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How To Teach Your Child Sign Language
There are many reasons that sign languages have been
introduced into a child's life. Most of the time we as parents don't think
about sign language or teaching the language to our children if they are not
hearing impaired. Today there are many individuals and parents who have
found sign language can be helpful to communicate with their child as they
are growing up whether they are hearing impaired or not. There are several
tips in the following article on how to teach sign language. Most of these
tips will focus on the hearing impaired, but remember anyone can learn sign
language to help boost their communication skills overall.
As the parent you are going to have to teach the actual signs to your child.
When you first begin to teach a kid sign language you want to make sure you
use the same hand. The child is going to learn to focus on that hand for
most of the communication. The best way to teach kids sign language is to
use your lead hand. Your lead hand is the one you typically write with, eat
with, and do most activities with. For children that are left handed this
can be a little more difficult if you are right handed. All it takes is a
little thought and helping them to see the mirror of the sign you are
making. Usually the books are even going to demonstrate in a right handed
picture.
You also want to make sure you provide the facial expressions, body
language, and lip pattern that goes with a sign. Most often a hearing
impaired individual is also going to be able to read lips. This can be
taught to your child as well if they suffer from hearing loss. If you are
saying the word as you are signing it they will be able to understand the
lip movements as well, especially if you take the time to focus on your
lips. Body language has usually been a universal sign for someone to
understand whether they are talking or signing. It can be most helpful in
the "inflection" of words when you sign. If you have the body language to go
with the sign the child can understand displeasure, happiness, and other
emotions.
You will find that not all sign language is universal. There are many
adaptations to sign language. There is the British Sign Language, and
American Sign Language to name just two. Some words are not easily
translated into English from another language, but you will find that an
entire sentence may be translated. So this can even help the person learn
another language, even if they are just signing that language over speaking
it.
There are many ways to use kids sign language. You can first teach the child
to spell with their fingers and then graduate to phrases or you can use
both. Finger spelling is usually used for names or places that either the
child does not know the sign for, or for things where there is no recognized
sign.
You will find that your child quickly grasps what you are teaching and you
can move onto more complex signs or even enroll them in classes to further
their education.
Click Here for a FREE
Printable Sign Language Alphabet Chart
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