Baby Signs - The Original Research-Based Method of Baby Sign Language

When Signs are Gone but not Forgotten

2012-02-20T21:07:00.000-08:00

Do signs stick around once a baby is able to say the words they represent? The answer is “Yup!”—at least for awhile. Think about your own use of signs. Have you completely stopped waving GOOD-BYE just because you have the word? No. You automatically recognize occasions when the sign words better than (or better with) the word. Here are some of the times when babies make the same decision:

To clarify a message. Learning how to say words clearly enough for adults to understand is a real challenge. Baby may know that “tu tu” means “turtle,” but that doesn’t guarantee that Mom does. To deal with this situation, babies often add a sign when they see a confused look on someone’s face. “Ohhhh. You mean TURTLE!”

When mouths are full. A mouth full of food is a real obstacle to intelligible speech, and a baby who really wants “more” goldfish crackers is disinclined to wait to swallow the ones he is already working on! For quite a while after they learn words, therefore, children will naturally revert to signs to speed up service.

For emphasis. Have you ever said “No!” while simultaneously shaking your head back and forth vigorously? Of course you have! Truth is that there are time when words alone simply aren’t strong enough, and babies feel this way too. (This is another case where the sign for “more” provides a good example!)

When words can’t (or shouldn’t) be heard. Sometimes the noise level in a room is just too high to make words effective. For awhile, babies will naturally revert to signs in such situations. On the other hand, sometimes they will spontaneously revert to signs in the opposite situation--when talking is inappropriate—like in church or the library. Smart little Dickens, aren’t they!?

So, just because your baby is starting to say a word, don’t expect the sign to disappear overnight. In fact, keep your eyes open for episodes like this one a colleague of mine reported: About a year after her daughter had stopped using signs in favor of words, her mom saw her tapping her doll’s finger tips together and saying “More, you want more.” Wow!

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

From Sworn Enemies to Bosom Buddies

2012-02-13T15:45:00.000-08:00

I’m turning this week from sign language with babies to information drawn from my book with Dr. Susan Goodwyn entitled Baby Hearts: A Guide to Giving Your Child an Emotional Head Start.

It’s not uncommon to hear that violence in the world is inevitable because aggression is built into the human species—that it’s “instinctual”—and, therefore, nothing can be done to change it. A very clever study done way back in 1930 by Z. Y. Kuo provides the perfect retort—and hope for the future.

If there’s one behavior that most of us would agree is instinctual, it’s the tendency for cats to stalk and kill rats. Or is it? Kuo decided to find out. First, he took litters of newborn kittens away from their natural mothers. One-third of these he gave to tried-and-true rat-killing moms to raise. Another third he raised by themselves. And the final third he raised with rats! Then, when the kittens were old enough, he tested to see if they would stalk and kill rats in a natural situation. Here’s what he found.

• The kittens raised with rat-killing moms learned from them, 85 % becoming enthusiastic rat-killers.
• The kittens raised alone split about evenly, with 45% easily persuaded to kill rats.
• But of the kittens raised with rats, only 17% ever killed a rat in all his tests!

What’s the point of all this? Here it is, and it’s important. Even something as arguably instinctual as rat-killing can be changed given the right life history. Create an environment early in life that nurtures love, trust, and familiarity rather than violence and hate, and the result is much more peace and harmony.

So, take Kuo’s results as evidence that the lessons you teach your children about compassion and tolerance are both likely to work and one of the only ways we have to chip away at the violence we see around us.

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Some “Nos” are Better than Others

2012-02-06T17:03:00.000-08:00

This week I’m taking a break from talking about signing with babies to discuss another issue that faces every parent of a toddler: Noncompliance with requests. We all know there are nice ways and not so nice ways to say “no.” Well, how we as parents say it to our children turns out to have an important influence on how children learn to say it too.

Let’s look first at children’s behavior. Turns out there are individual differences in how toddlers express their unwillingness to cooperate. The strategies fall into two different categories, unskilled and skilled.

• Unskilled: The toddler gives no reason for noncompliance. He or she may simply ignore the parent’s request, angrily defy it (“No!”), or quietly refuse (“No, I play more.”)

• Skilled: The toddler tries to find some “wiggle room” in the parent’s request through negotiations of some kind. In this case, he or she may try for a compromise (“Just one more?”) or attempt to justify noncompliance (“Not done yet.”)

How do toddlers come to favor one type of strategy over another? As in many other domains of development, they model themselves after what they experience their parents doing. Parents who supply explanations, suggest compromises, and consider the child’s feelings when asking for cooperation tend to have children who favor the skilled strategies—even if they choose not to comply.

And why is it important which strategy—skilled or unskilled—a toddler favors? Not only do the unskilled strategies make for more tension between parent and child, but research shows that children who tend toward unskilled strategies as toddlers continue to do so at age five—thereby running the risk of permanent damage to the parent-child relationship.

Of course, all parents would prefer that their young children always comply with their requests. That’s hardly realistic, however. What this research suggest is that even when toddlers don’t comply, there well maybe something in the “how” of their behavior that is worthy of appreciation.

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Make Older Sibs Part of the Signing Team

2012-01-30T19:07:00.000-08:00

A while back I focused in this blog on the challenges parents face when they upset the family dynamics by adding another baby to the mix. In that regard, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the displaced child is vulnerable to feelings of jealousy and resentment. This week’s message is about how signing has helped ease the tensions of sibling rivalry for many families.

Teaching a baby to sign requires lots of enthusiasm and repetition. “Doggie! [SIGN] See the doggie? [SIGN] What a nice doggie! [SIGN]” The truth is that, especially at first, parents can feel a bit shy about waving their hands around as they ramp up the enthusiasm factor in their voices and faces. In contrast, preschool and school age kids often enjoy acting “silly” and, as a consequence, seldom have a problem providing the energy that makes modeling signs for babies most effective. Because babies love watching their older siblings, these pint-sized teachers do a great job. What’s more. they take great pride in having successfully taught their baby brother or sister a sign. “Watch Mom! She can sign DOG now!”

The obvious benefit here is that the baby learns more signs. But the more subtle benefit is that the older sibling feels an allegiance with the parents as part of the signing “team”—making being older (and wiser) more attractive—and thereby helping offset feelings of jealousy.

So, if you have an older sib available to help teach signs, make it fun. Suggest he/she look for pictures of target objects (e.g., dogs when teaching the DOG sign) in magazines—or even draw them—to post around the house. Soon you’ll see big sister dragging the little one over to the pictures and demonstrating the signs with great gusto. The more the merrier, we always say!

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

A Simple Challenge Saves a Rainy Day

2012-01-23T09:44:00.000-08:00

It's a very stormy Monday out here in "sunny" northern California, a situation that put me in mind of a tip to share with housebound families. A month or so ago I wrote about how to provide a new landscape for your crawling baby by putting pillows from the sofa or chairs on the floor. Today I want build on that theme with a tip for toddlers. As is true with crawling, when children first begin to walk, they take great pleasure in the act itself. Rather than always moving to get a toy or reach a door, for the newly walking toddler the simple process of getting from here to there is often enough.

The truth of this observation was brought home to me one rainy day when I was babysitting my 18-month-old twin grandchildren, Nate and Olivia. I was just about out of ideas for entertaining them when I happened to spy a folded up card table in the laundry room. Hmmm…what could I do with that? At first I set it up and draped a sheet over it hoping they would be intrigued by a new “cave” to hide in. No luck. For some reason they were scared to go in. (This idea worked great a few months later.)

Feeling disappointed, I collapsed the card table and just left it (top up) on the floor as I went to let the dog out. When I turned back around, much to my delight, I found Nate and Olivia giggling as they stepped up the 1.5 inches to the top of the table, moved around the top a bit, and then gingerly stepped down again! Now, that might not seem all that exciting to you and me, but to a newly walking child, the challenge of stepping up and down this slight rise without losing one’s balance was a source of great satisfaction—and fun. Believe it or not, that card table kept them occupied for nearly 30 minutes!

Sometimes the simplest pleasures give the greatest joy.

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Potty Training Success Story—with twins!

2012-01-17T09:37:00.000-08:00

As I have made very clear over the past two years, I am the proud Grammy to twins, Nate and Olivia, 2 1/2 last Thanksgiving. In addition, as many of you know, I’m also the proud co-originator (with Dr. Susan Goodwyn) of the Baby Signs® Potty Training Program. The program is designed to help reverse the trend in this country towards later and later potty training—a trend that has resulted in an average age of 37 months and climbing!

Why the trend? Parents these days are busier than ever and universally dread potty training. Any excuse to put it off, therefore, is welcome. Corporate America in the shape of the disposable diaper industry has conveniently provided the means in the form of bigger and bigger diapers, now up to Size 7, big enough for a 6-year-old child!

Not surprisingly, I gave my daughter-in-law, Julie, our Complete Potty Training Kit when the twins were about 15 months old. After a delay of a few months, Julie began just as we suggest, by carefully reading the short instruction book and, since then, has followed the step-by-step advice to a “T.” She had them help her pick out two potty chairs, placed them in the bathroom side by side, and began to talk about using the potty. At the same time, she introduced them to the fun DVD that comes in the kit showing our animated Baby Signs® DiaperDoodle™ characters going through the potty routine using 5 key signs to help them communicate and singing the potty-time songs. They loved the DVD and began to understand what the funny chairs were all about. Over the next months, she followed the instructions to introduce a few routine “potty-sitting” times (e.g., in the morning and before their bath). Sure enough, they occasionally were successful and she made a great “to do” about each occasion.

One important point we make in the book is that parents really need to think through when they can afford the time and energy for the last big push where the focus on potty training is consistent and intense. What with the pressure of two careers and the added challenge of dealing with twins, that time was hard to find—until this past Thanksgiving. Julie was bound and determined to not put it off any longer. So, on Friday, the diapers were “gone” (except for night-time pull-ups), the chart for stickers was posted in the bathroom, the reward jar was ready (yes, candy), and the fun began. Low and behold, all the preparation paid off, and by Monday, both twins were peeing—and pooping!—in the potty with nary an accident since!

The photo above is one I took when I babysat them about a week later (the caption of which could be, "When you're done, Dear, could I see the sports page?"). Talk about cute! Needless to say, I am so proud of all of them!

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Another Cute Signing Story

2012-01-09T10:10:00.000-08:00

Over the past 18 months I’ve frequently shared stories about little Julia, baby daughter of Baby Signs® staff member, Bonita. Julia is now 20 months old and her verbal language is bursting out at an amazing rate. But that doesn’t mean she’s given up signing. In fact, her sign vocabulary also continues to grow, now topping 200, spurred on by the fact that her parents both sign fluently in order to communicate with deaf grandparents.

Everyone at Baby Signs, Inc. is delighted that Julia is continuing to sign because she is an unending source of marvelous signing stories. Here’s the latest one.

A month or so ago, Julia and Bonita traveled from California to Virginia to attend a family event. As they were waiting for a flight in the gate area of the airport, a mom strolled up with her own small baby tucked into a front pack so that mom and baby were chest to chest. Julia was clearly fascinated and began looking intently at the pair with a quizzical expression on her face. Exactly why she was puzzled became clear when she began to sign…TURTLE! Yes, as the baby stretched its head up out of the pack and then down again, it did indeed resemble a turtle pulling its head in and out of its shell!

