Babies' understanding of language comes well before their ability to speak. This also can be the case with their motor skills. Most babies will wave bye-bye before they can say the words. These are a few of the reasons signing works well for babies. It gives them another means of communicating. Plus research shows that babies who learn basic sign language develop pathways for communication sooner than they would otherwise.

Jessica Rolph welcomes Joy Jackson (@lyric_laughter_learning) to today's episode. She has been using sign language with her daughter from the time she was 4 months old. Joy shares why she chose to teach her sign language and how this has enhanced her communication skills.

Key Takeaways:

[1:16] Joy explains why she taught herself sign language in order to share it with her daughter.

[4:12] Joy started teaching Lyric sign language at 4 months old. When did Lyric start using signs?

[5:19] Is there any benefit to teaching sign language to verbal children?

[6:08] What are some common misconceptions about sign language and teaching babies sign language?

[8:15] Joy talks about the difference between baby sign language and ASL.

[9:29] If a parent is just going to use six or seven signs, what are some particularly useful ones?

[10:42] How many signs did Joy's baby have when she was 1 year old? What can parents expect?

[11:50] Is a baby who can sign considered bilingual?

[13:02] How and why to teach emotion signs.

[14:25] Some great reasons to invest the time necessary to teach our babies and young children sign language.

[16:43] Jessica's takeaways of today's show.

Mentioned in this episode:

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Joy's Instagram: @lyric_laughter_learning