We had some Baby Signing DVDs that were donated a while ago, and have recently been pulling them out on occasion for the babies to watch. They don't watch TV, so it seemed like a special, educational treat that they would enjoy.
Annabel is one of the youngest members of our little group, but boy does she love to show off! This little girl can sign "more" like a pro, wave bye-bye, blow kisses, clap her hands and whenever we watch the DVDs she starts waving her hands all around, trying to imitate the signs.
Anna Rose is quieter than Annabel, but that doesn't mean that she can't sign! Can you see her fingers forming the "more" sign?
No pushing buttons, Annabel!
After letting the CCU babies watch for a while, we brought the DVD player into the baby room. It's mostly for Lena's sake. She's already two and non-verbal except for her lovely singing voice, so we thought that some signing would be good for her. Ethan was entranced.
Do you do signing with your babies?
My oldest brother is partially deaf and blind, and learned to sign in elementary school (he's nearing 50 now), and so I grew up watching him sign. My oldest (now 10) was unwilling to speak in her early years, and so I taught her a fair amount of sign language early on, which helped TREMENDOUSLY in our communication. She has not forgotten any of it! She still knows all her alphabet and all of the signs we taught. My second-born knows some, and my youngest two had no need for signs as they learned to speak up quickly in the presence of their older siblings, but as we begin homeschooling my younger ones, I think we'll teach the signs as a foreign language. It's an excellent life skill.
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