Because of the sign, Bonita knew exactly what Julia was thinking and was able to say, “Yes, you’re right! It does look like a turtle!” Without the sign, Julia would have had no way to let her mom know what she was thinking—and I wouldn’t have had such a cute story to share!

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Beware: Conformity Starts Early!

2011-12-26T18:55:00.000-08:00

I just read an interesting research article in the latest issue of the professional journal, Child Development. Because it has lessons for parents, I’m going to digress from talking about signing with babies and share it with you.

We all know how vulnerable teenagers are to peer pressure, but did you know that preschoolers are too? I don’t mean here the tendency for 3- and 4-year-olds to begin mimicking their playmates during play—one child imitating another child who has started to twirl around or act like a monkey. That’s just fun and has no important implications. The conformity at issue here is more insidious and has to do with agreeing publicly with an opinion expressed by others when the truth is that one’s own opinion is very different--in other words, hiding one’s own beliefs because they clash with one’s peers’ beliefs.

It turns out that 4-year-olds are vulnerable to this kind of peer pressure. How did the researchers discover this truth? In a very clever way. They sat groups of 4 children in cubbies arranged so that they couldn’t see each other but could hear each other answer questions posed by the “teacher.” The questions referred to specially designed picture books the children were given. The left page of each 2-page spread in the book showed three drawings of an animal (say a tiger) that were identical except for size. One was big (the “daddy” tiger), one was middle-sized (the “mommy” tiger) and one was small (the “baby” tiger). The right page of each spread showed one of these three versions and the child’s task was to tell the teacher which one it was: the daddy, mommy, or baby. The trick here was the fact that three of the children held copies of the same book while one child (who was always asked last) had a different book designed so the correct answer would clash with what the other children said. What they found was that the children—not always, but about a third of the time—would agree with what the other three kids had said even though they knew that answer to be wrong for their book.

Reading the results of this study brought back a real life example involving my son when he was about 3 ½ and had just started nursery school (see photo above). Up until that point his playmates of convenience happened to always be girls, a fact which bothered him not at all. Then, one day a month or into the school year, I noticed that he had colored every picture in a coloring book save one: a single girl swinging on a swing. “Kai, why didn’t you color this one?” His answer: “Because boys don’t play with girls.” When I next observed the playground at the school, I saw that this was in fact true there—the girls played with girls and the boys with boys. Interestingly, however, when he was at home and not where his male peers could see (and no doubt judge him), Kai continued to play very happily with the same girls he always had.

Why is this significant? It’s bad enough when it’s a gender issue, but substitute not playing with children of contrasting ethnicities and you can see how easily and at what young ages prejudices get started.

So, fellow parents, as we look forward to a new year, what I’m hoping is that “forewarned is forearmed” as the saying goes. In other words, knowing that even preschoolers are vulnerable to peer pressure can motivate you to begin even earlier to help your child understand the importance of thinking for oneself.

Happy New Year (and don't forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

“Signs” of the Holidays!

2011-12-19T13:55:00.000-08:00

What the holidays mean for many of us is the opportunity to get together with family and friends to reminisce about times past and to make good memories for the future. In many families these celebrations are made even sweeter by the addition of babies and toddlers who still have stars in their eyes when they see holiday sights or hear holiday sounds. Seeing their joy can make even the most reluctant “Scrooge” smile.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if these special little people could tell us more about what they are thinking—what is fascinating them as they gaze at a decorated tree or blazing candle? Well now they can! The secret is one that more and more families are discovering: helping babies and toddlers communicate using simple signs. In fact, around this time of year we hear wonderful stories of how children who can’t yet talk are still able to tell their parents what they see, what they hear, and even what they feel as they encounter holiday symbols. Here’s a brand new one from staff member, Bonita, about her 19-month-old daughter Julia (see photos).

Julia and Bonita had just returned from a brief visit to Grandma’s house in Virginia. That evening when Dad came home, Julia took his hand and led him over to the Christmas tree and pointed to a new ornament. Dad asked her where it had come from and Julia responded using signs: GRANDMA + TREE + ONE+ HOME. “Oh!” responded Dad. “Grandma let you pick one from her tree to bring home?” to which Julia proudly said loud and clear,“Yup!” Without the signs, Dad would never have understood why the ornament was special!

Here are a few more holiday examples from our Baby Signs® files:

• 13-month-old Jared was mesmerized when his father first plugged in the string of lights wound around the Christmas tree, immediately opening and closing his fist (his sign for “light”) over and over as he grinned from ear to ear. For the next 3 weeks, as soon as he woke up in the morning, he would eagerly sign “light,” clearly sending the message that he remembered what was in the living room.

• 15-month-old Maddy had been pretty leery of the bearded man in the bright red suit inviting her to sit on his lap in the department store and had cried until her mother sat with her. From then on, whenever she saw a picture of Santa Claus she would rapidly pat her chest (her sign for “afraid”) and then move her open hands up and down her chest (her sign for “clothes”). Why “clothes?” Maddy’s mom quickly figured it out: “Clothes” was as close to “Claus” as Maddy could get!

• Ever since his first birthday, 16-month-old Jacob had been fascinated with candles and had quickly learned the “candle” sign: blowing on a raised index finger. That’s why his parents weren’t surprised at Jacob’s attraction to menorahs, the 9-branched candelabrum used during the Jewish holiday, Chanukah. What did surprise them, though, was Jacob’s creativity. Instead of raising a single finger when he saw a menorah, Jacob quite deliberately would raise his whole hand with fingers spread, blowing on each in turn!

With simple signs, these babies, and thousands like them, are making sweet, new holiday memories for their families. What’s more, the wonderful thing is that it’s so easy. Just as babies learn to wave bye-bye and shake their heads for no and nod for yes, they can easily learn lots of other signs to help them share what they’re thinking with those they love. And, the truth is, what better holiday present could parents receive then a priceless window into their baby’s mind and heart?

Happy Holidays and Happy Signing (and don't forget to visit us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Stranger Anxiety: A Holiday Hazard

2011-12-12T09:21:00.000-08:00

Some of my most enduring memories of Christmas with my own children were the annual visits with Santa. Born in the fall and still babes-in-arms by Christmas, their first experiences with Santa were uneventful. Things had changed dramatically, however, by Christmas #2--when the kids were about 15 months old. They would have nothing to do with the jolly old man! I was disappointed but hardly surprised. They were both at that second Christmas at the height of what is called “Stranger Anxiety.”

As I reflect back some 25 years to those early experiences with kids and Santa, it got me thinking again about Stranger Anxiety as a developmental phenomenon that kids of any generation go through. It may be easy to deal with Santa by simply avoiding him, but it’s not so easy to deal with the anxiety that arises when new relatives visit during the holidays or when a new caregiver is introduced. To refresh my memory of how to deal with Stranger Anxiety, I got down a copy of the book I co-authored with Dr. Susan Goodwyn, Baby Hearts: A Guide to Giving Your Child an Emotional Head Start, looked the term up in the index and, sure enough, found a list of tips that can help.

Insist that people approach slowly and smoothly. Strangers, no matter how well intentioned, who swoop into a young child’s space end up overwhelming his/her with feelings of vulnerability. Because feeling overwhelmed is the exact opposite of feeling in control, the result is fear.

Provide a prop. Providing the stranger with your child’s favorite toy or an attractive new toy is another helpful ploy because it works to distract the child from the newness of the visitor and defines him or her as having something positive to contribute.

Teach the stranger favorite signs. If your child is using signs from our Baby Signs® Program, as we fervently hope is the case, prepare the stranger ahead of time by teaching him or her a few of your child’s current favorites. We all feel safer with people who share our language!

Enthusiastically introduce the stranger. Get into the habit of introducing people to your child with expressions of sincere delight. This may sound odd if your baby is very young, but even by 4 months babies are sensitive to facial expressions and tone of voice—and by 10 months they are purposefully monitoring these emotional cues to judge what their own reaction should be.

Be patient and understanding! Stranger anxiety is a normal part of development and actually indicates the onset of important advances in intelligence and memory. It means that children are truly thinking about what’s happening, comparing faces with those they remember, and figuring out how to regulate their own emotions—in this case by avoiding the stranger. If you can think of Stranger Anxiety as a manifestation of progress in your child’s development, it will be easier to be patient.

Stranger Anxiety is one of the earliest and most universal forms of fear that young children experience. If you're interested in what some other common fears are and tips for dealing with them, check out Chapter 7 of our book, Baby Hearts, “Monsters and Meanies: Addressing Fear and Anxiety.”

Happy Holidays (and don't forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda
Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

An Easy “Landscape” for Your Crawler

2011-12-05T14:20:00.000-08:00

Most readers of this blog know me from my book Baby Signs with Dr. Susan Goodwyn. Fewer of you may know that the two of us have written two other books for parents, Baby Minds (about how parents can support intellectual development from Birth to 3) and Baby Hearts (the same for emotional development). The following builds on tips from Baby Minds.

It’s usually between 8 and 12 months that babies begin to move themselves around—crawling excitedly from here to there and back again. This is really the stage of “Baby on the move!” Their motivation, though, comes not just from the ability to reach an object or gain a new viewpoint on the world around them. They also really enjoy the process itself—the challenge of making their bodies move the way they want them to—and the challenge of getting better and better and faster and faster at doing so. In adult terms, they take great pleasure in the trip itself, not just the destination.

And here’s an easy and safe way to make crawling even more fun—as well as more challenging. Simply put three or four sofa or chair pillows on the floor for your baby to climb up, down, and around. Make sure they are not too tall and relatively firm (rather than squishy soft) so that your baby can move on them fairly easily. You might even create tunnels by draping light weight fabric across two piles of pillows or over a low table or between two chairs. Of course, it goes without saying that you should always remain close enough to supervise.

What a great way to provide a new “landscape” for your baby to explore—one that’s available even on the rainiest, snowiest days!

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

How One Child Started a World-Wide Movement!

2011-11-27T17:37:00.000-08:00

Not too long ago I did an interview with a PARENTS Magazine writer about the origins of the baby sign language movement. She was surprised to hear what a personal story it was. That made me realize that others might be similarly interested in how it all got started. So here goes!

Most everyone reading this blog is familiar with our company, Baby Signs, Inc. and the fact that we produce signing resources for families. Many of you also know that we have a network of instructors who teach our Baby Signs® workshops and classes. (By the way, there’s a rumor going around via social media that we have a “multi-level” sales model. Not true! It’s just the those of us here at the Home Office in Vacaville , CA and our dedicated team of nearly 900 Baby Signs® Independent Certified Instructors, each one only answerable to his/herself.)

What many of you may not know is that the Baby Signs idea started on one specific day in 1982 when one individual baby (my 12-month-old daughter--see photo above) made up a sign for “flower.” We were out in the garden when she pointed across the yard to a rose bush, turned to me, and sniffed repeatedly. Now, as I’m fond of saying, it doesn’t take a nuclear scientist to understand what she was trying to convey! I said, “Oh do you want to see the flowers?” and took her over to smell them. What I then noticed was that she continued to use the same sniffing gesture all day to label flowers wherever she saw them—on the wall paper, her pajamas, the dining table—and that night I wrote in my journal that she had “done the cutest thing today.”

