Recommendation on sign language book

[mastry]

Can anyone recommend a good sign language book? I would like to
start teaching my almost 6 mth. old.

[julieakc]

I don't have a book recommendation for you, but I do have a DVD recommendation for you..... check out the series from www.signingtime.com

I think these videos are great. They are done by a mother who discovered her DD was deaf when the little girl was about 1. The videos feature a lot of different kids signing as well as the adult demonstation. There are some cute animation add-ons and songs. My son loves the videos (we only have 1-3, but 4-6 are coming for Christmas) and he is starting to sign.

You might also want to check out Baby Signs by Linda Acredolo (ok, so this is a bit of a book recommendation). A friend loaned it to me when I was pregnant and I did read about half of it. It seemed pretty good, but I do remember that this book went with the theory that anything that both you and DC understand can be a "sign" as opposed to strictly using official ASL. I don't disagree with this philosophy, but it is something you should probably be aware of and consider when looking at books and videos.

By the way I realize your baby is a little young for videos and you may not want him watching TV, but you could even get them just for you to watch and maybe for when DC is older (whenever you want to introduce TV). My DS happens to love TV, much to my dismay as I do try to limit his TV viewing, so the signing videos are a good compromise because he's happy to watch them and I know he's learning something.

Another tip...I went out and bought a regular book on ASL and look up any words I want to use. IMHO the main thing with teaching kids to sign is repetion. I starting using a few signs with my DS from around age 10-11 months, not all the time, but fairly frequently, introduced the videos probably around age 15 months and about 6 weeks ago (at about 18 months) or so HE started signing to me! Some of the signs are crude, but hey he is still little, and besides I know what he means, which is the most important thing. He also sometimes starts going through the different signs he knows until he gets the right one; it is very cute. Over the last couple of weeks he's learned a few more signs, so the repetition and reinforcement when he does sign is working. :P

Good luck

[mommalilone]

I looked at a bunch and finally decided on flash cards. I don't really have a lot of experience, but like these ones so far.

http://www.amazon.com/Sign-Babies-Flash-Cards-Set/dp/0975329901

And this site is great. It has some 'movie' clips of signs.
http://signwithme.com/002_browse_signs.asp

[HallsofVA]

I second the recommendation on the Signing Time series of DVDs or videos. They've also come out with books, though I haven't seen or used the books, since they came out just recently.

We started watching Signing Time volumes 1-3 with DS somewhere between six and nine months. He'd pay attention, but DH often joked that he was learning more sign language than DS was. Then one day, DS started signing and speaking at the same time. Plus the CDs that come with the video sets have always been some of DS' favorites CDs, and for a while they were the only CD we could play in the car that would stop him from crying. We now have all 13 volumes of regular Signing Times (Baby Signs came out too late for us to use, but I've been thinking about getting it for DC #2) and DS continues to ask for these videos and continues to amaze me with the signs he's learning, even when I could swear he's not paying any attention.

It really helps when you need to have a conversation with DC from across the room, or when you don't want to disturb folks around you. When we put him in a Montessori school last fall, his teachers had us teach them some signs so they could communicate with him while he was still working on his verbal skills.

Personally I'd recommend videos over books, just because I think it's helpful to see the signs in motion. If you don't want DC to watch TV, then you can possibly find some targeted more to parents.

[newnana]

We also did the signing time videos. It's the only tv DD is allowed to watch and she is infatuated with them.

If you are opposed to that, there are typically local classes or many great websites. I use this website fairly frequently if there is a sign I would like to teach DD and don't know it:
http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm

I don't have any books, but would recommend the website listed or the signing times dvds. Good luck,
Michelle