baby signing

[jacobsmummy]

hey guys, was wondering if any of u can help me?
i want to get a baby signing dvd to help encourage my son to talk (he understands words, just cant say any!) i wanted to take him to a class but the only one i could find locally has now been cancelled :-(
after looking on amazon etc im totally confused as to which dvd is best for beginners who have never been to any classes? my son is 15 months now so is getting better at comunication but i want to encourage his speech, please help, what products are best, books dvds or cards?

[sophieb]

The best way to encourage him to speak is to talk to him about everything and anything! I was really keen for my first child to start speaking and now she's 11 i cant get her to stop! He is still pretty young to have an extensive vocabulary but if he understands speech ok he will talk more when he's ready. you can just point out things when you are out together like 'car', 'bus' 'dog' etc and he will soon catch on. looking at books together with you reading and asking things like ' where is the ?' (picture)on the page will encourage him to read when he's a bit bigger and this too will improve his speech and vocabulary.

[jacobsmummy]

i do do all that with him, and hes a lovely, happy little boy but i know he gets frustrated if we cant understand his sqeals and also know that learing some basic signs like pain will encourage him to show me where and hopefully increase his confidence in learning to speek. i know he wont speak until hes ready and i dont mind just thought it would be a nice thing to do together?

[scoobybob]

Hi, I go to baby signing classes with my son who has just turned one. We are finding signing really great as he can tell us when he is hungry, thirsty, tired etc. He has also just started doing the signs for tree, dog & bird which are great when we go to the park. He does try to say some of the words but the signing means we can understand what he is trying to say which encourages him to continue.
I would recommend the Sing & Sign DVD, the second one (more sing & sign) is probably better aimed at his age group & can be purches from their website. Otherwise look on the cbeebees website at the 'something special' page as that his a good catalogue of signs.

Good luck & have fun

[jacobsmummy]

thankyou, is the second dvd more for beginners then? cos i read a review of the first one and someone said that if u hadnt been to the classes it was very hard to follow?

[scoobybob]

I havn't seen the first DVD as my teacher said the second one is more fun! It has lots of songs on it but the signs are quite easy to see & pick up (the lady doing the signs is often 'inserted' in the corner of the screen signing towards you ). Amongst other things it gives signs for sandwich, biscuit, cake, banana, apple (plus others!), also lots of animals, signs relating to potty training, and also tree, flowers etc. Oh yes, lots of colours as well.
At the end of the day you can always make up your own signs as long as you can remember them!!
I hope that helps.

[jacobsmummy]

thanku that does help, think ill get that one then :o)

[himshe]

hi there, i have just bought the v tech v.smile baby toy/game thing for my daughters xmas, she was one 3 weeks ago, i bought it because it looked fun and also educational and the tv advert looked good, im keen for her to be as bright as she can be, but getting to the point in the game that comes with it there is a section on baby signing obviously for beginers!!! lol. i have been sitting playing with it for hours today as im really impressed with it, and cant wait for xmas day so that i can sit down with her and play with her. she is pointing to things and trying to tell us what she wants but like you say it can be frustrating for both her and us to discover what it is she wants exactly, so hopefully this will bring her on a wee bit more in the talking department, most of the big toy shops and departments sell this game and believe me its well worth it.

hope this helps.
Merry christmas.