Success Teaching Baby Sign Language Signing with your child is very easy and it is a natural process for your child. Make the sign directly in your child’s line of sight so your child can see your eyes, the sign, and your mouth. Sign as you talk with your child, sign as you read books, sign as you sing, sign as you and your child interact. As your child learns the signs and begins to sign back, start adding other signs from Sign Babies Flash Cards. This creates your own baby sign language book that focuses on the words and concepts you and your child are learning to sign. read more

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Additionally, when children begin to use objects symbolically — pretending a block is a telephone, for example — they begin to develop an understanding of symbolic representation. As their plot lines become more elaborate, children develop storytelling skills that can strengthen reading comprehension, and a well-developed imagination is useful for visualizing concepts — whether historical, geographic, or literary — when they hear or read about something new and unfamiliar. This is also the stage when children typically begin to take on the roles of characters they create and to participate in pretend play with peers, although children with older siblings, and those whose parents play along, often enter this phase earlier. You can choose from Pretend & Play Snack Shop , School , Office , Animal Hospital , World Traveler , and Gym Bag , as well as Ocean Animals , Jumbo Farm Animals and Jumbo Pets for years of fantastic fantasy fun! read more

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According to Amy Chouinard and Cory Poland, speech-language pathologists and founders of Talking Child, LLC, a playgroup can help your child develop speech and language skills. A playgroup is a group of young children who meet regularly to play and participate in structured activities. Your child will learn speech and language skills best from children who are slightly older and, more importantly, slightly more skilled. To maximize language development benefits, a playgroup generally should meet weekly for approximately two hours, but even monthly or biweekly meetings have been found to encourage language. read more

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Babies will not always make a sign correctly the first time they sign it. Praise any sign of a sign. When your baby uses a sign correctly, praise and support her. Don’t just sign–speak every time you sign and emphasize the word you are signing. Signing with your baby works best when it’s worked into your life as a natural means of communication instead of something you only do part of the time or only in certain places. Babies can take weeks or even months before they make their first sign. read more

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Koenig cautions parents not to become overly concerned about a baby meeting every milestone precisely, “but,” she says, “there are some general (milestones) that you should be thinking about. A baby who was born three months early, she notes, is essentially a newborn in developmental terms by the time he’s three months old. If your gut tells you, for example, that your newborn isn’t moving enough, your baby has a tremor, or your toddler drags one leg, she says, speak with your pediatrician and request a developmental screening. For tips on fostering your little one’s fine and gross motor skills, read Encouraging Healthy Motor Development from Baby Classroom. At Baby Classroom , we have loads of colorful and engaging toys, blocks and books for your baby to reach for, grasp, play with and enjoy. read more

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We were as curious as you are about all these lists of award winners, so we spoke with a few experts to find out (1) how they evaluate toys, and (2) how we as parents can evaluate them ourselves. After eliminating products that violate the foundation’s values — toys with violent themes such as guns, for example — they determine which family testers will be most appropriate to evaluate each product. Green won’t disclose how families are chosen as reviewers, only that they have to prove their ability to evaluate toys thoughtfully and critically on a number of levels. The criteria used to determine award-winning toys, games and children’s media remain constant, say the experts, whether they’re evaluating a set of blocks for preschoolers or a complex interactive media game for teens. NAGC recommends toys that “offer learning opportunities that are challenging and spontaneous,” while Auerbach seeks out products that offer practice in skill-building, eye-hand coordination, fine and large motor skills, communication, and more. Don’t overlook the old standbys, including crayons, paper, balls and blocks, which promote open-ended, creative play on a budget, she adds, but at the same time, don’t reject newer toys and technologies simply because they’re new. read more

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Repeat words overheard in conversation Babies and toddlers have the ability to sign even before they can speak. Studies show that this type of stimulation helps with your baby’s language development. By the end of the third year, your child will be able to follow an instruction with two or three steps, recognize and identify practically all common objects and pictures, and understand most of what is said to her. Although your child should be speaking clearly by age 4, she may mispronounce as many as half of her basic sounds; this is not a cause for concern. By age 5, your child should be able to retell a story in her own words and use more than five words in a sentence. read more

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