FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
How old should my baby be to start classes?
We accept babies into our classes from birth but at this age they tend to sleep through most of the class. However, it's an excellent opportunity for the parent or caregiver to learn the signs and make supportive friendships in those challenging first few months. Babies tend to become a little more alert around the three month mark and so many choose to wait until then to join classes.
When will my baby start signing?
This depends entirely on how much you incorporate the signs into your everyday life. Babies learn by copying the behaviour modelled by you. If you consistently 'See it, Say it, Sign it' then they will start to make to association between the subject matter (e.g. milk), the sign and the sound.
Babies develop their manual dexterity before they have full control over their vocal cords and so they will begin to be able to sign long before they have clear speech. Some babies as young as four months have been found to sign but we would say the usual age babies start to sign is between six and eight months. Keep reinforcing and modelling those signs and they will soon pick it up!
Will teaching my baby sign language hinder their speech development?
Absolutely not, if anything this signing system is a great way to encourage and support the spoken word. Those teaching their children sign language tend to explore a wide vocabulary with their child and positively reinforce their children's efforts to communicate. Also, the key thing to remember is that you ALWAYS say the word at the same time as doing the sign. We are not trying to replace speech, we are trying to encourage and support it with the signing as a back up way of expressing their needs.