After that I started watching her more closely and noticed her making up other “signs”—like blowing for “hot” and rubbing index fingers together for “spider” (from “Itsy Bitsy Spider”). I told my colleague and best friend Susan Goodwyn about what she was doing and together we began modeling other common sense signs for things and recording both her signing behavior and her verbal development. All this data gathering resulted in our first academic journal article in 1985 (it takes a long time to get things published!): “Symbolic gesturing in language development: A case study. Human Development, 28, 40-49. (This article, as well as many of our other pivotal research reports, is available in its entirety on our website (www.babysigns.com). Just click on PARENTS and then RESEARCH.)

That was the beginning of Susan’s and my 25 years of research on the subject of signing with babies, culminating in a longitudinal study, supported by the National Institutes of Health, of the effects of signing on verbal development. With the positive results of this study in hand, we finally went public in 1996 with the first edition of Baby Signs: How to Talk With Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk and the avalanche of other books and programs began. Believe it or not, if you search amazon.com for “baby sign language books” today, you’ll get 561 entries!

Who said a single child can’t change the world?!

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Teaching Kids to Say "Thanks"

2011-11-21T15:57:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time for us to focus on the many things for which we should be grateful—from obvious things like food to eat and a warm bed at night to the little, more subtle things like birds flocking to the bird feeder or a sunny day for a winter outing. The nice thing about Thanksgiving is that the specific focus on gratitude on this particular day makes it more likely that even very young children will “sit up and pay attention.”

However, I think we all can agree that feeling grateful and expressing gratitude shouldn’t be just a one-day-a-year thing. The more difficult challenge, therefore, is how to help children understand that these behaviors are important every day. It’s an important goal because research shows that kids who feel and act grateful tend to be less materialistic, get better grades, set higher goals, complain of fewer headaches and stomach aches and feel more satisfied with their friends, families and schools than those who don't.

That’s why I was so glad to see a list of tips for how to foster gratitude in children included in an article prepared under the banner of the child-advocacy organization, Zero to Three. Here’s link: http://www.zerotothree.org/child-development/social-emotional-development/raising-a-thankful-child.html .

One thing that we here at Baby Signs can add to the list for the littlest ones is teaching the sign for “Thank You” (place fingertips on chin and make arching movement outward). It’s amazing how early and easily signing toddlers pick up this important concept!

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all! (And don't forget to follow us on Facebook!)

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs Program
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Birth of the Green-Eyed Monster

2011-11-14T11:10:00.000-08:00

In last week’s blog posting, veering a long way from baby sign language, I talked about why it’s understandable that an older sibling might be jealous of the addition of a new baby to the family. This week I want to turn the tables a bit and ask, “What about the baby?”. Won’t there come a point when the baby begins to resent having to share Mommy with the older child? In other words, when does the traditional green-eyed monster called jealousy appear on the scene?

One answer comes from a clever study by developmental researchers Sybil Hart, Tiffany Field, Claudia Del Valle, and March Letourneau that tested 12-month-old babies under two conditions. In one, moms were asked to ignore their children while looking through a picture book. In the other, still ignoring their babies, moms were given a life-size baby doll to cuddle. If simply being ignored is what annoys babies this age, then both situations should be equally upsetting. But that’s not what happened. Instead, these year-old children were significantly more distressed about the doll than the book, suggesting that they specifically resented seeing another “baby” get the cozy comfort of Mommy’s lap.

Looks like sibling rivalry is a two-way street from pretty early on!

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

So, A New Baby is On the Way!

2011-11-07T14:37:00.000-08:00

Bear with me as I stray once again from baby sign language and talk about a different parenting issue that many young families face. It’s one that Susan Goodwyn and I address in our book, Baby Hearts.

So, you’re expecting another baby! Wonderful! But creeping into your thoughts at the good news is concern over how the upcoming blessed event will be received by your older child whose place as “Baby” is being usurped.

Although most second-time parents are aware that there may be jealousy, many also assume that reassurances about “enough love for both” should solve the problem. The fact that it doesn’t may actually strike some parents as unreasonable and selfish.

It was in response to such attitudes that A. Faber and E. Mazlich, authors of Siblings without Rivalry, came up with a role-playing strategy that I love and have adapted a bit to share with you below. They suggested that parents put themselves in the shoes of the wife in the following scenario:

HUSBAND: I’ve got a wonderful surprise for you! Now, you know I love you very, very much, honey, don’t you? And you know you’ve brought great joy into my life, right?

WIFE: I love you too!

HUSBAND: Well, here’s the surprise. I’ve enjoyed having my own little wife so much that I thought it would be nice for all of us to have another wife in the family! Won’t that be wonderful?

WIFE: What?!

HUSBAND: Just think about it. You’ll have another wife to play with and maybe even share your room with. And because you’re such a good wife and know so much more than she will about everything, you can help me take care of her. The three of us can go on walks together and read books together…and everything! We’ll all be one, big happy family! Won’t that be fun?

WIFE: Hmph!

Now, don’t you have more sympathy than before for kids who are getting this “wonderful” news? It’s natural for them to be upset and it will take time, love, and plenty of patience to to bring them around. (TIP: Some of you may be lucky enough to find a Baby Signs instructor offering our "Sibling Class" in your area. Visit www.babysigns.com and click on "Find a Class.")

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis
g rivalry

Lots to Cheer About in the Latest AAP Recommendations about TV

2011-10-31T14:22:00.000-07:00

Once again the news is full of reports about a statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) about TV and children under 2. To find out exactly what the new policy statement says, I bypassed reporters’ interpretations and went straight to the AAP article itself in the latest issue of the journal Pediatrics. What I found there is actually very good news for the Baby Signs® Program in regard to our hugely popular and very effective signing DVDs.

POINT 1: The AAP’s is not banning the use of video programming for children under 2, only urging parents to be cautious about amount and selective about content.

“The AAP realizes that media exposure is a reality for many families in today’s society. If parents choose to engage their young children with electronic media, they should have concrete strategies to manage it…. It is important to set limits and create balance at an early age” (p. 4).

In regard to the need for caution, they make the excellent point that “screen-based” programming (including computers, smart phones, etc.) can be addicting at any age and that it’s up to parents to see that their kids are not losing out on other important experiences like interactions with parents and sibs, being read to, and playing independently.

POINT 2: Much of what is advertized as “educational” for this age group really is not. A main point here is that children under 2 can’t process information very well and, therefore, “are more likely to learn from a live presentation than from a televised one” (p. 2). But here’s the good news for our DVDs. They do cite an exception from the research literature—a 2007 study published in the journal Developmental Psychobiology showing that 12 to 21 month old children were just as likely to imitate specific actions demonstrated via videotape (versus demonstrated by a live person) when “the screen demonstration repeats several times” (AAP, p. 2).”

Hmm… actions that are repeated. Sound familiar? That’s exactly what our signing DVDs do in spades! They aren’t trying to teach abstract concepts like numbers or letters. They demonstrate specific actions (signs) not just several times but many times. So, not only do we know from our own and hundreds of parental reports that our DVDs teach signs, but the AAP provides an independent research foundation for that conclusion.

And don’t forget the fact that being able to sign has been proven (through our federally-funded research) to promote language and cognitive development as well as enrich parent-child interactions. So, if any video programming can be justifiably called “educational,” it’s ours!

CONCLUSION. In my opinion, the AAP is doing a service by warning parents about the potential negative effects of unregulated “screen” time and unsubstantiated claims of material being “educational.” But that’s only part of the story. They are also providing support for our position that if parents need a bit of time to fix dinner, fold the laundry, or even just relax, they can feel very comfortable choosing a Baby Signs® DVD to entertain and educate their baby!

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Take Advantage of Halloween!

2011-10-23T16:57:00.001-07:00

Although it’s hard to believe given that it feels like yesterday was Easter, Halloween is just around the corner. If you’re like my step-son and daughter-in-law, you’re as excited by the chance to dress up your little ones as they are! Nate, now 2 ½ , is going to be Buzz Lightyear and his twin sister Olivia is going to be Ariel from "The Little Mermaid." As the photos show, Grammy and Papa got a preview last night. What's more, there’s no doubt that, come next Monday night, the video camera will come out to record the festivities.

Which brings me to one of my favorite parenting tips. The development of good memory skills is critical to all aspects of learning. In fact, that’s what “learning “is all about—the ability to remember facts, ideas, and skills encountered in the past. Research has shown that parents contribute mightily to how early and easily children begin to hone their memory skills.

Here’s an easy and enjoyable way to support your child’s progress in this critical area. Make use of your family video footage! Whether it’s Halloween, a birthday, or just a precious moment at home, don’t just leave these recordings on the shelf to enjoy years later. Instead, watch them with your child right away. By watching video footage of special events in your child’s life soon after the recordings are made, you are providing a platform for conversations with your child about the past and providing images he or she can use to reconstruct events. It’s just such conversations with parents about the past that research shows help children begin to tie their own memories into cohesive wholes. Besides, it’s lots of fun! Every child enjoys seeing him or herself on the screen.

So, break out the popcorn, enjoy a fun time at the movies with your child, and delight in the fact that you’re helping your child hone memory skills that will serve him or her well for years to come.

Just a simple tip to make supporting your child’s intellectual development a bit easier and more fun!

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Why Children’s Fears Increase in the 2nd Year

2011-10-17T19:07:00.000-07:00

Although signing with babies is my passion, I also enjoy sharing other insights about development. Here's an example from Baby Hearts, my book co-authored with Dr. Susan Goodwyn.

Along with cake and ice cream, a child’s first birthday brings with it a not so nice gift – a significant increase in the number of things that make a child afraid. Why the increase in fear after the first birthday? Much of the responsibility can be traced to changes in the child’s mental skills. Unfortunately, however, these changes aren’t balanced by nearly enough knowledge of how the world actually works! The result is fear of things that you and I know from experience aren’t likely to happen – like getting sucked up by vacuum cleaners or flushed down the toilet. We may know the laws of mechanics that make such things impossible, but our toddlers and preschoolers clearly don’t! Here are some of the other reasons why the list of fears inevitably grows longer between years 1 and 5:

• The wonderful – and not so wonderful – world of imagination. Towards the middle of the second year, the toddler brain begins to be able to do something that sets humans apart from other animals – create ideas and images that have little if any basis in reality and then ponder those ideas and images at will. This is a fancy way to say that children begin to use their imaginations. The good news is that this ability enables them to have fun pretending to be firemen or ballerinas; the bad news is that this same ability enables them to imagine bogey men and monsters.

• What’s Real and What’s Not? Toddlers face a particularly interesting challenge when it comes to distinguishing fantasy from reality. Their new awareness of their own thoughts and dreams doesn’t come with an automatic recognition that these are “all in the head.” Ask your toddler if you’d be able to watch his dream if you came into his room while he was dreaming and he’s likely to say “yes.” Very young children think of their dreams as taking place in real time and space, which is one reason they find nightmares so up-setting and can’t dismiss the image in their head of that same monster under the bed.

