True story: Picture a fussy baby girl (not hard to do). She was about 15 months at the time and was not in the mood for Kindermusik this particular Saturday morning. Nothing made her happy so she was just grumping her way through the 45 minute class. Then came the dreaded rest time. There was no way she was going to put up with three minutes of quiet rocking. I dimmed the lights and she started whimpering. I glanced her way and she grabbed me with her eyes and then, with all the firmness she could muster, clearly signed LIGHTS PLEASE (2 signs). Aha! Easy enough, I turned the lights back on and she calmed down. Then came the kicker. She looked at me again, straight in the eyes and signed THANK YOU.
Do you want to give your child the ability to communicate this clearly at this age? Then maybe you should try our Sign and Sing classes. There is some conflicting research out there but the general consensus is that signing with your baby will not delay speech because it activates the language centers in the brain. Used alongside speaking, it can be a very effective way to build vocabulary and enhance early communication and best of all–reduce frustrations (read: fewer tantrums). Research shows:The average eight month old will have no spoken words, the average signing child will have five signs and one word. The average 12 month old will have three to five spoken words, the average signing child will have 25 signs and 16 words! The average 18 month old child will have 10-50 spoken words. In contrast, the average signing child will have 79 signs and 105 words! A majority of signing children begin combining signs and words or signs and signs together to form little sentences at 11-14 months. Compare this to non-signers, who do not begin to combine words into short sentences (e.g., “Da-da car”) until 20 months old on average! How many times a day to you ask your toddler to “Use your words. No screaming.” We know you really want to do this class but just haven’t gotten around to enrolling. So we’re delaying the start of Sign and Sing until September 22/23 to give everyone the opportunity to enroll or at least sign up for a free visit. Learn more and register here.
This post brought to you by Miss Lisa.