The early communication techniques between parents and
their babies are very difficult at the beginning for both parties. Babies
are not able to tell what they want and neither to ask for something that
would make them feel better. Parents are hence very stressed and concerned
about their babies' needs, especially at the early age of nursery. For this
reason experts have come up with an effective idea that is meant to ease the
first stage of communication between new parents and their little children.
Baby sign language is a special method by which parents
can implement some words and gestures into the life of their little ones.
The technique by which baby sign language can be taught to children is
called modeling and it consists of a mixture of words and gestures so that
the baby would get used to recognizing some of the signs. For example,
parents are advised to say the word of the action that they are about to do
for their babies out loud before starting doing it. Hence, before eating
they can say "eat" or before sleeping "sleep". By this method children will
get used to assimilating the words with the gestures or actions and will
soon be able to recognize the specific actions.
Specialists think that this method is very effective,
as gradually, the child will get accustomed to the specific words and to
match them with the corresponding actions that they express.
Parents are highly advised to use the baby sign
language with their children and they are likely to see notable improvement
in their babies' behavior. This special language is considered to be the
preparatory step taken before the actual process of learning more and more
difficult words. Studies have shown that children respond to this technique
very well and that they behave better once they have learned these initial
sign rules.
There are parents who fear of using it because they
consider this can affect their babies' later process of learning real words.
Experts argue by explaining that the efficiency of sign language is tested
and that there were no cases of altering further learning processes by it.
The age that babies should be in order to be able to
respond to this technique is six months. A six month baby will memorize the
gestures that his parents do after naming the specific action to be done.
Studies show that the average age at which babies will also be able to
imitate these gestures is seven or eight months. At this age children are
aware of the special signs that denote certain actions.
Parents do not need to have a thorough knowledge of
the techniques used in baby sign language, as they may invent their own
gestures and they may choose the key moments in which to make those gestures
and say the words. It is a matter of imagination and many parents consider
it to be fun both for them as for their babies.