• Down Memory Lane. Very young infants live by necessity “in the here and now.” The downside of this is that they don’t get to relive the happy moments of their short lives – the delightful games of tickle, the warm and snuggly moments in mom’s arms, the giddy back and forth of their swing. The upside, however, is that very young infants also can’t remember the scary moments. Unfortunately, toddlers and preschoolers, due to much improved memory capacities, definitely can! This means that a single harrowing experience with a dog, clown, or merry-go-round can haunt them for days, weeks, months, or even years to come.

• A Different Perspective. It also doesn’t help matters that toddlers are so little. To them, the barking Labrador Retriever isn’t just a dog; it’s a dog the size of a horse! And the room full of strange relatives doesn’t just have lots of new folks in it; it’s full of people who tower over the child. Weaving through all the legs – even holding on to Mommy’s hand – is an intimidating journey!

• On the Go. One final reason toddlers and preschoolers are more vulnerable than infants to developing fears is the simple fact that they get around better! Not much scary can happen when you’re confined to a highchair or crib, but let your world expand to include the yard, the park, and the neighborhood, and the chances of encountering something unexpected and scary increase markedly.

The good news is that knowing signs can help toddlers communicate their fears to the adults around them. The AFRAID sign is the most obvious, but not the only candidate. For example, when AFRAID is paired with the sign for DOG the message is clear: that four-legged thing ain’t no friend of mine!

I actually speak from experience on this point. One night when my son Kai was about 15 months old, he suddenly began screaming when I tried to put him in his bed. I was nonplussed – until Kai did the sign for SPIDER. Then I remembered. That morning when I had lifted him out of bed, a big black spider had landed on his arm and he’d been both startled and upset. I had forgotten all about the incident – but he clearly hadn’t. The good news was that thanks to the sign, I knew what the problem was and together we looked through all the bedclothes. Finding no spider, Kai was reassured and settled down to sleep. (The bad news is that, even at age 25, Kai is still phobic about spiders!)

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Lay a Foundation for Reading with the "Odd-One-Out" Game

2011-10-09T21:52:00.000-07:00

While it’s true that more and more information is available these days in audio and video form, reading is still an immense part of how we all—including children—learn about the world around us. That’s why it’s important to help kids in any way we can to conquer this essential skill. As I’ve mentioned before in these tips, one important pre-reading skill that’s easy and fun to work on is “Phonemic Awareness.” What this fancy term refers to is the simple recognition that words are made up of separate sounds—for example, the word CAT is made up of the separate sounds “C + A+T. Because the job of letters is to represent these separate sounds, being able to recognize that words are divisible in this way is obviously an important component of learning to read.

In a previous tip I talked about how introducing children to rhyming words through nursery rhymes and poems is an easy way to help them develop this awareness. Here’s why. Words rhyme precisely because they share their ending sounds but not their beginning sounds and poems help make these words and their sound similarities and differences stand out so children are more likely to notice. For example, hearing the words HILL and MILL in close proximity draws attention to the fact that they begin differently but end the same.

Here’s a simple game you can play with your 3- to 5-year-old to take advantage of the power of rhyming to promote phonemic awareness. It’s a form of what we call an “odd-one-out” game in which you say three words, only two of which rhyme, and ask your child “Which one doesn’t belong.” For example, you might say “Cat, Hat, Dog” where the one that doesn’t belong is “Dog.” Or “Juice, Boat, Goat,” where the one that doesn’t belong is the first word, “Shoe.” After a while, your child may even be able to reverse roles and give you the list of words to decide the “odd-one-out.”

This is a great game to play anywhere--while riding in the car, standing in line at the grocery store, or waiting at a restaurant for your food to arrive. And each time you play it, you can enjoy the fact that you’re not only having fun, but also providing practice that will help your child develop the important pre-reading skill of phonemic awareness.

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Surprise! 3-Month-Old “Problem Solvers”

2011-09-30T13:45:00.000-07:00

Did you know that many of our Baby Signs® Instructors are also On the Grow™ Educators? That means they are certified to teach classes from our Birth to Five “On the Grow™” curriculum. One of those classes—my personal favorite—is called “Baby Minds” and is designed to help parents of infants younger than 6 months realize that babies are a lot smarter than they look. (Many of the activities are taken from Susan's and my book, Baby Minds: Brain-Building Games Your Baby Will Love.)

For example, research shows that babies come into this world not only capable of solving problems but eager to do so. They want to figure things out. And here’s an easy way to provide your baby with just such an opportunity as early as 2-3 months.

If you’re like most new parents, you have mounted a mobile on your baby’s crib so she has something to watch move while she’s laying on her back. But just watching the mobile move the normal way is so passive! All you need to do in order to present your baby with a problem to solve is to take a soft ribbon, tie one end to an arm of the mobile and the other end to your baby’s foot. What happens the next time your baby moves her foot? The mobile moves too! At first your baby won’t understand the connection, but before long she will be purposefully kicking up a storm—and having a great time!

And once your baby understands about kicking that foot, change the ribbon to the other foot—or a hand—and, Voila!, an exciting new problem to solve!

Of course, it doesn’t have to be a mobile. It could be as simple as attaching aa hand to a set of bells you hold over the baby as you see in the photo above.

I played this game with my own son, who’s now 25, and he loved it. To see how long he would stay entertained by moving the mobile, I set up a video camera and just let it roll. The answer? He stayed content making the mobile move for 45 minutes! An astounding amount of time for a 2 month-old baby—and testimony to how much fun babies figuring out how to make things happen in their world.

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

“You Want 'Goodnight Moon' Again?!”

2011-09-26T13:40:00.000-07:00

Once again I'm going to detour from my usual preoccupation with baby sign language to talk about a phenomenon that is pretty universal during the first years of life. Here goes!

How many times can one person read the same storybook without going crazy? If you’re under age 5, the sky’s the limit. Or so it seems to weary parents who can be overheard at bedtime pleading with their children, “You want Goodnight Moon AGAIN? But that’s 14 nights in a row!” And then there are the occasions when sleepy parents make sly attempts to shorten the bedtime story just a little but are caught up short when a plaintive voice protests “No Mama! Where comb ‘n brush!?” What’s a parent to do?

The answer is simple. Grin and bear it. Why? Because although reading the same story over and over again may seem to be an imaginative form of parent abuse, your child’s motivation is really a positive one. In asking for the same book again, your child is really eagerly awaiting another lesson in memory development. Children between one and four years are programmed to work hard at practicing remembering things, whether it’s the plot of a certain book or video or the order of events when they take a bath or get dressed in the morning. By reading the same story more than once, you’re providing more chances for them to learn the “script.” They love the challenge and then the pleasure of being able to predict what’s going to happen on the next page. And as the sleepy parent reading “Goodnight Moon” learned, pretty soon your child will be able to fill in the blanks as well as, if not better than, you can!

So, yes, it’s important to read the same books over and over. Doing so is actually another easy way to support your child’s intellectual development.

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

From Signs to Speech—Inevitable!

2011-09-19T11:43:00.000-07:00

Despite our federally-funded research evidence showing that signing babies actually learn to talk sooner (See Research page on our Baby Signs website for details), some parents still worry that their babies will be too content with signing to do the work of learning to talk. Below are four reasons why children are, in fact, eager to make the transition:

New Places to Go: As toddlers get older and more mobile, they are more and more likely to wander away from direct eye-to-eye contact with parents—around corners, behind chairs, up and down the slide. Signs, which require being able to see each other, are much less effective that words in such situations. You simply can’t shout a sign from around the bend!

New Faces to Meet: Greater mobility and maturity also mean that children are destined to meet more and more new people along the way—people who engage them in conversations and most likely don’t know signs. They may be new playmates at daycare or cashiers at the grocery store or friendly parents at the park. Conversing with these folks requires words.

New Games to Play: Getting older also means that children become increasingly attracted to activities that keep the hands busy—like finger paints, crayons, puzzles, ladders to climb, bikes to ride. Signing in such situations is much less convenient that words!

New Things to Say: To a 15-month-old, simply telling you that he sees a butterfly is a magnificent feat—and one easily accomplished with a simple sign. However, as children grow intellectually, gathering more and more information about the world around them, the ideas they want to get across become much more complicated. Except for children whose parents are capable of teaching them to be fluent in ASL, complex ideas and observations are beyond the power of simple signs to express. Words are the perfect substitute.

So, don’t worry about the transition to speech; your child will be eager to move on to words. In fact, if you’re like many parents, you’ll actually be a bit sad to see the signs slowly drift away one by one as an onslaught of words takes over!

(By the way, these two photos show my son, now 25 years old) signing "airplane" and "Where is it?" as a baby. He signed a ton and then, at 19 months, suddenly burst forth with 67 words!)

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Why Kids Love Animals

2011-09-12T11:34:00.000-07:00

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Ever wonder why children, even babies, are so drawn to animals? Even linguists have long been aware of this attraction. Turns out that more than a third of the average baby’s earliest words are names for animals with “cat,” “dog,” “duck,” and “bunny” leading the pack. What’s more, we see a similar trend among signs.

But why do children find animals fascinating? Is it because so many children’s books feature animals, thereby inspiring the preference? Or, to turn this theory on its ear, do so many books feature animals because the preference already exists? It seems clear to me that the later is the case. I simply can’t imagine that inundating a young child with books about pieces of furniture instead of animals would create a passion for chairs and tables that could rival that for dogs and cats!

What lies behind kids’ attraction to animals is really quite simple, researchers tell us. As young babies begin looking around their world, they are automatically attracted to things that move, are brightly colored, and are easy to see. They are fascinated by things that make interesting noises, are capable of interacting with them and are unpredictable in what they do and how they behave. The most obvious items that fit this description are other people. And, in fact, from the day they are born, babies are absolutely fascinated by the faces and voices of the people around them.

But humans aren’t the only things in the world that meet these criteria. Animals do, too. In sharp contrast to even the most exciting mechanical toy, an animal moves itself around, behaves in unpredictable ways, and makes funny noises. What’s more, many of the animals children see at close range have the added advantage of providing what researchers call “contact comfort”—or what most people call being soft and cuddly! In other words, babies find animals about as far from boring as things can be without being human.

So, whatever you do, don’t stop your signing efforts with signs for “eat,” “milk,” more,” and other mealtime signs. Your baby want to let you know about what is particularly fascinating in the about the world around him or her—and that definitely means signs for animals will be winners!

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

What’s the News About TV and Babies?

2011-09-06T12:03:00.000-07:00

One of the easiest and most enjoyable ways to teach babies important signs is by watching our Baby Signs® DVDs. ( In fact, a coupon for 20% off a complete set of our 6 theme-based DVDs—plus a bonus video dictionary DVD for parents--is this week’s “Weekly Wow.”) But are DVDs good for babies?

Perhaps you’ve heard the concern voiced by pediatricians that babies under age 2 should watch no TV at all. This strong prohibition was issued a decade ago by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) as a safeguard against parents who expose their very young children to hours and hours of general, non-educational programming, using the TV simply as a babysitter that keeps them occupied and happy for long stretches of time without providing any lasting benefits.

Since that time, more and more research studies have revealed that the content of what’s watched matters a great deal. In fact, educational programming specifically designed for babies and toddlers—especially programming with clear, simple language, that elicits their participation—can have positive effects on their development. This includes shows like “Dora the Explorer” and “Blue’s Clues” that research indicates can actually speed up language development.

