Still Wiggling…..

Today I began searching online databases. This was a struggle. I started with EBSCOhost and the Academic Search Premier database. I found several articles from popular news sources such as U.S. News & World Report and People. These articles continued to stress the benefits of teaching babies sign language. After this initial search I also added the words infant and child to my key word search. Again….I was going back to Lamb’s Webbing stage. These first articles actually got me excited at the prospect of teaching my child sign language. The article in U.S. News & World Report stated, “Kids who signed as babies scored 12 points higher on IQ tests taken in the second grade than kids who hadn't signed.” Maybe there are no downfalls to teaching sign language.

I needed to get serious and look at some studies so I pulled up the ERIC database. This allowed me to search academic journals. When I conducted my initial search for baby sign language, I had 243 hits. HOLY COW!!! I instantly became overwhelmed. However, as I began skimming the titles, a majority of the articles dealt with deaf children. I immediately narrowed my search to “not” include the word deaf or hearing impaired. I completely see how Lamb’s stages are recursive. I have gone back and forth between the webbing and wiggling stage several times now narrowing and redirecting my search strategies.

I found several studies about teaching infants sign language. All of the studies show a positive relationship between early speech development and teaching sign language. Now I begin wondering again…..if teaching sign language is so great why are more people not aware? I am going to begin asking some moms to see if they have heard of teaching their child sign language.

I also joined an online discussion at babycenter.com to see if anyone had any tips. I posted my own message to see if anyone had noticed any verbal speech delays from teaching their children sign language. I also enjoyed reading through some of the other posts. Several of the moms have noticed their child is a lot less frustrated now that he/she can communicate. One mother was really struggling to get her child to sign, but several posts encouraged her to keep trying. It seems that like with any other part of child development, they just “do it” one day.