Sign Language Articles: American Sign Language as a Foreign Language Baby Signing - 10 Easy Ways to Start Signing with Your Baby Baby Signing - Key Points to Succeeding Sign Language Resources: American Sign Language Browser HandSpeak Sign Language Products: Baby Signing 1-2-3: The Easy-to-Use Illustrated Guide for Every Stage and Every Age (Paperback) by Nancy Cadjan My First Book of Sign Language (book) by Joan Holub Available at: Amazon.com & Amazon.ca Signing illustrated: the complete learning guide (book) by Mickey Flodin Available at: Amazon.com & Amazon.ca Baby Sign Language Basics (book) by Monta Briant Available at: Amazon.com & Amazon.ca Signing Time - An American Sign Language (ASL) Video for Children (Vol. 1) (DVD) Available at: Amazon.com Signing Time! Volume 2: Playtime Signs (DVD) Available at: Amazon.com The American Sign Language Phrase Book (book) by Lou Fant Available at: Amazon.com & Amazon.ca Complete Idiot's Guide to Conversational Sign Language Illustrated (book) by Carole Lazorisak, Dawn Donohue Available at: Amazon.com & Amazon.ca

When my son was born, I knew nothing about baby signing. The older he got, the more I started seeing topics on the internet about the benefits of baby signing. As mothers, we want our children to be the smartest, most intelligent child on the block. However, I thought I had cheated him out of this language skill because I didn't start him as soon as I could have. Then I was introduced to Baby Signing 1-2-3 by Nancy Cadjan, and to my surprise, it really doesn't matter when you begin baby signing because children of all ages will benefit from the use of ASL (American Sign Language).

Baby Signing 1-2-3 is arranged in a very comprehensive way. The first part of the book addresses your child's developmental stages and the appropriate signing that can be used during that time. For those with children who develop at a slower pace either mentally or physically, an entire chapter is designed on how to modify the signing used during that child's individual development. The actual signs used during the developmental stages are contained in the second half of the book, and those same words are bolded in the text in the chapters from the first half of the book. This design makes it incredibly easy to reference the stage you are in with your child.

Since my son is four now, the stages of development aren't the most important parts of the book for our situation, but he can still learn signs in the order in which he would have if I had introduced ASL to him as an infant. Much like our children's own speech development and their capacity to understand, learning the signs he would have learned from stage one still applies. Words like mommy, daddy, milk and more are great starters even for the older child. The best thing is we can learn more signs at a quicker pace now that he is older.

Baby Signing 1-2-3 has been a great tool for my both my son and myself, and we've both enjoyed sitting down and learning signs together. He actually picks up the book and asks for me to help him learn. The added benefit is that once our next child is born, both my older son and I will be able to help baby learn ASL at a much younger age with the great help of Baby Signing 1-2-3. I highly recommend Baby Signing 1-2-3 for any individuals who are new to ASL and want to teach themselves and their children this life long, beneficial communication tool.

Rachael Towle is a mom and owner of several family friendly websites, including Parenting Message Boards and Work at Home Resources. You can read more about her and her websites at http://www.TowleCreations.com.