It’s also critical that programming for babies avoids the frantic pacing and complex imagery typical of shows for older children and adults. In fact, new research has shown that even having adult fare playing in the background tends to disrupt infant play behavior.

It was with all these factors in mind that Dr. Susan Goodwyn, Co-founder of the Baby Signs® Program, and I created our Baby Signs® DVDs. The components, chosen to attract the attention of even the youngest audience, include simple animated characters called our “DiaperDoodles™,” real babies signing, BeeBo® our Baby Signs Bear, and funny monkey puppets. They model the signs slowly and repeatedly, thereby giving babies lots of time to notice and even practice the actions. In addition, the language is extremely simple, encouraging the baby to sign along, and the pace is very slow. And best of all, these DVDs actually teach something shown by research to be useful—signing!

Of course, everything in moderation is still the best advice. We would never advocate hours and hours of even our own DVDs! And whenever possible, it’s always good for parents and babies to enjoy our DVDs together. We just hope that well-meaning parents understand that slipping our DVDs video into their daily routines with their babies is much more likely to help than hinder their development!

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Pretend Play: Talk-about Fun!

2011-08-30T11:25:00.000-07:00

Just last week in this blog I took a detour from baby sign language to talk about how important pretend play is to children’s cognitive development. The point I made then is that playing pretend encourages a form of mental “gymnastics;” the child is learning to keep in mind not only what he or she is doing in the present (e.g., feeding a bottle to the doll) but also that the doll represents a real baby and the pretend milk represents real milk. That’s not something a 12 month old can do, but by 18 months, the development of this kind of mental flexibility is underway.

Well, here’s another benefit of pretend play for your child’s development. Research shows that helping children engage in pretend play is an easy way for parents to support language development. In this case, what we’re talking about here is participating with your toddler or preschooler in pretend scenarios—like talking to Grandma on a toy phone, pretending to make and eat imaginary foods, playing with dolls or trucks in ways that involve imagination.

Why does not only encouraging but actually participating in this kind of play with your toddler or preschooler benefit language learning? The answer is because pretend play is language rich when parents are involved—both in terms of language you say to your child while playing and language your child says to you in response. For example, a tea party with your child might introduce new vocabulary words like cups and saucers, tea and teapot, the names of friends or new foods, etc. Or play with a toy plane might involve words like take-off, landing, pilot, the names of destinations. In addition, your questions to your child (for example, “Who are you inviting to our party?” or “Where is the plane going?”) require your child challenges your child to draw from his or her existing vocabulary to provide appropriate answers. In other words, these kinds of pretend interactions help children learn to both understand more language and to talk themselves.

So, whether your child is into tea parties or trucks, baby dolls or train tracks, make it a point to get down to his/her level (both figuratively and literally) and join the fun. Who knows? You might actually have fun exercising your own imagination!

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

There's More to Pretending Than Meets the Eye

2011-08-23T13:30:00.000-07:00

Without little Julia (see photo) coming to staff meeting each week with her mom, Bonita, I wouldn’t have nearly as much to write! These days, between Julia (now 17 months old) and my twin grandchildren (now 27 months old), it seems I’m never at loss for tidbits about development that are fun to pass along to parents and grandparents. These messages may not all be relevant to signing—my main passion—but I’m hoping they are useful just the same.

This week’s tip was inspired by this photo I snapped at last week’s meeting. As you can see, Julia is intent on feeding her baby doll. What this represents is an important advance in cognitive development that starts sometime early in the second year—the ability to “pretend,” also known as imagination.

What’s the big deal? If you think about it, feeding pretend milk to a pretend baby requires Julia to insert an extra mental step in comparison to an equivalent real situation where she is drinking milk herself or tipping her bottle up for Mom to have a sip. In the case of the baby doll she is also keeping in mind that the baby doll represents or symbolizes a real baby and the pretend milk represents or symbolizes real milk. How do we know she’s pretending? She’s clearly not surprised or upset when no milk comes out and the “baby” simply continues to lie there!

This same kind of mental gymnastics—which researchers refer to as the ability to use and manipulate mental symbols—is involved when children pretend to cook, have a tea party, crash toy cars, or fly toy planes. And development of this skill doesn’t stop here. As toddlers turn into preschoolers, their pretend play not only gets more elaborate but also gets more “abstract.” No longer is it necessary to play with something that closely resembles the real object (as a doll does a baby or a toy car does a real car); the preschooler now has the mental flexibility to pretend that a soft pillow is a baby that can be rocked or a block is a car that can go “vroom vroom.” In fact, development of the ability to pretend (or imagine) continues to get even more abstract until no physical object is needed at all—the arms can rock a totally imaginary doll!

So, the next time your child begins some kind of pretend scenario, appreciate it for what it is: a sign that the brain in that adorable little head is evolving in a wonderful direction, that is, toward increasingly sophisticated imagination—which, after all, is an important foundation of the valuable talent we call creativity.

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Potty Training Tip From Parent on the “Front Line”

2011-08-16T11:44:00.001-07:00

Anyone who’s been following this blog for awhile has heard me talk about how little Julia, the 16-month-old daughter of staff member Bonita Broughton, is already using the potty quite consistently thanks to our Baby Signs® Potty Training Program. In addition to regular “It’s potty time!” announcements from Bonita, Julia uses her potty sign to let mom know she needs to go. It’s really working; in fact, in one email this week, Bonita proudly announced Julia had gone in the potty 8 times in a single day. What’s more, the whole office witnessed it ourselves when she began insistently (and appropriately) signing “potty” during our staff meeting. (She actually now signs “potty” when she has to go pee and holds her nose when she has to go poop!)

For those of you not familiar with our Baby Signs® Potty Training Program, the idea is to help parents train their children before age 2. To that end we’ve designed a great potty training kit that includes, besides motivational items to get toddlers “on board the Potty Train,” also a simple, step-by-step guide for parents. I’m proud of the Parent Guide with the many tips for success it includes, but I recently realized that we left one out! Bonita has come up with a super tip for parents that I just have to pass along. So here it is:

Consider having the baby wear cloth panties INSIDE the diaper or pull-ups.

Why would you do this? Because, unlike superabsorbent disposable diapers, the cloth panties retain moisture thereby increasing the child’s discomfort and alerting him or her to the fact that an accident has happened. At the same time, there’s less of a mess to clean up than if the child was naked or using the panties alone. And yet it still takes advantage of the fact that many children are motivated to keep their new “big kids’ underwear” dry.

But won’t children be confused because a diaper is still part of the process. That’s where pull-ups can be helpful. Don’t be fooled; they are simply diapers in another form. However, this new form when used with the cloth underwear inside can symbolize the transition away from the “baby diapers” used up to now.

There’s no one magic formula for potty training because there’s no “one baby” out there. Every situation is different. So, just consider this tip another strategy to add to your tool box as you tackle this universal parenting challenge.

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
andwhe
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Just the Same Only Different!

2011-08-11T12:25:00.000-07:00

One of the benefits of signing with babies is that it increases their interest in books (because it enables them to take a more active role in book-reading), an interest that helps pave the way to early literacy. But did you know that you can actually provide simple, fun activities starting even earlier that can help too? Here’s your tip for today from our book, Baby Minds.

One of the fundamental skills necessary for reading is the ability to quickly detect the differences between shapes. After all, that’s all that letters really are—shapes on a contrasting background. One way to lay the foundation for reading, then, is to expose your baby to shapes so that he can begin to differentiate curves and orientation. Here is an idea to help your baby begin to do just that.

I like to call this tip “Just the same, only different” –which sounds like a contradiction but really does fit. What you do is provide your baby with two pictures that are the same in most ways, but differ in one or two minor but perceivable ways. (The younger the baby, the more salient the differences should be.) Put them somewhere where your child is likely to look at them. For example, you might attach two identical pictures of a favorite character—Big Bird, perhaps-- to a wall by the crib, high chair, or changing table. Then make one different—maybe by adding a mustache and beard with a marker. In glancing at the pictures, your baby will, at first, just sense that they are not identical. This almost automatically leads to a search for the discrepancy—in other words, an urge to “compare and contrast” the two pictures. In this simple way you’ve given your baby something to think about—some “food for thought,” if you will—and in doing so you’re providing practice in recognizing subtle differences between similar shapes, thereby paving the way for letter recognition!

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow "Baby Signs" on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Kiddy Creativity!

2011-08-03T14:03:00.000-07:00

Those of you who have been following this blog for awhile will remember little Julia, the baby daughter of staff member, Bonita Broughton. Now 16-months-old, Julia (see photo) is still a fantastic signer—with at least 70 signs at her disposal and more coming each day. In fact, she has such a wide range of signs that she can now use them to talk about things she doesn’t have signs for. Here’s the story.

Bonita and crew where visiting the National Zoo in Washington, DC, a few weeks ago. Julia was enchanted by all the animals and eager to use her many animal signs to label them—monkey, lion, bear, bird, zebra, elephant, and giraffe to name just a few. But then they came to a grasslands enclosure that featured something new to her: a prairie dog. As she often does when she encounters something she doesn’t have a sign for, she turned to her mom with a quizzical look, clearly expecting Bonita to show her the sign. Unfortunately, this time Bonita was stumped! What on earth is the sign for “prairie dog?” Bonita didn’t have a clue. That’s when Julia took the matter into her own hands—quite literally—and named the animal herself with a combination of two signs: MOUSE + DOG. How clever is that?!

Over the years we’ve heard similar stories:
• BIRD + HORSE upon seeing a big unicorn hanging from the ceiling in a department store.
• FAN + PLANE upon seeing a helicopter for the first time.
• MOON + LIGHT upon seeing globe-shaped street lights.
• FISH + HORSE upon seeing a video of a seahorse.
These examples are evidence of at least two things--first, that children have a strong urge to know the names for the things around them and, second, that they can create appropriate candidates themselves given the raw materials (that is, plenty of signs from which to choose). Let’s hear it for kiddy creativity!

Happy Signing--and don’t forget to follow Baby Signs on Facebook! (Also, click here for a link to a wonderful YouTube video of Julia reading a book using signs.)

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Remember, Every Baby is Unique

2011-07-26T14:18:00.000-07:00

Besides age (the younger the baby, the longer before the first sign), your baby’s unique temperament and personality will make a big difference in how quickly she learns to sign. This is an important point because parents are often so concerned about the speed of their own child’s development relative to other children that they miss the magic of the unfolding of their child’s unique time line of accomplishment.

One way babies’ temperaments and personalities affect development is their role in inspiring babies to set priorities for development. For some babies, communication is a top concern, and anything, including signs, that enables them to connect with other people is placed high on their to-do list. For other babies, motor milestones are more intriguing and take center stage. We can’t tell you how many parents have told us that their baby seemed uninterested—or temporarily lost interest—in signing until he or she conquered the challenge of learning to walk or climb.

This certainly was the case with my son, Kai (who is pictured in the photos above, first as a signing baby and now as a handsome 24-year-old!). Despite lots and lots of modeling of signs, Kai didn’t begin signing until his first birthday—two weeks after he was finally able to toddle around on his own. After that, it was off to the races in both domains!

So, just be patient and keep modeling signs. In doing so, you will be providing your baby interesting food for thought no matter how long it takes him to produce signs himself.

