For some years now research has consistently shown that when a child has been taught to use baby sign language from an early age there are tremendous benefits to be had. One of these are that we know that these children can learn to read at much earlier stages of development than non-signing children. But, how should a parent or carder go about maximizing this advantage?

The period from birth to age five (or thereabouts - this age varies as much as individuals do) is a true purple patch for children. They are voracious learners. This applies to any form of communication be it sign language, the spoken word or learning to read.

The experiences of thousands have been compared and the ten most helpful have been sifted out so that they can be used to help your child.

Key point 1
First BE HAPPY – This is key to your Baby settling into a relaxed, inquisitive and receptive frame of mind.

Key point 2
Secondly it helps if the written words are large. All starter books display this – See Spot Run only works if the child can see the text first!

Key point 3
Familiarity leads to awareness. To learn anything we need to have it embedded – so show the word at least 20 times in the exact same text size, color and context.

Key point 4
Do not linger for any length of time on one word. Tests show that both adults and children can absorb information much faster than is commonly believed, so take advantage of this to avoid boredom.

Key point 5
Empathize – meaning do not push!
If the child wants to go faster or slower then recognize it and adapt to their preference. Learning to read is like gym training in that if you overdo it on even one occasion you have invested in a deterrent to future visits. If you see any sign of approaching the care giver boredom threshold then seize the moment to applaud the day’s progress and move on to another activity.

Key point 6
Use the natural terrain; when you are out walking analyze street signs. This can transfer to posters, comics, billboards or anything you see that is written.

Key point 7
Expect this to be one way traffic for quite some time. Any parent who has taught baby signing will be familiar with this mechanism; each time a word is seen and spoken it is anchored in the conscientiousness. This requires a neural connection be constructed. Do not worry though as at this stage children’s brains are building these connections at the fastest rate that they ever will!

Just be sure that you are making good use of that opportunity and your signing baby will soon be a reading baby too.