The concept:
Long before your baby can speak, his language is highly developed in how he cries, when he cries, other facial expressions, pointing,
wriggling and so much more. It is vital that those around him communicate with him and we do this by eye contact, physical hugs,
how we talk to him, etc. Sign language is one more way in which we can make this vital bond and help him express
himself. He doesn't have to be deaf or communcating with a deaf person to get the most out of sign language.
The CD-Rom is at pains to emphasise that signing should never be silent and you should use the words as well as the sign, that way
your baby begins to form his vocabulary too.
In practice, babies who sign are much more likely to have increased vocabulary than other toddlers by the age of two. They are also
usually more confident - because they feel they have been able to communicate their needs - which leads to better IQ and EQ
(emotional intelligence - an ability to empathise with others).
In action:
This CD-Rom is really easy to navigate and quickly explains the theory and practice of signing. You don't need to have done an adult sign
language course yourself.
The optimum time to start signing with your baby is at around six or seven months, when he has started to express himself by pointing
etc. However, it can be introduced and established any time up the point when he has fully developed his ability to speak in
sentences. (After that, if sign language has been used, it can be continued along with full spoken communication.)
The CD-Rom's dictionary is easy to get around and broken up into useful sections of basic vocab (150 words might not seem a lot
but it's pretty much all you'll need in those first two years). Words like 'mum' and 'dad', 'yes' and 'no' stand alongside 'nursery',
'playground' and 'medicine' to build up a wonderful reference map of words that fit around your lives together.
What you get
The CD-Rom has several short chapters offering reasons why baby signing is a great communication tool, tips on how to start signing
with your child and when, downloadable flashcards to increase your ways of sharing new words, and easy to navigate
visual dictionaries split up into useful chunks like 'family' and 'out and about'.
What you need
The CD-Rom loads automatically when you put it into your computer's CD drawer. Minimum requirements are: a monitor capable of
16bit high colour at a resolution of 800-600, a CD-Rom Drive, Win 95 or above and any edition of Microsoft Internet Explorer.
