Signing is Learning

By Colleen Brunetti, M.Ed.

signing is learningWhy did you start signing with your child? Maybe you had hopes of knowing what your baby wanted or needed before she could talk. Or maybe you wanted to bond with your little guy and thought signing was a great way to interact.

Whatever the reason was that lead you to signing, you’ve given your child a wonderful gift – the gift of learning. When you sign with a child, did you know that you are laying the groundwork for both early language and literacy?

Two leaders in the field of researching sign language and children, Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn, have several studies that show that children who signed in the infancy and toddler years have better language skills, larger vocabularies and even higher IQ scores than similar children who did not use sign language. Studies by Dr. Marilyn Daniels have shown that when preschool teachers used a combination of spoken and sign language in the classroom, students had bigger spoken vocabularies at the end of the year!

And what about literacy? Can some simple signs help with learning to read and write? Absolutely! Signing key words while reading together assists in keeping parent and child actively engaged in the reading process – something studies have shown will help increase literacy. Dr. Daniels’ research also showed that the use of sign language in a Kindergarten classroom resulted in higher skills in letter recognition and a greater knowledge of concepts about print. Other research suggests that finger spelling (spelling out words using the sign language ABCs) assists in both spelling and reading.

As you can see, sign language goes well beyond the initial benefits of just knowing if your child wants milk or juice! Keep signing, and keep learning!

For a full summary of the research on sign language and learning, please visit our website and sign up for our free white paper on the topic, Signing with Babies and Children: A Summary of Research Findings for Parents and Professionals.

1 thought on “Signing is Learning”

  1. Hi,

    I have used Sign Language since I started my career working with children with intensive cognitive/physical needs, 30 years ago. I am a firm believer that teaching children signs, as well as their typical peers, is one of the most beneficial and productive methods of teaching communication and literacy…with a little math thrown in!

    As the child’s ability to master a skill increases, their use of sign may decrease, and that is wonderful. However, it is always a skill to fall back on and reinforce whatever needs that little ‘extra’ push.

    Signing Time videos are the best I’ve use with individual children, they relate to the children in the video and the music enhances what they are learning. The videos help make learning fun. 🙂

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