child knows how to say the word, the sign disappears naturally… he will always prefer to clarify his thought by the word and to enjoy a richer vocabulary.