The Baby Signing Book by Sara Bingham, owner and founder of WEE HANDS, baby, toddler, and preschool sign language classes (and more!) is a great book for anyone wanting to, or already in the process of, signing with their child.
The book includes 350 ASL signs, songs, tips, tricks, child development tips, and more!
It starts out by giving you a history of why Sara started signing with her children, a little history of the WeeHands company, and the history of baby signing. The book then explains how to use the signs and tips in the book, and how to get started signing with your baby.
There are 9 chapters in Part 1 of the book, each one building on the last, in an effort to help you fully understand the hows and whys of using signs with young children. Throughout the book, there are signs along the sides of the page, showing you different signs that pertain the that certain part of the book.
Chapters 1-2 explains the basics...hand shapes, why ASL is important and why not to use made up signs, the importance of parental involvement in the development of language, ASL dialect and grammar, resources, when to start, introducing the concept of conversation, body language and movement, and what signs to start with. It also goes into the benefits of sign language, brain development, and long term benefits of signing.
Chapters 3-6 goes into signing at certain ages, and when to use what signs, how, etc... at each stage of development (Ch. 3 0-6 months, Ch. 4 6-12 months, Ch. 5 12-18 months, Ch. 6 18 -24 months). It even has spaces for you to record your child's progress with signs they have used.
Chapters 7-8 are ones that many people either do not realize is beneficial, or stop before that stage, since their kids should be very verbal by then...preschoolers! Chapter 7 covering 2-2 1/2 and Chapter 8 covering 2 1/2 to 3 years old. These ages, though the child is very verbal at this stage, are ages where signing with your child may actually come in handy! For example, church, across a table at a big dinner, through the window or door, and so on. It also gives fun songs to sign and sign with your preschooler! These are very fun, and children naturally love finger plays, so this will be something they will enjoy!
Chapter 9 covers signing with children with special needs. To me, this is very important, because children with things such as Downs Syndrome, severe Autism, Apraxia, and so on (and, of course, hard of hearing), have a very hard time communicating. Teaching them sign language will help them over come many barriers they would have had, if they had not know ASL! I have seen some amazing videos over the years of children with disabilities signing away!
Part 2 of The Baby Signing Book is a sign language dictionary. It starts out by explaining hand choice (using your dominant hand), male and female signs, dialects, emotions, nouns and verbs, and resources. It then shows you the ASL alphabet as well as the ASL numbers 1-10.
In the dictionary, there are 350 signs, each one having a spot where you can put the date you introduced your child to the sign, as well as the date they produced the sign for you! Each sign has a picture of a person signing it, the hand shape used for the sign, body space, movement, and memory aid to help you and you child remember the sign.
The last 11 pages have 36 songs, alphabetized, for you to sign and sing with your child. Along the sides of the pages, are pictures of people signing the key words, to help you along.
There are also some great resources listed at the end of the book, to help you find more information about signing with your child.
This is a very helpful book that anyone just starting, or even if you have been signing for quite some time, to use with your child, your day care or preschool class, homeschool group, and so on!
And the best part? One lucky winner will win this book!
This contest ends November 30! There are
All you have to do is leave one comment, telling me you have done the following:
- Follow my blog
- Tell me about why you want to start or if you sign or have signed with your child
- Leave a link to your blog in your comment (so I can follow you back!)
- Follow me on TWITTER
- Like Ramblings of a Stay At Home Mom on FACEBOOK
- Tweet about my giveaway (Use: Win copy of Baby Signing Book click here:
On my last contest, the winner I picked first left no way to contact them, so they lost out. I need a way to contact you, so the above is VERY important!
Stay at home, business owning mom of 4 young kids, Nick the Sportsman, Michele the Princess, Wyatt the Wild One, and Evan the Baby.Bachelor in Early Childhood Development and Education, with 20 years experience. I could not ask for anything more! 
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