Babies

Why you do the same?

Why wait to start communicating until your baby can speak? Babies are longing to communicate with you much sooner, they want to tell you what they need but they can't because speech takes longer to learn than the hand coordination needed to sign. There are times when every parent wishes they could understand exactly why their pre-verbal baby is crying: is the baby hungry, thirsty or in pain? Using signs will ease this frustration for you and your baby much earlier in your relationship; they will be able to tell you what is wrong. We sometimes see babies laughing but we don't know why. If they were able to tell us why they are laughing, we would laugh with them!

Signing is a natural step for all babies. Every day we see babies and young children using simple gestures: waving "Bye Bye", lips puckered for a kiss, arms outstretched to say "Pick me up" or wriggling to say "Let me down". These are the first stages in signing that every parent understands. If we develop this further with extra signs, for example, "I would like a biscuit" or "I want a wee-wee", life becomes much easier and more enjoyable for babies and parents. Early communication will aid a child's confidence and help build their self-esteem. Signing will not hinder speech, rather the reverse: when they do speak, most signing babies have a richer vocabulary to use than their non-signing contemporaries.

Workshops

Sign and Bond workshops help you to introduce signs to your pre-verbal babies and young children up to the age of 5. The signs are simple and fun to learn. Throughout the workshops, we use music, games and other educational tools. You will be astonished when you can communicate in signs with young babies and you will bond closer as you build a strong foundation for effective communication.

When babies learn to sign:

• Their mind's eye opens up. Their ways of thinking and communicating develop.
• Their temper tantrums diminish as their wants are expressed and their needs are met.
• They bond better and develop more expressive relationships with the people around them.
• They develop a love of language and are encouraged to explore more means of communication, using body language and more intense facial expressions.
• They feel empowered and thus happier.