Baby Signs: How to Talk with Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk

by Doug Abrams, Susan Goodwyn, Linda Acredolo, Linda P. Acredolo

Overview

The Essential Parenting Guide-NOW COMPLETELY UPDATED AND EXPANDED!

In 1982, child development experts Linda Acredolo, Ph.D., and Susan Goodwyn, Ph.D., discovered that babies can communicate with simple signs-even before they're able to talk. The result: Baby Signs, the groundbreaking technique that has changed parenting forever.

Now, with the widespread popularity of signing with hearing babies and new and exciting research findings to report, the authors have completely revised and expanded Baby Signs to create this indispensable new edition. Featuring an American Sign Language approach, as well as a set of “baby-friendly” alternatives, this comprehensive new program offers all the information any parent needs to join the hundreds of thousands of families around the world who are using Baby Signs to help their children communicate their “joys and fears without tears.” (Newsweek)

Inside you will find . . .

 
• An expanded dictionary with easy-to-follow photos of 150 ASL signs along with a set of 35 “baby-friendly” alternatives 
• New research showing the benefits of Baby Signs for children's emotional development, for the parent-child relationship, and for reducing frustration and aggression in childcare settings 
• Information to help parents use the magic of Baby Signs to meet the challenges of potty training (as seen on CBS's The Doctors) 
• Real-life stories of parents achieving both stunning and heartwarming communication breakthroughs with their children

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780071615037
Publisher:	McGraw Hill LLC
Publication date:	03/09/2009
Edition description:	List
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	533,553
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

McGraw-Hill authors represent the leading experts in their fields and are dedicated to improving the lives, careers, and interests of readers worldwide

Linda Acredolo,Ph.D., ProfessorEmeritus ofPsychology at theUniversity ofCalifornia atDavis, is aninternationally recognized scholar inthe field of child development. She isa Fellow of both the AmericanPsychological Association and the American PsychologicalSociety and has served as an associate editor of the prestigiousjournal, Child Development. She is also a member ofthe Parents magazine advisory board.

Susan Goodwyn, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus ofPsychology at the California StateUniversity at Stanislaus, has servedas a project director and co-principleinvestigator for severallongitudinal research projectsfunded by the National Institutes ofHealth and the Kellogg Foundation.She currently serves as president ofBaby Signs, Inc., an infant and toddler educational productscompany.

Table of Contents

1.Introducing Baby Signs
2.How to Baby Sign
3.A World of Baby Signs
4.Off and Running with Baby Signs
5.From Signs to Speech
Baby Signs Dictionary
Further Research and Readings
Baby Signs Resources

Editorial Reviews

Most parents are aware of the little gestures their infant uses to express various needs and moods, such as hunger or delight. This revised edition of a classic parenting work shows parents how they can expand their baby's use of nonverbal signs, greatly enhancing communication long before the infant is able to speak. In addition to illustrating a host of basic signs -- such as those for feelings, daily activities, and favorite foods -- the book helps readers develop their own signs with their child. Baby Signs also highlights the benefits of this method of communication, which include increased verbal and cognitive skills.

bn.com

After studying baby sign language with a grant from the National Institutes of Health, Acredelo (psychology, Univ. of California, Davis) and Goldwyn (psychology, California State Univ., Stanislaus) conclude that babies who are taught to use signs to express basic ideas (e.g., fingers to the lips for eat, fingers raised in a V for bunny) before they can say the words are both happier because they can communicate with others and more adept at speaking once they begin to acquire language. This is not a scholarly exegesis of their findings but a practical, easy-to-use guide to teaching baby signs. The authors begin with an explanation of their findings and then offer a portfolio of suggested signs in which simple pictures are accompanied by description, memory aid, and suggested situations for use. The book has an upbeat, encouraging tone that parents will appreciate. Interestingly, Parenting magazine cited the authors' study in the "News and Reviews" section of the May 1996 issuebut failed to mention this book! For all parenting collections. Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal

Library Journal