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

ABC Sign with Me!

2011-07-18T11:16:00.000-07:00

The latest in our Baby Signs created series of On the Grow™ classes for children Birth to 6 is designed to introduce parents and children to the ASL signs for the letters of the alphabet through fun songs, games, and craft projects. (These classes are offered by a subset of our Baby Signs Instructors. See list in your area under Find a Class.)

Why learn the ASL alphabet? Basically, anything that makes learning about the alphabet fun automatically promotes literacy—and learning the letter signs does just that. Children think it’s fun! And while they are having fun, we are “sneaking in” some important information that is absolutely critical to learning to read. Here are just a few of the ways that signing the alphabet helps lay a strong foundation for literacy.

• Many of the hand shapes roughly resemble the letters they stand for, thereby helping children strengthen the association between the letter names and the visual forms of the letters.

• Learning separate hand shapes for individual letters helps clarify for children what the letter names actually stand for—for example, that “du-bul-you” is actually one, not three letters and the “emeno” is actually three letters (M,N,O) not one!

• Learning the letter signs leads naturally to “fingerspelling” of simple words which, in turn, provides visual evidence that words are made up of separate sounds. For example, simply saying the word “cat” blends all the sounds together, making it hard for children to understand that it’s actually a sequence of three sounds: “cah + ah + ta”. Having separate hand signs for each sound makes it easier for children to grasp this critical notion.

So, if you’re interested in helping you and child learn the ASL alphabet while having a great time with other families, check out the Baby Signs website to find an On the Grow™ Educator near you!

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

"Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers"

2011-07-11T12:35:00.000-07:00

I'm sure all of you are aware of how reading books to babies from very early ages is important for fostering literacy(as Julie is doing here at two ages with my grandbabies, Olivia and Nate), but here's another useful tip.

I’m hoping some of you recognize the title of this post as a classic “Tongue Twister,” one among a set of old favorites that also includes “She sells sea shells by the sea shore” and “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.” I’m betting, though, that few of you have given thought to how these tricky mouthfuls actually aid kids in learning to read.

Here’s how. The way a phrase qualifies as a tongue twister is by including a series of words that all emphasize the same sound, for example, the sound of the letter “B” in the case of the baby buggy phrase. The beauty of these fun phrases is that they “sneak in” lessons about what reading teachers call “phonemic awareness”—the simple recognition that words, although when heard may sound like a single sound, are actually made up of separate sounds. The example I used in an earlier blog post where I talked about rhyming was the word “cat” which is actually made up of the separate sounds “C+A+T. Because the job of letters is to represent these separate sounds, being able to recognize that words are divisible in this way is obviously an important component of learning to read.

It makes sense, then, that anything that increases a child’s attention to the sounds at the beginning or within words—like Tongue Twisters do--indirectly helps increase phonemic awareness and, therefore, helps lay an important foundation for reading.

So, “Turn your toddler’s tongue to tricky twisting” and before you know it, she’ll be a “really rapid reader reading written words!”

Happy Signing (and don't forget to follow us on Facebook),

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, The Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

How Rhyming Aids Reading

2011-07-05T09:28:00.000-07:00

Here at Baby Signs, we know that there’s more to helping children prosper than just teaching them to sign. That’s why we developed a set of classes for children from Birth to age 6 called “On the Grow™” classes (check them out at www.babysigns.com). It was while I was working of the curriculum for the latest one of these where we teach parents and children the ASL signs for the alphabet (“ABC Sign with Me!) that it occurred to me that this blog might be a good place to share a few fun tips about helping children learn to read.

Preparation for learning to read can, and in fact should, start very early. One pre-reading skill that’s easy and fun to work on is “Phonemic Awareness.” What this fancy term refers to is the simple recognition that words are made up of separate sounds—for example, the word “cat” is made up of the separate sounds “Ca + Aa + Ta. Because the job of letters is to represent these separate sounds, being able to recognize that words are divisible in this way is obviously an important component of learning to read.

Well, an easy and fun way to help children develop phonemic awareness is to introduce them to lots of nursery rhymes and simple poems. Here’s why. Words rhyme precisely because they share their ending sounds but not their beginning sounds and poems help make these words and their sound similarities and differences stand out so children are more likely to notice. Listen to this old classic:

Humpty, Dumpty sat on the WALL
Humpty, Dumpty had a great FALL
All the king’s horses and all the kings MEN
Couldn’t put humpty together AGAIN.

Research from the University of Oxford in England actually found that 3-year-olds who knew lots of nursery rhymes were more advanced in phonemic awareness than those children who did not—and therefore were on the road to reading at an accelerated pace.

So dust off your copies of Mother Goose and give it a go. You’ll not only be having fun, but also helping your child develop a critical ingredient necessary for learning to read.

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to visit us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, PhD.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC

Here, There, and Everywhere!

2011-06-26T19:47:00.000-07:00

Do you remember how, once you were expecting a baby, you began to see pregnant women everywhere? Or, having finally decided to buy a particular car, you started to notice how many like it were already on the road? Where did they all come from? The answer, of course, lies in the heightened awareness that your own situation creates. It’s as though you have special radar unconsciously scanning the environment for the things that are momentarily of special importance to you.

The same thing happens to your baby when she learns a new sign or new word. With a new label at her command, she suddenly sees examples everywhere—even in places that you don’t expect. For example, for 14-month-old Eli, the “apple” sign made even a trip to the grocery store a special adventure, what with apples, labels on apple pies and apple juice and even pictures of apples on greeting cards. His mother, like many of us, nad never realized how pervasive apples were in the environment until Eli set about to find them all.

In a similar way, 15-month-old Trina had a love affair with her “bird” sign. Everyone expects to find birds out the window or at the park—but at church? Sure enough, embedded in the stained-glass windows over the altar were not one but two ornamental doves, peace symbols to the congregation but just plain birds to Trina. At least using signs was a quiet way to talk about them!

Butterflies are what 15-month-old Julia (see photo) finds everywhere, including on the coffee mugs at the Baby Signs, Inc. office where she entertains us every Monday at our staff meetings. (Want to see more of Julia signing? Click here!)

Like the parents of these babies, you’ll find yourself amazed at how vigilant your baby can be. She may be only a baby, but lots of mental activity is happening for her behind the scenes. And each time your baby tells you about something with a sign, she is providing you with a glimpse into all that activity, enabling you to respond appropriately and enthusiastically.

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to visit us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, PhD.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Happy Fathers' Day!

2011-06-19T15:42:00.000-07:00

When I started seriously studying Child Development as a graduate student in 1969, the emphasis in the field was on the role that mothers play in fostering healthy development, and it had been that way every since Freud began in the early 1900s blaming them for everything wrong with children. This total focus on mothers finally began to change in the 1970s, as woman began to spread their wings and shout “Hey! We’re only one side of the parenting equation. It’s about time dads began stepping up to the plate too!”

As a result, the science began to change, in part by documenting the ways that dads contribute uniquely to the welfare of children. We learned that dads play in more “rough and tumble” ways than moms, that they tend to allow children to be more adventuresome, and that fathers teach boys about manhood and teach girls, in the best case scenarios, that the world can be their oyster, too. On the other hand, we also learned that “nurturing” can be done as much by dads as moms—and, thankfully, many of today’s modern dads take this lesson to heart.

That’s certainly true of the young dad in this photo—my step-son, Jim—who is holding one of his premature twin babies. You couldn’t ask for a more dedicated and “hands-on” dad, in the trenches every day.

The other fellow in the photo is the proud grandpa of the twins as well as my husband, Larry. While he may have started out as the more traditional, old-fashioned father, I’m pleased to say that he has met the challenge of expanding his vision of fatherhood and is enormously proud of the way Jim is “stepping up to the plate.”

Well before the birth of the twins, however, Larry had turned the corner. In every way he could think of, he did his darnedest to be there for Jim, not only instilling in his son compassion, courage, and integrity, but also providing him with whatever emotional support he could. As a result, the two of them have one of the closest, most emotionally rich and mutually satisfying father-son relationships I have ever seen.

So, on this Father’s Day, I want to say “Bravo” to two fathers who symbolize the best that fathers can be. Let’s hope both twins—Olivia as well as Nathan—grow up to understand that it’s love and sacrifice rather than gender that matters when it comes to raising healthy and happy children.

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to visit us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, PhD.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

It Really IS Potty Time!

2011-06-12T21:07:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, we at Baby Signs are anxious to help parents get their babies out of diapers as soon as possible—hopefully by age 2, both for their own benefit and for a healthier environment. To this end, we’ve developed a potty training kit complete with materials to educate mom and interest baby. One of the steps we encourage is for parents to teach the “potty” sign (shaking the fist, with thumb between first and second fingers) so that their child has a way to indicate he/she needs to go potty even before words are available. Well, the following story is a funny example of how well it works.

I’ve written before about little Julia, the now 14-month-old little girl that attends all our Monday staff meetings with her mom, staff-member Bonita. Not only is Julia a super signer, but she’s also “On Board the Baby Signs® Potty Train” and already using the potty quite consistently. As evidence that she knows “what’s what,” here’s what happened a few weeks ago.

Bonita and Julia were at a baby store chatting with the owner about all Julia’s signs. The subject of potty training came up and Bonita launched into an explanation of the Baby Signs® potty training program and how Julia was learning to do the “potty” sign when she needed to go. As if to illustrate the point, Julia cooperated and did the potty sign—whereupon Bonita said “Yes, that’s the potty sign” and continued her explanation of the program. That is, she continued until she noticed a warm and wet sensation spreading down her shirt and pants! Clearly, Julia wasn’t just showing off that she knew the sign; she was using it as it was intended—to let her mother know she needed to go! Needless to say, Bonita learned a valuable lesson that day: When a baby signs, pay attention!

Happy Signing (and don’t forget to visit us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, PhD.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

First Metaphors . . .with Signs!

2011-06-07T11:03:00.000-07:00

One of the most creative ways we use language is to point out similarities between things, similarities that strike us as especially informative, beautiful, or even funny. “His face was an open book.” “My love is like a red, red rose.” Such parallels are called metaphors or similes. You may be surprised to learn how early such creative begins—especially when babies know simple signs.

An airplane ride was the occasion for a particularly nice example: Fifteen-month-old Brandon was settling into his seat for his first airplane ride when he looked toward the window and began smacking his lips enthusiastically. “You see a fish?” asked his mom as she followed his gaze. But it was raining quite hard and all she could see was water dripping down the window beside his seat. Nevertheless, Brandon was insistent and continued to sign even more vehemently—fish, fish, FISH! Suddenly the mystery was solved as his mom looked at the window with different eyes. “Oh! I bet you’re telling me it looks like our aquarium at home!” said his mother in amazement. “You’re absolutely right. That’s where fishies live!” Brandon’s response? A big, satisfied grin.

Other babies have shown similar creativity with their signs: 11-month-old Cady calling the broccoli on her plate a “flower,” 18-month-old Elizabeth calling the long-hosed vacuum cleaner an “elephant,” 16-month-old Austin using the “monkey” sign to describe a particularly hairy young man, and 17-month-old Carlos describing a trip through the car wash as “wind” and “rain.”

Using signs, babies continue to teach us a valuable lesson: Bring fresh eyes to even an old place and you may be surprised by what you see!

