Introducing Sign Language To Young Children

Introducing Sign Language To Young Children

ASL is currently considered a world language, just like Spanish, French, or any other foreign language. As a result, a child who speaks sign language is deemed bilingual. When youngsters are taught both English and ASL at the same time, they are engaging both sides of their brain to process language. This allows the children to retain words from two different sources rather than just one.

Experts claim that babies as young as six to seven months old may remember a sign. Children can begin to sign single words and copy gestures at the age of eight months, and by the age of 24 months, they can sign complex phrases and whole sentences. Many preschools have begun to teach their pupils sign language.

Although it has been stated that learning sign language delays speech development, experts dispute this, claiming that it actually helps speech development. The majority of babies who learn to sign talk earlier than those who do not. Sign language has been shown to be advantageous for children in a range of situations. Teaching preverbal newborns sign language has been shown to help children later in life. Sign language has been shown to improve speech development, reduce frustration in young children by allowing them to express themselves before they learn to speak, increase parent-child bonding, and allow babies to communicate vital information such as if they are hurt or hungry, according to research.

Other long-term benefits include:

1. Reinforces the learning of educational concepts such as ABC’s, animals, and other specific themes
2. Helps children remember words because there is muscle memory involved, and the more senses involved in learning, the greater memory retention the child will have
3. Improves attentiveness to social gestures of others as well as of themselves
4. Larger speaking vocabulary and ability to form longer sentences
5. Earlier reading and larger reading vocabulary

Infants who learn sign language also are thought to gain psychological benefits, such as improved confidence and self-esteem. Feelings of anger due to an inability to communicate may not occur as often. Having the ability to sign could be a lifesaver when a child is too flustered to speak clearly. Early exposure to signing helps infants to develop their language and reasoning skills. While others are still crying to get what they want, signing babies are learning how to communicate with words and simple phrases.

Parents of hearing children are discovering sign language is beneficial for children in a wide variety of situations. You can reinforce the signs your children learn at preschool by using them at home. The practice of teaching hearing children sign language will continue to gain popularity due to its many, many benefits