Adapted from my article first published in Fostering Families Today Magazine last year.

When my foster baby K turned 7 months old, I started teaching her sign language. I had heard that if you teach your child a few basic signs, the terrible two’s can turn into the terrific two’s and be full of joy instead of full of tantrums. I didn’t know any sign language. So I bought the book, Baby Signs and started from there.

Dr. Linda Acredolo and Dr. Susan Goodwyn, the authors of the book Baby Signs: How to Talk with Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk - have conducted over two decades of academic research on the use of signs with hearing babies.

During one of the studies with the National Institute of Health, they found babies at age 24 months, were on average talking more like 27 or 28 month olds. This represents more than a three-month advantage over the non-signing babies. In addition, the 24 month old babies were putting together significantly longer sentences. Thirty six month old signers were talking at a forty seven month level - almost a year ahead of non signing children. The conclusion is that signing children learn both language and cognitive skills, and show an increased interest in books and the world around them.

During my research on the internet I found a child can tell you what they are feeling or needing and therefore can communicate with signs rather than with tears and screams - even as early as one year old. What did I have to loose? Fewer tantrums sounded great! I’ve had foster kids three years old who could barely talk and had major tantrums so I was willing to try anything.

We started with easy signs, the first ones were eat (fingers to the mouth), more (finger tips touch and tap), drink (fingers showing drinking from a cup), rain (hands coming down in front of you).

I didn’t know how long I would have this baby, but even if I could use a few signs with her it might help both of us and even be fun.

Over the next couple of months I continued to use just a few signs, but I wasn’t getting a response and I wasn’t consistent. It was fun, but I’d forget to sign something, and just did a sign now and again as I would remember to do it. Then, during a rainy day visit to her birth mother, K suddenly started waiving her hand down in front of her.

She was almost frantic. Waiving up and down up and down as far as she could reach from her head to her toes. Up and down frantically. Rain! She was singing rain! I had only used this sign a couple of times previously and yet she remembered and it was the first sign she choose to communicate with me. There was a sparkle in her eyes as I understood her. She was nine months old.

Part II continues soon.....