Happy Signing! (and don’t forget to look for us on Facebook)

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
l
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Signing Sentences: When One Sign Isn't Enough!

2011-05-30T13:06:00.000-07:00

There’s no doubt that a single sign—such as MORE, for example—conveys important information. But there’s also no denying that the combination MORE plus COOKIE is even clearer. Babies seem to know this intuitively; that’s why as soon as they can, they begin stringing two words (or signs!) together and sentences are born.

This important intellectual milestone— the ability to put true words together—typically occurs on average around 20 months, with many babies waiting until their third year. Things happen much earlier, however, with signs. Because signs are easier to learn than words, babies can begin putting them together with each other and with single words as early as 12 months! The most useful signs in this regard are MORE which can be combined with lots of other signs or words (e.g., cookie, milk, book, bubbles, etc.) and ALL GONE which is equally combinable (e.g., with water for down the drain, food words or signs, and even animal signs when animals run or fly away).

Many signing babies, however, don’t stop with just two. Here’s a great illustration: Michelle took her 19-month-old twins, Jimmy and Julianna (see photos), for their first trip through the car wash. She thought they might enjoy it; instead, they began crying hysterically, clearly terrified by the onslaught of water, brushes, and noise. That night when Daddy got home, they immediately told him all about it…with signs: CAR + BATH+ SAD/CRY! For weeks afterward, when they would get in the car they would repeat the same “sentence” just to make sure Mom wouldn’t forget and take them there again!

Yup! Sometimes one word (or sign) alone isn’t nearly enough!

Happy Signing! (and don’t forget to look for us on Facebook)

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

A Window into the Infant Mind

2011-05-22T18:13:00.000-07:00

Much to my delight, the good news about baby sign language has spread far and wide—especially in contrast to how few people knew anything about it when Dr. Susan Goodwyn and I published our first research article about babies and signing in 1985.

I do find, however, that many parents and child care providers still focus almost exclusively on the mealtimes signs—like EAT, DRINK, MILK, MORE, ALL DONE. What a shame! Yes, babies want and need to communicate these things, but many of them are even more interested in communicating about the exciting things they see in the world around them.

Here’s a true story from out book, Baby Signs, that illustrates my point:

Abby, 14 months old, was visiting her aunt. When bedtime rolled around, her dad tucked her into bed in her cousin’s room. Just after he switched off the light and closed the door, he heard Abby calling “Dada!” in an excited voice. Switching the light back on and peeking in, he saw Abby wiggling her fingers in the air—her sign for “stars.” He looked around in vain for any stars and simply settled her down again. But then, as he switched off the light and took one last peek into the room, he realized what Abby had seen. The ceiling was covered with fluorescent stars! Invisible with the lights on, the stars appeared as if by magic as soon as they were off. “You’re right! There are stars!” said her dad as he lifted her up to touch them. What a shame if Dad had missed the chance to share his daughter's excitement.

Babies want to tell those they love that they see things that amaze them—like Abby’s stars. They want to request to read a book, to blow bubbles, or to swing on a swing. Providing babies with signs for these things, as we do in the Baby Signs® Program, gives them a chance to share their worlds with adults—and gives adults an amazing window into the infant mind.

Happy Signing! (and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook)

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, The Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Premies Once; Healthy 2-Year-olds Today!

2011-05-16T12:47:00.000-07:00

Anyone who’s been following this blog is aware that I often use my twin grandchildren, Nate and Olivia, to illustrate my messages about child development. Well, here I go again. This time I’m using them to celebrate the amazing progress that’s been made in helping so many premature babies not only survive but thrive.

You see, Nate and Olivia arrived in this world 2 months before they were supposed to. By today’s premie standards they were robust at 3 pounds, but as we gazed at them in the NICU (which we quickly learned to call the “nik-you”), it was hard to believe they would ever be the happy and healthy toddlers they are today. To the right you’ll see what had us so concerned. This is a photo of Nate taken on Day 1. Having myself given birth (25 years ago) to a 10.5 pounder, I was sorely shaken to see this tiny creature so encumbered with tubes and monitors.

Those of you who have had similar experiences with the NICU know that Day 1 is just the beginning. For Nate it lasted 6 weeks and for Olivia over 2 months, every day filled with concerns about breathing, heart rates, and feeding problems in the short term and lasting effects on development in the long term. During this whole time, Mom (Julie) devotedly pumped breast milk to be lovely fed (once the feeding tubes were removed) by the incredibly kind NICU nurses at night and Mom and/or Dad during the day. The trek to and from the hospital—nearly 50 miles round trip—became so routine that we all could have have been on auto-pilot!

But that was then and this is now: I’m proud to say that we will are celebrating Nate’s and Olivia’s 2nd birthday today, May 16. And “celebrating” is definitely the right term given how much we have to be grateful for! Check out the picture below the “Day 1” photo to see what those premies look like today.

Happy Signing (and don't forget to visit us on Facebook)!

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder of the Baby Signs®
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Department of Defense Gives Baby Signs® Program a Thumbs Up!

2011-05-09T19:27:00.000-07:00

We’ve known for years that the Department of Defense (DoD) loves the Baby Signs® Program. Thanks to the cover story in this month’s issue of Exchange Magazine (the official magazine of the National Association for the Education of Young Children) describing the programs the DoD provides for families, the rest of the early childhood education community now knows it as well! The article is an interview with Barbara Thompson, a high-ranking official within the Pentagon. When asked to list the types of services provided to families by the DoD, the Baby Signs® Program was the only non-military program included. Going well beyond simply naming the program, Thompson elaborated in the following way:

“Baby Signs®. In 2007, the DoD enthusiastically embraced the Baby Signs® Program at selected pilot sites across the Department of Defense. Focusing on language and cognitive skills, the program gives infants and toddlers a way to communicate before they can express themselves verbally by providing them with the signs they can use most easily to communicate their needs, thoughts, and feelings. The training formally introduced DoD trainers to the Baby Signs® Program and allowed them to brainstorm ways to successfully implement the program and provided educational resources and support materials to staff and parents.”

This endorsement of the Baby Signs® Program by the DoD is wonderful validation of our company’s long-running efforts to support military families, efforts that continue today with a special page of our website dedicated to information and discounts for military families.

It means a great deal to us to know that the DoD holds our program in such high esteem because everyone associated with the Baby Signs® Program is keenly aware of the debt of gratitude we owe to the dedicated men and women who serve our country and the sacrifice made by the families they leave behind.

If you’d like to learn more about how the DoD is serving military families, check out the Exchange article.

Happy Signing (and don't forget to visit us on Facebook!)

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program
and
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Sex Differences Prevail!

2011-04-30T21:59:00.000-07:00

I’ve written before about how, despite the all the hype given to the advantages of rearing little boys and little girls alike, parents—and children—still seem to find themselves spontaneously drifting towards traditional, sex-sterotyped ways. This fact is making itself particularly apparent to me as I observe my twin grandbabies—Nate and Olivia—develop. I’m including two photos I recently took that help make my point.

The first illustrates how toddlers themselves make stereotyped choices. In it you’ll see Olivia holding one of her favorite toys—a baby doll—and Nate holding one of his—a police car. Those of you who have been following this blog for awhile will remember that I talked about this difference around Christmas time in terms of the “truck gene.”

The second photo illustrates a different point. In this picture you’ll see the results not of the children’s predilections, but of their parents’! This photo was taken at an Easter Egg Hunt this past weekend. As usual, it was a hectic morning with the added pressure of getting to the event by 11AM sharp. In situations like this, with twins involved, a division of labor becomes necessary. In this case, that division took the form of Mommy dressing Olivia and Daddy dressing Nate. The photo shows the result: Two toddlers holding hands and romping through the grass—Olivia all dolled up in a pretty dress with brand new matching sandals and Nate in a comfortable and highly practical flannel shirt and jeans. Need I say more?!

By the way, even though each of their verbal vocabularies is blossoming at an absolutely amazing rate, they still find themselves signing upon occasion. This time it took the form of the sign “MORE” accompanied by a very wistful look up at Papa and Grammy when, having arrived a little too late to the Easter Egg Hunt, all the eggs were already gone! Oh well, there’s always next year.

Happy Signing! (And don’t forget to follow up on Facebook!)

Linda
Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.
Co-Founder of the Baby Signs® Program
And
Professor Emeritus of Psychology, UC Davis

Doggone It!

2011-04-25T21:09:00.000-07:00

A recent twitter that appeared on this page extolled the virtues of signing, not with babies, but with dogs. Usually what this comment is referring to is the ability of dogs to understand hand commands to do things like sit, come, lay down, stay, etc. In some cases, these few are just the tip of the iceberg and owners report comprehension of many, many more signs.

Of course, as helpful as this ability is, it can’t hold a candle to what babies are capable of doing with signs. It’s hard to imagine a dog spontaneously signing “cat” when seeing a cat on a window sill, or spontaneously signing “sad” upon hearing another dog howl, or spontaneously combining the signs for “airplane” and “fan” when a helicopter suddenly appears overhead. And yet, these are just a few of the ways babies routinely use signs.

That said, my ears always perk up when I hear someone mention signing and dogs. The reason is that it reminds me of the day Dr. Susan Goodwyn and I (as co-authors of the book Baby Signs) appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show. It was, of course, tremendously exciting—all the way from 6:30 AM when a limo picked us up at our Chicago hotel, through the 4 hours in the “Green Room” getting hair and make-up done and simply waiting for the taping to actually start, and finally through the approximately 90 minutes of taping necessary to produce the footage that would finally be used in the show. Whew! We were drained by the end, but things had gone very well.

Another guest on the show didn’t fare as well, however. His name escapes me, but what I do remember is that he was a beautiful dog! His role on the show was to demonstrate just what we’ve been talking about here—that dogs are great at responding to sign language. The problem, however, was with the long stretch of time leading up to the grand moment when the dog and owner were seated on the stage in front of the audience. All the excitement, unfortunately, had been too much for the dog and all he wanted to do was sleep; he wouldn’t do anything! Needless to say, that segment never made it into the final cut. Susan and I felt so sorry for the owner!

Which brings me to the photo I’ve posted with this blog entry. To the right you’ll see my own favorite signing canine, Divot. (Obviously, I’m a golfer.) Divot comprehends a good number of hand signs and even some important words—like “dog park.” I’m not so sure, though, if she performs any signs, that is unless it counts that when I do say “dog park,” she jumps up and down like a jumping bean!

(By the way, this whole blog entry was so I’d have an excuse to post this picture. Is she cute with her “Baby Signs” T-shirt or what!?).

Happy Signing! (And don’t forget to visit us on Facebook.)

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.

Co-Founder of the Baby Signs^®Program

and

Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Baby Sign Language and Learning to Talk

2011-04-19T14:24:00.000-07:00

By far the most frequently voiced concern about encouraging babies to use signs to communicate before they can talk is that doing so will slow down verbal development. In fact, the exact opposite is true. Baby sign language actually speeds up the process.

How do we know? With a grant from the federal government, Dr. Susan Goodwyn and I compared verbal development in babies using the Baby Signs Program with that of non-signing babies. In test after test the babies who signed were more advanced than the non-signers in language skills. (The published study from the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior is available on our Baby Signs web site-- www.babysigns.com).

