"Sign It!"
Sun.Star Davao, Oct. 6, 2007

“Hungry? Sleepy? What do you want?”

If you’re a parent of a baby, constantly guessing what he or she wants can sometimes be quite frustrating for you and the child. Wouldn’t it be amazing if a baby less than 9 months old will be able to express his or her needs and feelings?

One of the most memorable moments of the comedy film, "Meet the Fockers”, is when the distrustful father-in-law, Jack, portrayed by Robert De Niro could communicate with his adorable grandson, Little Jack, through sign language. Remember the infamous signs, “I’m watching you” or the hilarious “milk”?

At first, I thought it was a little unusual that De Niro’s ex-C.I.A. character would try to teach sign language when Little Jack was neither deaf nor mute.

However, I discovered that my own high school classmate, Lafayette Lim, does baby sign language with his two kids as well.

Sign it!

“Teaching sign language to babies and toddlers is a growing trend in the United States. It is a way of communication before the development of speech”, says Lafayette who has two lovable kids, Angeli Domini, age 3 and Mattheus Henricus, age 1 year and 2 months.

Together with his wife Jeanette, they attended a baby signing seminar in Manila organized by a group promoting sign language for children when Angeli was a few months old.

“It was difficult at first, especially since it is still a new idea. The most common comment was that the child will not learn to talk and will just prefer to sign. But numerous research have proven that this is not true”, explains Lafayette.

Doing more research on signing for babies, Lafayette found out that there were so many resources available. He ordered a few DVDs and finally came across the Signing Time series of DVDs.

“We just let our children watch the DVD everyday and let them surprise us with new signs they learn to do. Vocalize the words often when signing so kids are encouraged to do them too”, shares the 34-year old dad.

“With the huge vocabulary they get from learning to sign, eventually voicing out the words came but naturally when they were ready to talk”, he adds.

Until now, Lafayette and Jeanette still sign with Angeli. They treat it as a hands-on second language that stimulates more senses than just plain talking. Angeli says the word while she signs it.

Why sign?

“The most significant benefit of sign language is communication. During the so-called “terrible twos”, one reason for a child's tantrums is not being understood. Signing enables 2-way communications earlier, which lessens the frustrations of the toddlers, as well as the parents”, points out Lafayette.

Moreover, sign language may aid in letting kids learn to talk earlier; develop a larger vocabulary; have higher IQs (Some research have found that teaching your baby sign language can boost your baby’s IQ by as much as 12 points -- or higher!); and learn a second language early, making additional language learning easier.

According to Lafayette, based on his experience, the best way to learn is through the Signing Time DVDs but these are not available locally. However, there are websites that teach the signs of most words. Among his recommended websites are the following: www.signingtime.com; www.aslpro.com; www.signingbaby.com; and www.lifeprint.com.

Basic baby signs

Want to start signing to your babies? Here are some basic signs which my daughter and I learned from the said websites:

Again- Tap the palm of one hand with the fingers of your other.

All Done- Clench both hands into fists in front of your body, knuckles pointing toward you. Turn hands outward, extending your fingers.

Bath- Rub your fists up and down over your chest to show how you'd scrub your body!

Close-Arrange your hands so that your palms face your body and the outside edges of your hands touch are a few inches apart from one another. Slide your hands together.

Cold-With your shoulders slightly raised, clench both hands in front of your body, by your shoulders. (You can shiver a little bit, too, for effect.)

Cry-Point both pointer fingers outward on each hand, tucking in the rest of the fingers on that hand. One side at a time, bring your pointer finger under your eye and slide it (as if it were a tear) down your cheek. Repeat on the other side. Repeat Step 3 a few times.

Daddy- Spread out the fingers of one hand. Touch the thumb of that hand to the forehead several times.

Diaper-With your hands at your side, extend your pointer and middle fingers, tucking in the rest of your fingers. Tap your extended fingers against your thighs.

Drink-Make a "C" with your hand and pretend it's a cup that you are drinking from.

Eat- Simply bring your hand to your mouth as if you were bringing food to your mouth to eat.

Go-Place both pointer fingers (with the rest of your fingers tucked into your hands) in front of you in opposite directions. Roll those fingers over one another.

Happy-Hold one hand flush against your chest. Brush that hand up and tilt it outward at about 45 degrees from your body.

Help-Hold one hand, palm up, in front of you. Curl your other hand into a fist with your thumb pointing up. Place it on top of your other palm. Raise the fist a few inches off your palm.

Hot-Cup your hand, fingers facing away from your body, in front of your mouth. Quickly brush your hand outward and to the side, widening your fingers a bit.

Hungry-Form your right hand into the letter "c." Move your hand down the middle of your chest, starting under your throat.

Hurt-Have your two index fingers meet a few times. This can be done over the site of the pain as well, so if you have a skinned knee, sign "hurt" above your knee.

Milk-Open and close your fist as if you were milking a cow.

Mommy -Spread out the fingers of one hand. Touch the thumb of that hand to the chin several times.

More-Squeeze together the tips of your fingers on each hand to form two points. Touch the tips of each point together, then separate. Repeat Step 2 a few times.

No- Bring the right thumb, index and middle fingers together while shaking the head side to side.

Open-Arrange your hands so that your palms face your body and the outside edges of your hands touch. Slide your hands apart from one another.

Sad-With your head tilted down, place one hand in front of your face with fingers spread apart. Drop your fingers down, in front of your chest.

Sleep-Place one hand in front of your face, palm facing toward you. Close your hand to a fist and drop in to your chin, closing your eyes. Drag that fist downward, eyes still closed.

Stop-Hold one hand, palm up, in front of you. Use your other hand to bisect that palm.

Water-Tap a "W" on the side of your mouth.

Yes- Nod the right 'S' hand up and down with palm facing forward.

(For your comments and suggestions, you may e-mail me at mom-about-town.dvo@gmail.com. Visit http://www.mom-about-town.blogspot.com)