We really weren’t surprised because we had already observed the following ways in which baby signing spurs language skills.

Signing is to talking as crawling is to walking. In other words, just as crawling excites babies about getting around even faster by walking, the excitement of being able to communicate with signs motivates babies to figure out ways to communicate better—and the most obvious way is with words.

The experience of baby signing teaches babies useful lessons about how language works (like using symbols to label objects, etc.). These lessons speed up the process of learning to talk once words are finally available.

The natural reaction to a baby’s use of a sign is to “bathe” the child with words, and the more words a child hears, the faster he or she will learn to talk. What’s more, signs enable babies to pick the topic of conversation, thereby increasing the likelihood that they will listen attentively to the words parents say.

Every time a baby successfully uses a sign to label something, circuits in the brain are strengthened; circuits that then make learning words easier.

Signing makes book-reading more fun for babies because they can actively participate, and book-reading increases a baby’s exposure to vocabulary items.

So, the next time someone suggests that your use of the Baby Signs® Program is going to keep your child from talking, just smile knowingly, roll your eyes, and say “Oh, that old wive’s tale!”

Happy Signing! (and don't forget to follow us on Facebook!)

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.

Co-Founder, the Baby Signs Program

and

Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Baby Signs, Inc.: Mommies on the Job!

2011-04-11T18:16:00.000-07:00

Have you ever tried to get work done while also keeping track of an adventuresome toddler? If so, you’d enjoy being a “fly on the wall” at our Baby Signs, Inc. staff meetings every Monday morning!

When Dr. Susan Goodwyn and I began the Baby Signs company back in 2003, we knew what kind of company we wanted it to be. We wanted to create the kind of atmosphere that would attract talented people who understood firsthand the magic of signing with babies and were as passionate about sharing the good news as we were.

What that has translated to over the years, because so many of our staff are young mothers, is a workplace that is “family friendly.” More specifically, it has meant making accommodations like the following:

Enabling staff members who are mothers to work at home whenever possible;
Allowing these mothers to leave the office temporarily to drop off or pick up children from school;
Welcoming those same children into the office whenever necessary before and after school hours and during vacations;
AND allowing new mothers to bring their babies to the office with them during the times they need to be there.

Indeed, each of these babies becomes so much a part of our Baby Signs® family that we can all operate as substitute “moms” in a pinch!

That brings me back to our current weekly staff meetings. The newest member of our Baby Signs® family is a truly amazing 12-month-old named Julia, the daughter of a Co-Director of the Baby Signs Institute and Early Childhood Education Specialist, Bonita Broughton. We’ve followed Julia’s progress since making her acquaintance via the very earliest sonogram photos and have been entertained by her at every staff meeting since the day she was born. Most recently we have been amazed at all the signs she knows. For example, one current favorite is “Please” which she uses at staff meetings when she sees anyone around the table eating something she things looks yummy!

Julia is now walking and life for her mother has gotten even more challenging. It’s amazing how Bonita manages to corral a squirming toddler -- keeping her from banging her head on the table or pulling on electrical cords—while never breaking stride during discussions. Most of us have “been there, done that” and, as a consequence, pitch in whenever necessary to keep Julia—and all the equipment—safe.

I’m posting a photo to go with this blog entry. I had trouble picking one because there are so cute ones! Hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoy having Julia with us to spice up our Mondays—and to remind us what Baby Signs is all about!

Happy Signing! (And don't forget to visit our Facebook page)

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.

Co-Founder, the Baby Signs Program

and

Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Baby Hearts: Teaching Toddlers to be Kind

2011-04-04T20:23:00.000-07:00

One of the most important values that parents pass on to their children is empathy—that is, the ability to recognize what other people are feeling AND the willingness to take action to help them feel better—and in general to be kind and helpful to others. As Dr. Susan Goodwyn and I point out in our book, Baby Hearts, feeling empathy for others is important to your child’s future because research shows that children who are high in empathy are more popular with their peers, get along better with teachers and other adults, and in general, tend to live lives that garner them respect and affection.

What can you do to help your child develop this important emotional trait? The photo I’ve added to the right of this posting provides a clue to one easy strategy. The photo shows my 22-month-old granddaughter, Olivia, very carefully filling our dog’s food bowl. The strategy it illustrates is to provide lessons in empathy by involving your child with the care of animals. Children are naturally attracted to animals and seem to easily grasp the dependence of many animals (particularly pets) on the love and attention of humans. If your child is too young for a major pet (such as a dog or cat) or other circumstances rule them out, try installing a bird feeder outside or an aquarium inside. Be sure to talk about how animals feel many of the same feelings your child does—like hunger, thirst (except for fish, of course!) and pain—and also explain how to properly care for the animal. Even very young children can help feed fish, add seed to a bird feeder, or fill a pet’s water bowl—and lessons about being gentle can never begin too early.

Use this strategy and you’re be laying the foundation for the very important trait of feeling empathy for PEOPLE.

Happy Signing! (And don't forget to visit Baby Signs on Facebook!)

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.

Co-Founder, the Baby Signs Program

and

Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Let’s Hear it for Being Shy!

2011-03-29T21:18:00.000-07:00

Do you have a “shy” child? I have two! Both my son and daughter come by their shyness honestly because neither one of their parents could be called extroverted. In fact, learning to overcome my inherently shy personality in order to stand up in front of large classes of undergraduates required years of patience and practice.

Oh dear! Even in this opening paragraph I’ve fallen victim to a reaction to shyness typical of Western culture. Because Western cultures tend to value assertiveness and sociability, parents of shy children often worry that their child is at a disadvantage. If you find yourself in this category, it may help you deal with your anxiety to realize that being shy usually comes with some very nice side benefits. In fact, the human race probably wouldn’t still be here were it not for the talents that shy people tend to development. Here are some examples:

· Shy Child Tend to be Keen Observers: Because they are so concerned about what other people think about them, shy children work harder than most children at being able to read subtle emotional cues in other people’s behavior and expressions. This is a skill that serves them well in any interactions they have.

· Shy Child Tend to be Natural Empathizers: Because they are keen observers and know all too well what it is like to suffer, shy children often develop greater empathy for others than their comparably aged peers.

· Shy Child Tend to be Good Imaginers: Because they spend more time on their own, shy children often create inner worlds of great richness. And having a vivid and creative imagination can be enormously useful, helping them excel in many fields.

· Shy Child Tend to be Loyal Friends: Because they sometimes have trouble making friends, once they have one, shy children are incredibly loyal. They understand how precious a good friend truly is and go to great lengths to be the very best friend they can be.

So, the next time you begin to worry about your “shy” child, remember that being shy isn’t the huge disadvantage that it’s sometimes made out to be. There are, in fact, many silver linings to be treasured!

Happy Signing (and don't forget to visit Baby Signs on Facebook!),

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.

Co-Founder, the Baby Signs Program,

Co-Author of Baby Hearts: A Guide to Giving Your Child an Emotional Head Start

and

Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

The Power of the “More” Sign

2011-03-22T14:06:00.000-07:00

Having brought up the subject of my twin grandchildren, Nate and Olivia, last week, I have to share a funny signing story from a while ago. The occasion was the twins’ first birthday, the sign was “more” (done very emphatically)--and the requested entity? Given the situation, you may be able to guess--and the photo may provide a clue. Yup, more cake. With their mouths stuffed to the max with the sweet stuff, the sign came in particularly handy! (Actually, given the unexpected “disappearance” of his first piece as shown in the photo, I’m surprised Nate didn’t also hold his palms out while shrugging his shoulders—the standard sign for “Where is it!”)

Nate’s enthusiastic use of the sign “more,” brings up an interesting point. It’s remarkable how quickly and apparently effortlessly babies begin generalizing the sign for “more” beyond food. Like other babies, without any prompting the twins began using it to ask for things as varied as another book, another push on the swing, more bubbles, continuation of their favorite tickle game, and even more opportunities to hang upside down from daddy’s arms! The ease with which such generalization takes place in the minds of little children speaks volumes about the unique talent the human species has for learning language. It also makes clear how desperate infants and toddlers are for ways to communicate their wants and needs to those they love and how effective signing is in filling the gap before words are possible.

Happy Signing! (And don't forget to follow us on Facebook!)

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.

Co-Founder, the Baby Signs Program

and

Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

Signing: A Priceless Gift for One Little Girl

2011-03-18T13:00:00.000-07:00

Ever hear someone say, “Oh, signing---that’s just parlor tricks for babies. You say a word and they produce the sign. How is that any different from a dog who rolls over when you say the words?” Whenever I hear comments like this I know that that person has been around a signing baby enough to see Baby Signs in action. So, what do I say in response? I tell them the following story:

Heather, a Baby Signs instructor in Iowa, had a baby daughter who started using signs at about 10 months and became quite the signer by 14 months. It was at this point that the baby began to have what looked like severe temper tantrums. She would flail her arms and legs and twist her head back and forth, often falling to the floor. When Heather sought help, she was simply told that it was probably just the terrible-twos starting early. But then Heather noticed that each time her daughter had one of these “spells,” she would tap her index fingers together—the sign for HURT. That’s when Heather knew something serious was wrong—and she was right. Heather insisted that she see a pediatric neurologist who discovered that her daughter had Childhood Epilepsy! Fortunately, because it was diagnosed extremely early, she escaped any long term neurological problems and has done so well that she was spared long term medication.

Certainly doesn’t sound like “parlor tricks” to me! How about you?

Happy Signing! (And don't forget to visit us on Facebook!)

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.

Co-Founder, the Baby Signs Program (the original and onbly research-based sign language program for hearing babies)

and

Professor Emeritus, UC Davis

What Exactly Does “Ba” Mean?

2011-03-15T20:02:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone--and welcome to our Baby Signs blog!

Besides being co-founder of the Baby Signs Program (the original and only research based sign language program for hearing babies), I'm also the very proud grandmother to two wonderful, 20-month-old twins, Nate and Olivia. Not surprisingly, they were encouraged to use signs and did, indeed, pick them up with enthusiasm. It was so much fun--and brought back fond memories of the signing that started the whole movement--my daughter Kate's signing back in 1982.

Well, Nate and Olivia, as they approach their second birthday, are getting more and more words. Most of these words, unfortunately, sound pretty much the same. For example, Olivia currently says something like “ba” for “baby,” “ball,” and “bottle.” That makes her habit of still using the appropriate sign when she says “ba” a godsend. Instead of looking at her in frustration and listing all the possibilities, I can correctly interpret her word ( “Oh, baby! You see the baby!” ), and she is absolutely thrilled to be understood.

Using signs to clarify what they are trying to say is an advantage of baby sign language that is often overlooked—until a parent very gratefully sees it in action. It turns out to be important because receiving positive attention for trying to talk is an important incentive that motivates children to keep working hard to add new words. Just think how discouraging it is to be struggling to be understood in a foreign country when you can’t say the words quite right. It’s enough to make you want to retreat in silence to your hotel room!

Children are the same. Having signs to add to their fledgling words alleviates both their frustration—and ours!

Happy Signing! (And don't forget to visit us on Facebook.)

Linda

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D.

Co-Founder, the Original Baby Signs Program

Professor Emeritus, UC Davis